The Permanent Forum highlights the continued misappropriation and illicit use of indigenous peoples’ intellectual property and cultural heritage by enterprises and individuals that use it for their own vested interests or benefits. The Permanent Forum stresses that the intellectual property rights held by indigenous peoples, including with regard to data and knowledge, should not be exploited or be taken by private companies and individuals without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned. The principle of free, prior and informed consent and the stringent application of relevant safeguards and policies promulgated by United Nations system entities also applies to intellectual property rights in the context of industrial, forestry, mining and other projects conducted on indigenous peoples’ lands and territories. This also applies to relevant international instruments, such as the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Development Group, UNDP, UN-Women, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNESCO and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs provide technical and logistical support to enable the participation of indigenous peoples in processes relating to the sustainable development goals, including in conducting research, collecting good practices and replicating and promoting the contribution of indigenous peoples to sustainable and equitable development.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the efforts of Member States, United Nations entities and other intergovernmental organizations to implement the Declaration, as reaffirmed in the outcome document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, as well as the recommendations of the Forum, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous People in various regions, and urges them to take specific measures in this regard.
The Permanent Forum commends UNICEF and UNFPA for their work to combat female genital mutilation practices and urges them to continue their efforts with indigenous peoples and their communities.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Secretary-General, in his report on the study of violence against women, address the particular situation of indigenous women and girls whose suffering is based not only on gender but also on ethnicity and culture.
The Permanent Forum urges Member States to provide financial support to the trust fund on indigenous issues (fund 32FII) to support the work of the Forum in implementing its mandate and to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples to facilitate the participation of indigenous peoples in key United Nations meetings and processes. The Forum recommends that States, private foundations, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs support the work of indigenous-led funding initiatives.
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.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the World Intellectual Property Organization facilitating a process, in accordance with the Declaration, to engage with indigenous peoples on matters including intellectual property, genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore.
