The Permanent Forum calls upon African States and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ languages and to develop culturally appropriate education systems for Indigenous children and youth. The Forum also encourages the development of initiatives to prioritize Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems, especially for women and girls.
The Permanent Forum recognizes the history of the placement of Indigenous children in boarding and residential schools without free, prior and informed consent, where there have been dramatically grave negative impacts on the well-being and identity development of Indigenous students, on their families, and on the communities and cultures of Indigenous Peoples in all sociocultural regions. The Forum recommends that States find mechanisms to redress the harms caused by boarding and residential schools, and engage in effective reconciliation efforts. With respect to French Guiana specifically, the Forum calls upon the Government of France to establish a truth commission to investigate the conditions of boarding and residential schools in France and its overseas territories. The Government of France should adopt measures for healing, reparation and rehabilitation. The commission should guarantee gender equality in terms of inclusion and ensure the full participation of the Indigenous Peoples affected.
The Permanent Forum is concerned that HIV acquisition rates are higher in Indigenous communities than in the general population. The Permanent Forum encourages the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS to continue its focus on Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the intent of Nicaragua in drafting legislation on territorial regulation of Indigenous territories. The Permanent Forum urges Nicaragua to establish dialogue with the legitimate Indigenous authorities to initiate and conclude drafting of the legislation as soon as possible, in order to prevent repetition of the recent gross human rights violations against the Mayangna Sauni and Wilu communities, allegedly committed by armed settlers. It further urges Nicaragua to ensure that perpetrators are held to account through the justice system for the murders committed and for the destruction of property. Impunity is not an option.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the WHO incorporate indigenous peoples’ cultures into the social determinants of health policies. The Permanent Forum urges WHO to review, update and expand its policy on indigenous peoples’ health. The Permanent Forum invites WHO to contribute to the work of the Permanent Forum at its twenty-second session on the health of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum continues to be deeply disturbed by the threats that the extractive industries, infrastructure megaprojects, such as roads and dams, legal and illegal logging, and the expansion of large-scale agriculture pose to the indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact. While recognizing the guidelines for the protection of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact in the Americas prepared by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the corresponding guidelines elaborated by OHCHR, the Permanent Forum recommends that OHCHR, in cooperation with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and with the participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations, evaluate the progress made, identify implementation gaps and make recommendations to advance the protection of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact and to guarantee their rights.
The Permanent Forum invites the United Nations Global Compact to lead a study on how the human rights of indigenous peoples can be integrated into the model guidance for stock exchanges when reporting on environmental, social and governance information for their market, and report on its progr ess to the Permanent Forum at its twenty-second session, to be held in 2023.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Secretary-General, in his report on the study of violence against women, address the particular situation of indigenous women and girls whose suffering is based not only on gender but also on ethnicity and culture.
The 2030 Agenda is now in its third year of implementation. The Permanent Forum reiterates that countries undergoing voluntary national reviews at the high-level political forum on sustainable development should include indigenous peoples in their reviews, reports and delegations and invites States to report on good practices to the Forum at its eighteenth session.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the “International Conference on Biological and Cultural Diversity: Diversity for Development and Development for Diversity” (8-10 June 2010, Montreal, Canada) as a useful dialogue on the interface of diversities and development and notes its goal to consider a future collaborative programme of work between the Secretariat of the Conference on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), other relevant agencies, including the Forum and relevant indigenous organizations and non-governmental organizations, and decides to send the Chair of the Forum to report on the outcomes of the ninth session of the Permanent Forum regarding the theme.
The Permanent Forum welcomes national engagement of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with Brazil, Finland, Mexico, New Zealand and Sweden on projects related to, among others, the development of national action plans for the implementation of indigenous peoples’ rights, processes related to land demarcation and land titling, and facilitating the repatriation of sacred ceremonial objects. The Forum highlights the agreement facilitated by the Expert Mechanism among the Museum of World Culture in Sweden, the Yaqui people in Mexico and the United States of America on the repatriation of the Maaso Kova as a commendable best practice. The Forum encourages States and indigenous peoples to build on the successful country engagement practices and avail themselves of the Expert Mechanism’s unique analytical capacity and potential to support dialogue between indigenous peoples and Governments.
The Permanent Forum considers that the conclusion of the Global Preparatory Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, to be held in Alta, Norway, from 10 to 12 June 2013, should be considered as a firm basis for the identification of specific themes for the round table and panel discussions under the auspices of the General Assembly.