The Permanent Forum welcomes the launch of online courses on the rights of indigenous peoples offered by Columbia University, OHCHR, Tribal Link Foundation, UNDP and Universidad Indígena Intercultural, and recommends that academic, indigenous and other organizations and the United Nations system seek ways to provide access to these courses for indigenous peoples living in remote areas without Internet or digital devices. Special efforts should be made to make such courses available in various languages, including indigenous languages, and to make them accessible to indigenous young people. The Forum also recommends incorporating more indigenous knowledge into universities, in consultation with the indigenous owners of the knowledge, with the design of online course content that addresses specific local and national indigenous issues in different countries, and increasing the participation and voices of indigenous peoples in online courses.
The Permanent Forum calls on the organizers of the forthcoming meetings of Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa to ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, virtually or in person, in the meetings that are to be organized later in 2021. The Forum encourages donors and civil society organizations to support indigenous peoples’ participation in these events.