The Permanent Forum welcomes the launch of the publication Global Indigenous Youth: Through their Eyes by the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. The Forum recommends that international organizations, indigenous youth organizations, academia and other stakeholders undertake similar initiatives to raise awareness on the challenges facing indigenous young people.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the proclamation by the General Assembly in its resolution 74/135 of the period 2022–2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, following the successful celebration in 2019 of the International Year of Indigenous Languages. The International Decade provides a unique opportunity for creating sustainable changes in complex social dynamics for the preservation, revitalization and promotion of indigenous languages.
The Permanent Forum invites UNESCO to create, in cooperation with academic institutions and indigenous peoples’ institutions, a universal digital platform in which digital resources for indigenous languages can be created, stored and made available to indigenous peoples and researchers in order to preserve linguistic diversity.
The Forum notes with concern the unsatisfactory implementation of the World Bank’s policy on indigenous peoples, as documented by many of the Bank’s internal reviews, most notably the 2011 internal review report and the 2010 report by the Independent Evaluation Group, Safeguards and Sustainability Policies in a Changing World. Strict adherence to safeguards of indigenous peoples’ rights is necessary. The Forum recommends that efforts be directed towards compliance machinery within the Bank, both up front, when dealing with projects and design and approval processes, and in post-project enforcement mechanisms.
The Permanent Forum calls on the World Bank to activate the 2005 Extractive Industries Review in order to address the impact and legacy of extractive industries on indigenous lands, territories and resources.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the Arctic Council to provide the indigenous permanent participants in the Council with adequate financial resources, enabling them to effectively participate in all relevant activities of the Council.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), UNESCO, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and other agencies should continue to support, in cooperation with indigenous peoples, intercultural and bilingual education programs and to promote in particular the right to education, with emphasis on indigenous children; direct financial assistance to indigenous educational institutions should be considered.
The Forum recommends the establishment of an international ethical code on bio-prospecting in order to avoid bio-piracy and ensure the respect for indigenous cultural and intellectual heritage. Under the framework of the Convention, a mechanism should be established for the repatriation and devolution of genetic materials collections to indigenous peoples. The Forum recommends to the Convention secretariat that the global taxonomy initiative incorporate an ethical principles and social framework for the protection of indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands, traditional knowledge and resources before its implementation.
The Forum recommends that the United Nations Environment Programme report on the feasibility of developing mechanisms for indigenous peoples to participate in the persistent organic pollutants global monitoring programme’s evaluation process under the Stockholm Convention. The Forum also welcomes the key findings of the UNEP global mercury assessment, and recommends that the Economic and Social Council recommend that UNEP take immediate action on mercury contamination and work towards initiating a global legally binding instrument and other measures at the next UNEP Governing Council meeting of environmental ministers, to be held in the Republic of Korea in 2005.
The Permanent Forum urges States parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to seriously consider the recommendations of the above-mentioned international expert group meeting.
The Permanent Forum urges the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to require States parties to take into account, in their reports to each body, the first article of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which must be understood pursuant to article 3 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which sets out the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination
The Permanent Forum welcomes the collaboration with indigenous parliamentarians during the tenth session of the Forum. It encourages the parliamentarians and other elected indigenous representatives from national, regional and local decision-making bodies to establish an international network or organization in order to share common experiences, including those related to the implementation of the Declaration in legislative and other democratic bodies. It further encourages the Inter-Parliamentary Union to install a liaising body with the indigenous parliamentarians to strengthen awareness of the Declaration. The Forum calls upon indigenous parliamentarians to promote the necessary legislative reforms for implementation of the Declaration.