Adopt measures that ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous women in implementation, follow-up work and monitoring of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals
Owing to the cross-cutting nature of gender equality, it is also critical that gender perspectives be fully integrated into the implementation and monitoring of all the other objectives associated with the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals.
Request the Commission on Human Rights to support the request that the Special Rapporteur on violence against women conduct a workshop/study on violence against indigenous women in coordination with the Permanent Forum and to report on progress at the sixth session of the Permanent Forum
Foster the training of indigenous women in order to gain leadership skills to become community advocates and defenders for indigenous women's rights to achieve gender equity
Include relevant information on the rights of indigenous peoples, in particular indigenous women by engaging indigenous organizations in the reporting process to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and other relevant human rights bodies, encouraging indigenous women through their organizations to become involved in the reporting process to the Committee
The Permanent Forum recommends that the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) conduct a study on violence against indigenous women and access to justice, especially in cross-border situations, in cooperation with indigenous women.
The Permanent Forum recommends that agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, in collaboration with indigenous peoples ’ organizations, monitor the high levels of global violence and threats directed at indigenous women human rights defenders. The Forum calls for an immediate halt to the criminalization,
incarceration, intimidation, coercion and assassination of, and death threats to, all indigenous human and environmental rights defenders.
The Forum welcomes the participation and perspective of indigenous women and girls with disabilities, recognizes the distinct vulnerability and marginalization that such indigenous individuals encounter as members of an indigenous group, and encourages United Nations agencies, and Governments and organizations, to include their views.
Reinforce the investments in population and reproductive health which is crucial for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals - to reduce poverty, achieve universal primary education, improve maternal and child health, curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, promote gender equality, ensure sustainable development, and establish a strong partnership for development
The Permanent Forum welcomes the study presented by UNFPA, in collaboration with CHIRAPAQ (Centro de Culturas Indígenas del Perú), entitled “Progress and challenges regarding the recommendations of the Forum on sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender-based violence”. The Permanent Forum invites UNFPA to make efforts to disseminate the findings of the study at the global, regional and country levels among Member States, United Nations mechanisms and indigenous organizations. The Forum also invites UNFPA to engage in concerted dialogue wit h the nine Member States that were part of the study on next steps to put into action the recommendations of the study, and to report to the Forum at its eighteenth session on progress made.
The Permanent Forum reiterates previous recommendations that WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNFPA, as well as regional health organizations and Governments, fully incorporate a cultural perspective into health policies and programmes and reproductive health services aimed at providing indigenous women with quality health care, including emergency obstetric care, voluntary family planning and skilled attendance at birth. The roles of traditional midwives should be re-evaluated and expanded so that they may assist indigenous women during their reproductive health processes and act as cultural brokers between health systems and indigenous peoples.
Despite this critical role, community-regulated indigenous midwifery is often undermined and actively criminalized, to the detriment of the health of indigenous peoples. To close the gap between indigenous and non -indigenous health outcomes, the practice of indigenous midwifery must be supported by state health policy and integration. The right of indigenous peoples to self-determination extends to their reproductive health, and States should put an end to the criminalization of indigenous midwifery and make the necessary legislative and regu latory amendments to legitimize indigenous midwives who are recognized by their communities as health-care providers. States should also support the education of new traditional indigenous midwives via multiple routes of education, including apprenticeship s and the oral transmission of knowledge.