As consistently suggested during the dialogue with Member States, the Permanent Forum invites States to consider ways of addressing disputes between them and indigenous peoples. Suggestions included, among others, setting up independent conflict resolution mechanisms to resolve disputes between States and indigenous peoples (in accordance with article 27 of the Declaration and paragraph 21 of the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples), implementing the Forum’s recommendations for better addressing such disputes and increasing the involvement of indigenous peoples in decision-making processes.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the establishment of the steering committee on indigenous peoples of Africa that consists of the working group on indigenous populations/communities and minorities in Africa as well as interested members of the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues. The Forum invites the steering committee to work with the members of the Forum to support the implementation of the system-wide action plan on the rights of indigenous peoples as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on the African continent. The Forum also encourages United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to establish a similar inter-agency group in Asia.
The Permanent Forum appreciates the participation, at its twenty-first session, of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and recommends that the Special Rapporteur urge Member States to guarantee indigenous peoples’ rights to clean water. The Permanent Forum invites the Special Rapporteur to participate at its twenty-second session, in 2023.
The Permanent Forum reiterates its previous recommendations on the ongoing plastic crisis and the importance of the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in the negotiations of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme on an international treaty to tackle the crisis. The Permanent Forum welcomes the discussions of the Human Rights Council on the matter at its fifty-second session.
The Permanent Forum urges actions by States in addressing the racism suffered by Inuit peoples, particularly those residing outside Inuit Nunaat. The Forum is concerned about the high incidence of child removals by child welfare systems legitimized by psychometric tests adapted to non-Inuit peoples.