The Permanent Forum reiterates the need for the implementation of its recommendation, contained in paragraph 12 of its report on its third session E/2004/43-E/C.19/2004/23), relating to the situation of indigenous women migrants. The Forum invites ILO to coordinate with other appropriate agencies, in cooperation with indigenous women’s organizations, to prepare a report on the situation of indigenous women with regard to informal work, migration and working conditions, for submission to the Forum at its eighteenth session.
The Permanent Forum reiterates previous recommendations that WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNFPA, as well as regional health organizations and Governments, fully incorporate a cultural perspective into health policies and programmes and reproductive health services aimed at providing indigenous women with quality health care, including emergency obstetric care, voluntary family planning and skilled attendance at birth. The roles of traditional midwives should be re-evaluated and expanded so that they may assist indigenous women during their reproductive health processes and act as cultural brokers between health systems and indigenous peoples.
The United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations and donor agencies should implement, at the country level, existing policies on indigenous peoples or develop such policies if they do not exist, and should strengthen the capacity of institutions to implement such policies and programs in an effective and sustainable manner
Recalling articles 3–4, 8, 18, 25–26 and 32 of the Declaration, the Permanent Forum urges African States to promote, recognize and protect the collective rights of indigenous peoples to their lands, territories and resources through the development of mechanisms to ensure the legal recognition of land and resource rights, the resolution of land disputes, fair and equitable redress, and the creation of permanent dialogue frameworks to facilitate political participation and representation of indigenous peoples in decision-making.
The Permanent Forum calls upon States to organize regional and national consultations to enable indigenous peoples to prepare for and participate effectively in sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee.
The Permanent Forum is concerned by issues related to land tenure, the collective rights of indigenous peoples, customary rights, land-grabbing and the closure of transhumance corridors. The Permanent Forum therefore recommends that States of the Sahel and the Congo basin establish a legal framework to consolidate their national and local land tenure regimes with a view to resolving conflicts peacefully. In addition, those States should enhance access to justice for the aff ected indigenous pastoralists and provide training for judicial officials on those issues.
The Permanent Forum reiterates its position, as stated in the report on its twentieth session (E/2021/43, para. 10), urging Colombia to promote and guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples, in particular by achieving the goals and indicators set out in the “ethnic chapter” of the peace agreement. In this regard, the Permanent Forum wishes to offer its support, within the terms of its mandate, to facilitate dialogues between the Government of Colombia and indigenous peoples.
The accessibility of general recommendation No. 39 to Indigenous Peoples is crucial to ensure its effective implementation and impact on the ground. The Permanent Forum recommends its translation into Indigenous languages spoken by Indigenous Peoples in their States before the end of 2032.
Those violations also take place in countries that have ratified the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). The Permanent Forum recommends that countries that have ratified that Convention update their legislation and legal systems to conform with the Convention and its provisions. The Permanent Forum welcomes the landmark ruling in October 2021 by the Supreme Court of Norway protecting Indigenous Peoples from the establishment of a windmill park that would interfere with their traditional reindeer grazing areas. The Permanent Forum urges the Government of Norway to implement the decision of the Supreme Court without delay. It also recommends that Norway urgently address the allegations of increased incidents of hate speech online and offline against the Saami peoples following the Supreme Court ruling.