The Forum welcomes the work of the Government of Bangladesh to support peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Forum calls upon the Government to prioritize the implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord of 1997 and to assess the implementation status of the Accord through full, meaningful and effective participation of the Accord signatory party, the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, Chittagong Hill Tracts regional institutions and traditional governing bodies.
The Permanent Forum urges the Governments of Chile and France to adhere to their international obligations under the Declaration, and to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Rapa Nui People (Chile) and the Indigenous Peoples of the overseas territories of France and resolve ongoing conflicts.
The Permanent Forum regrets the outcome and impact of the “Indigenous Voice” referendum on Indigenous Peoples, in particular Indigenous youth, held in Australia in 2023, which undermines their journey towards the full realization of the right to self-determination for Indigenous Peoples. The Forum urges the Government of Australia to implement the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum recommends that, in 2025, the General Assembly convene a high-level plenary meeting known as the “World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Plus 10” to evaluate the progress on the commitments made in the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, the Permanent Forum recommends that the Assembly request the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly a constructive and comprehensive report, developed with the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples, prior to that Conference, on the progress made in the implementation of the outcome document and the Alta outcome document, as well as on challenges and opportunities for further action. It also calls upon the Assembly to support the preparatory efforts of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum further urges resident coordinators to prepare their United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks to support the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in strategic plans for their economic recovery. Resident coordinators are invited to provide an update to future sessions of the Permanent Forum through the Development Coordination Office on how the strategic recovery plans were developed and implemented.
Given the unique role of information and communications technology companies in the design, development and use of contemporary language technologies, the Permanent Forum reiterates its invitation to the private sector to contribute to the International Decade. The Permanent Forum encourages these companies to continue to develop digital platforms, in cooperation with indigenous peoples and academic institutions, in order to compile information archives for the preservation and revitalization of indigenous languages, language corpora, speech recognition, machine translation and synthesis tools, digital dictionaries and online courses.
The Permanent Forum invites the African Development Bank to develop a policy of engagement with indigenous peoples that includes effective safeguards, and invites the African Development Bank to report to the Permanent Forum at its twentythird session, to be held in 2024, on its progress
The Permanent Forum welcomes the efforts of Member States, United Nations entities and other intergovernmental organizations to implement the Declaration, as reaffirmed in the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, as well as the recommendations of the Forum, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous People in various regions, and urges them to take specific measures in this regard.
The Permanent Forum recommends that States and United Nations agencies apply the rights affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples throughout their operational frameworks for implementing the Programme of Action for the Decade, in particular its objective on free, prior and informed consent by indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recalls that in paragraph 7 of its report on its tenth session (E/2011/43-E/C.19/2011/14), it congratulated the International Fund for Agricultural Development on the establishment of the Indigenous Peoples’ Forum as an example of good practice that should be followed by other United Nations entities. The Forum urges other United Nations entities to report on their progress achieved in this regard to the Forum at its seventeenth session.
In “a spirit of partnership and mutual respect”, the Permanent Forum emphasizes the important standards set out in articles 18, 19 and 41 of the Declaration. Article 18 provides that “indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters that would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures”, and article 19 provides that “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them”. Such equal, direct and meaningful participation by indigenous peoples throughout all stages of the World Conference is essential for the international community to achieve a constructive and comprehensive outcome that will genuinely improve the status and conditions of indigenous peoples worldwide.
The Permanent Forum recommends that United Nations agencies review their policies, which presently allow them to assist only indigenous peoples in developing countries, and to urgently revise such policies to ensure that all indigenous peoples, in both developed and developing countries, have access to resources, technical assistance and other support from all United Nations agencies and funds.