The Permanent Forum welcomes the study entitled “Free, prior and informed consent: a human rights-based approach” (A/HRC/39/62), prepared by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It encourages Member States, United Nations entities, including the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank, regional development banks, the private sector, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, to use the study as guidance for understanding the principle of free, prior and informed consent when working on issues of concern to indigenous peoples. The Forum also encourages indigenous peoples to use the study to guide the development of their own community protocols on free, prior and informed consent for engaging with these stakeholders.
Regarding the negotiations taking place at the sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Permanent Forum reiterates the urgent need to develop an instrument that responds to the current lack of adequate protection of traditional knowledge and recognizes indigenous peoples as equal stakeholders and the legitimate holders of their knowledge. The Forum calls upon the Intergovernmental Committee to fast-track the negotiations and to use its core budget to fund indigenous peoples’ participation in the deliberations.