The Permanent Forum recommends that States immediately begin the process of demarcation of indigenous peoples’ lands and territories in accordance with customary laws and the norms reflected in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, with a view to further protecting indigenous peoples’ lands and resources from expropriation, exploitation and designation as conservation areas or national parks without the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, as set out in articles 19, 26 and 27 of the Declaration.
The Permanent Forum urges the International Union for Conservation of Nature to establish a task force on conservation and human rights to work with indigenous peoples’ communities and organizations to clearly articulate the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of conservation initiatives and to continue to promote grievance mechanisms and avenues for redress in the context of conservation action, including the Whakatane Mechanism. The Forum invites the Union to report on progress made in the implementation of these recommendations in future sessions.
Recalling the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur appointed to undertake a study on the status of implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord of 1997 (E/C.19/2011/6, sect. VIII), and given that the situation of the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts remains a matter of concern, the Forum encourages the Government of Bangladesh to allocate sufficient human and financial resources and set a time frame for the full implementation of the Accord.
The Permanent Forum underscores the need to strengthen collaboration with UN-Women in order to finalize a road map, including concrete actions, and specific outcomes within their next strategic plan as well as to include indigenous women’s priorities in global, regional and national programmes, consistent with articles 21, 22 and 41 of the Declaration.