The Permanent Forum demands that WIPO recognize and respect the applicability and relevance of the Declaration as a significant international human rights instrument that must inform the Intergovernmental Committee process and the overall work of WIPO. The minimum standards reflected in the Declaration must either be exceeded or directly incorporated into any and all WIPO instruments that directly or indirectly impact the human rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum invites United Nations bodies with expertise on human rights, cultural rights and the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples to provide legal and technical comments on the revised draft protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization for transmission to parties to the Convention for consideration in their final negotiations.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the recognition and inclusion of indigenous peoples’ knowledge in the work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to assess the state of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The Forum supports the Platform’s approach to recognize and work with indigenous knowledge throughout its work programme, for example, recognizing the contribution of indigenous knowledge in its global assessment on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems. The Forum invites the Platform to continue to inform the Forum about the progress of its work, including at its seventeenth session.
The Permanent Forum commends WIPO for the establishment of the Voluntary Fund for Accredited and Indigenous Local Communities, and urges Member States and public and private entities to contribute to the Fund to ensure its operation beyond the twenty-second session of the Intergovernmental Committee in accordance with States’ commitment to article 41 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Consistent with article 18 of the Declaration, the Permanent Forum requests Member States to explore and establish modalities to ensure the equal, full and direct participation of indigenous peoples in all negotiations of the Intergovernmental Committee.
The Permanent Forum calls upon States to organize regional and national consultations to enable indigenous peoples to prepare for and participate effectively in sessions of the Intergovernmental Committee.
The Permanent Forum requests that WIPO commission a technical review, to be conducted by an indigenous expert, focusing on the draft texts concerning traditional knowledge, genetic resources and traditional cultural expressions, and to provide comments thereon to the Intergovernmental Committee through the Forum. The review should be undertaken within the framework of indigenous human rights.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the decision of the Intergovernmental Committee to organize, in cooperation with the Forum, expert preparatory meetings on the Intergovernmental Committee process for indigenous peoples representing the seven geopolitical regions recognized by the Forum.
The Permanent Forum recommends that WIPO seek the participation of experts on international human rights law specifically concerning indigenous peoples so that they provide input into the substantive consultation process, in particular with reference to the language in the draft text where indigenous peoples are “beneficiaries” and other language that refers to indigenous peoples as “communities”, as well as the general alignment of the draft text of the Intergovernmental Committee with international human rights norms and principles.
The Permanent Forum reiterates to the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity that, consistent with international human rights law, States have an obligation to recognize and protect the rights of indigenous peoples to control access to the genetic resources that originate in their lands and waters and any associated indigenous traditional knowledge. Such recognition must be a key element of the proposed international regime on access and benefit-sharing, consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Permanent Forum requests the Inter-Agency Support Group on Indigenous Peoples’ Issues and, specifically, those agencies working on land tenure and changes in land use, to step up cooperation in order to operationalize indicators on land tenure and changes in land use pertaining to the traditional territories (lands and waters) of indigenous peoples, as a global multipurpose indicator in order to report on status and trends, in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. All relevant funds, programmes and specialized agencies should update the Forum every year on the results of this work.
The Permanent Forum recognizes the importance of data disaggregation, as noted in target 17.18 of the 2030 Agenda, and in this regard, it is aware of the good practices promoted by the Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The Forum recommends that ECLAC, in cooperation with UNFPA and others, redouble efforts to ensure data disaggregation for indigenous peoples and promote the inclusion of complementary indicators on indigenous peoples’ rights in Governments’ national reports for the Sustainable Development Goals and the Montevideo Consensus on Population and Development, adopted at the Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Forum further recommends that ECLAC provide a guidance note and organize a mutual learning event, jointly with other regional commissions, in order to share best practices of data disaggregation on the basis of indigenous identifiers and self-identification, as used in the 2010 round of census in several countries in Latin America.