The Forum recommends that UNICEF consider the appointment of a goodwill ambassador of indigenous children and youth to raise public awareness and that it urge all UNICEF ambassadors to pay attention to the specific problems of indigenous children and youth.
The Forum notes that in order for it and the United Nations system to review the situation of indigenous children and youth, there is a need for country-specific situation analyses. Given UNICEF’s unique and long experience and expertise in that area, the Forum invites UNICEF to initiate such situation analyses on indigenous children by field offices in countries with indigenous communities. The Forum also invites UNICEF to transmit such situation analyses to the Forum.
The Forum is deeply concerned that particular problems and discrimination are faced by indigenous children and youth, including in the areas of education, health, culture, extreme poverty, mortality, incarceration, labour and other relevant areas. The Forum notes the need for new indicators to be developed by the United Nations that will specifically target those problems, and in that regard invites UNICEF to develop such new indicators and share them with other entities of the United Nations system, especially UNESCO.
The Forum recommends that the Economic and Social Council, the relevant United Nations cooperating agencies and Governments of the region provide technical facilities and grant the necessary political and moral support for organizing:
(a) The Fourth Continental Summit of Indigenous Women of the Americas, to be held in Lima in March 2004;
(b) The Second Continental Conference of Indigenous Women of Africa, to be held in Nairobi, 2003;
(c) The Second Conference of Asian Indigenous Women, to be held in 2004.
The Forum recommends that the special theme of its third session be "Indigenous women".
The Forum recommends strengthening the mechanisms for collaboration with United Nations agencies and Governments, and monitoring compliance with and the implementation of its recommendations made to United Nations agencies and Governments.
The Forum expresses its satisfaction that the Inter-Agency Support Group has met since the first session of the Forum to organize its input to the second session, and expresses appreciation to the ILO and the World Bank for having convened the Group. The Forum requests the Group to extend its membership to other United Nations system entities so as to promote the largest possible participation of the system in the work programme of the Forum, and requests the secretariat of the Forum to provide substantive support to the rotating Chair of the Group. The Forum also expresses appreciation for the active participation of agency focal points in a constructive dialogue during its second session, and expresses the hope that focal points will continue to participate at its third session.
The Forum, taking into account the importance and potential of regional inter-governmental organizations in promoting indigenous issues in their respective regions, invites those organizations to contribute annually to its work.
Should members of the Forum wish to submit working papers to the Forum under the various areas of its mandate, they are hereby formally recommended to do so.
The Forum recognizes the efforts of the World Bank in the consultation process and the review of its policy on indigenous peoples. The members of the Forum request that the final draft policy be made available to them before its presentation to the Board of the World Bank. The members of the Forum express their great interest in reviewing the draft policy and making recommendations, as well as in meeting with the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank.
Noting the challenge of securing the constructive participation of indigenous peoples’ organizations in its sessions and ongoing work and of developing an active partnership between civil society, Governments and the United Nations system, the Forum recommends that a workshop be convened to develop innovative working methods for future sessions of the Forum, including methods of disseminating information before the sessions.
The Forum decides to create a database of recommendations proposed by Forum members and observers during sessions of the Forum that are not reflected in reports of the sessions, for further consideration.