The Forum reaffirms the UNDP focus on implementing its policy of working with indigenous peoples at the country level, and urges UNDP to continue its work to develop a policy on land tenure rights with the participation of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the International Labour Organization (ILO) continue to work with the Forum, United Nations agencies, financial institutions, bilateral donors and other interested parties to further the inclusion of indigenous peoples’ rights in high-level development policies and poverty reduction strategy papers, such as by raising indigenous peoples’ issues with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and its related Development Assistance Committee.
The Permanent Forum recognizes that the role of boarding schools for indigenous children has attracted considerable international attention. In some countries, boarding schools have had a very negative, even tragic, impact on the families, cultures and identities of indigenous peoples. At the same time, in some regions of the world, boarding schools are considered an important step for the successful social integration and education of indigenous children into mainstream society. The situation is complex. The Permanent Forum therefore recommends that an expert member conduct an in-depth comprehensive and comparative case study on this subject, with a focus on best practices. Furthermore, where negative impacts have occurred, the Permanent Forum supports the call of indigenous peoples for formal apologies from the States concerned.
The Forum urges UNICEF, UNDP, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Global Fund for AIDS to gather and disaggregate data on indigenous infants, children and mothers based on criterion relating to ethnicity, cultural and tribal affiliation and language.
The Permanent Forum acknowledges the Ibero-American Action Plan for the Implementation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 2018 and the establishment of an indigenous peoples’ regional observatory, led by the Fund for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, as a tool to measure the progress made in implementing the Declaration. In addition, the Forum encourages Member States and the United Nations system to strengthen cooperation with the Fund, considering its fundamental role in the region in processes of dialogue and consultation between States and indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the endorsement by the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination in November 2020 of a call to action to revitalize the system-wide action plan on the rights of indigenous peoples, as set out in the report entitled “Building an inclusive, sustainable and resilient future with indigenous peoples: a call to action”. In the report, the Chief Executives Board called for ensuring the more systematic participation of indigenous peoples in United Nations country processes, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks, and in the implementation of socioeconomic response and recovery plans and the Goals.
The Permanent Forum urges States to support the economic activities of indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women, by enhancing their equal access to productive resources and agricultural inputs, such as land, seeds, financial services, technology, transportation and information.
The Permanent Forum calls upon the Commission on the Status of Women to consider the issue of gender equality and the empowerment of Indigenous women and girls as a priority theme in its next multi-year programme of work in 2025.