The Forum invites the World Health Organization, as lead agency on Millennium Development Goals 4, 5, and 6 with UNDP, the World Intellectual Property Organization and other relevant agencies and States, to partner with the Forum to organize, host and report to the Forum at its next session on methods, processes and best practices of integrating indigenous traditional knowledge, medicine, healing and other health practices in mainstream health-care systems and sensitizing health personnel concerning the protection of indigenous knowledge systems
The Forum recommends that the Inter-Agency Support Group convene a technical workshop on indigenous traditional knowledge, in collaboration with United Nations agencies dealing with this issue, with the participation of indigenous experts, with a view to promoting a collaborative, complementary and holistic approach to traditional knowledge in order to enhance better understanding of indigenous concerns and their possible solution and requests the workshop to submit its report to the Forum at its fifth session
The Permanent Forum expresses appreciation to Mr. Michael Dodson for his concept paper on traditional knowledge, and recommends that the paper be widely circulated. The Permanent Forum invites States, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and indigenous peoples and their organizations and academic institutions to submit written comments to the secretariat for consideration at the seventh session of the Permanent Forum. The Permanent Forum welcomes the support and notes that the recommendation in paragraph 24 of the report of the Special Rapporteur states that: “the Permanent Forum should commission a study ... to determine whether there ought to be a shift in the focus on the protection of indigenous traditional knowledge away from intellectual property law to protection via customary law ... The study should consider how indigenous traditional knowledge could be protected at an international level by utilizing customary law, including the extent to which customary law should be reflected, thereby providing guidance to States and, subsequently, protection at national and regional levels”. The Permanent Forum would particularly welcome written submissions addressing the above recommendation. The Permanent Forum re-appoints Mr. Dodson as Special Rapporteur to present a follow-up study on indigenous traditional knowledge, taking into account the written submissions, and to present the report to the seventh session of the Permanent Forum in 2008.
The Permanent Forum, with the assistance of relevant member of the Inter-Agency Support Group, and in collaboration with indigenous experts, will conduct timely technical reviews at critical stages in the negotiations of international standards on the protection of traditional knowledge, such as the international regime on access and benefit-sharing and the deliberations of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to evaluate consistency and harmonization with existing and developing international legal instruments, standards and arrangements and, in particular, the human rights of indigenous peoples.
The Permanent Forum welcomes and endorses the recommendations of the above-mentioned workshop on indigenous traditional knowledge by emphasizing paragraphs 61-74 of the report of the Workshop (see E/C.19/2006/2).
The Permanent Forum recommends that Member States, owing to the threat of biopiracy and the pharmaceutical industry, develop legislative measures, with the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to protect traditional medicine and knowledge, and to secure the rights of indigenous peoples to intellectual property.
The Permanent Forum urges increased dialogue among Governments, institutions and indigenous peoples concerning the identification, incorporation and value of indigenous knowledge in all disaster risk reduction projects and programmes at the national and regional levels. The Forum recommends that the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction take into consideration the study on engaging indigenous peoples more inclusively in the disaster risk reduction process (E/C.19/2013/14) as part of the official documentation of the third World Conference on Disaster Reduction, to be held in 2015.
The Permanent Forum, noting the significance for indigenous peoples of the negotiations under way at WIPO on intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, strongly encourages representatives of indigenous peoples to participate in those negotiations, consistent with article 18 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.
