The Permanent Forum calls on States to enter into discussions with indigenous peoples whose traditional lands are now incorporated in protected areas, with a view to reaching binding agreements that will not only acknowledge the legitimate interests of wildlife conservation but also recognize and guarantee the rights of those communities under articles 8 (2), 18, 19, 26 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the important technical Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of Food Security of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and recommends that FAO and other agencies, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, organize a workshop on the implementation of these guidelines in order to strengthen indigenous peoples’ rights to land, territories and resources consistent with articles 25, 26, 41 and 42 of the Declaration.
The Forum encourages Member States to facilitate the establishment of civil society organizations, including indigenous organizations, to assist in the preservation and protection of indigenous cultural heritage.
The Forum recommends that Member States put in place policies and mechanisms to increase indigenous women’s access to markets and capital in order to enable them to turn their traditional skills into sustainable forms of income generation.
The Permanent Forum requests that the secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues publish a second volume of the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, containing a section on development with culture and identity based on information from indigenous peoples’ organizations, United Nations agencies and States.
Noting that the Economic and Social Council, at its substantive session of 2003, will devote its high-level segment to rural development, the Forum recommends that the Council, in formulating its conclusions, take into account the unique cultural identities of indigenous peoples and the necessity for their meaningful participation in the planning, implementation and evaluation of programmes dealing with rural development.
The Forum expresses concern over development practices that do not take into account the particular characteristics of indigenous communities as groups, with their distinct cultural identities and often their own systems of representation, thus significantly undermining meaningful ways of participation in the assessment, preparation, execution and evaluation of development programmes of their concern.
The continuing denial of indigenous peoples’ rights to lands, territories and resources, based upon various racist doctrines, theories and policies, including on lands occupied or otherwise used, historically and currently, by them, has led, among others, to their eviction from their lands and the erosion of their hunting and other traditional occupations and lifestyles, thereby threatening their very survival and well-being as peoples. It is necessary to ensure that bans, such as on hunting and other traditional livelihoods, do not infringe upon the rights of indigenous peoples.
Recalling article 32 of the Declaration, which recognizes that indigenous peoples have the right to “determine and develop priorities and strategies for the development or use of their lands or territories and other resources”, the Permanent Forum urges the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank to develop and adopt policies on indigenous peoples on the basis of the Declaration, to ensure that the programmes and projects for which they provide support respect, promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the World Bank engage the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Permanent Forum in the development of guidance for the implementation of the new performance standard 7: Indigenous peoples, of the International Finance Corporation performance standards on environmental and social sustainability.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), entitled “Linking indigenous peoples with regional development”, which involves indigenous leaders and communities in Australia, Canada and Sweden, and encourages OECD and its member States to expand the project.
The Permanent Forum urges States to address the stark inequality between indigenous and non-indigenous people in all aspects of life, which has been heightened as a result of COVID-19, by implementing in full the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in all their legal norms and public policies related to indigenous peoples.