Recalling the international expert Workshop on Data Collection and Disaggregation for Indigenous Peoples (see E/C.19/2004/2, for the report thereon), the Forum welcomes the collaboration with the United Nations Statistics Division in reviewing national practices in data collection and dissemination in the areas of ethnicity, language and religion and looks forward to the Demographic Yearbook special topic which will include data and analysis relevant to indigenous peoples. The Forum is also pleased to note that data on national and/or ethnic groups are being made available online by the Statistics Division at the following website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybcens.htm
In light of this work, as well as the 2010 World Population and Housing Census Program, the Forum supports the Statistics Division in: (a) continuing its work in reviewing national practices in data collection and dissemination on issues relevant to indigenous peoples; (b) considering the extent to which the revision of the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses can further address national and international data needs by facilitating the collection of data on indigenous peoples; c) Continuing to follow the recommendations of the international expert Workshop on Data Collection and Disaggregation for Indigenous Peoples; (d) Strengthening user-producer consultation in data collection and dissemination efforts
The Forum recognizes the unique contributions made by indigenous women in terms of possessing and transmitting through the generations a wealth of traditional knowledge on the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable environmental management, and calls on the secretariat of the Convention for Biological Diversity, UNEP and all relevant United Nations bodies to mainstream indigenous gender issues and knowledge in national environmental policies and programmes.
The Forum recommends that the World Conservation Union Congress, to be held in November 2004 in Bangkok, endorse the recommendations on indigenous peoples and protected areas, as well as other relevant recommendations (such as on sacred sites) adopted by the Fifth World Parks Congress. It should also emphasize the need for the recognition of community conserved areas and indigenous peoples’ protected areas, the need for the full respect for indigenous peoples’ rights and the need for indigenous peoples’ free prior informed consent to be obtained before the declaration or in the management of any protected area which may affect them.
The Forum recommends that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Secretariat establish a policy on indigenous peoples, in consultation with indigenous peoples