The Forum urges States, the United Nations system, international financial institutions, international and regional trade bodies (such as the World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Common Market of the South) to undertake social and human rights impact assessments of the globalization and liberalization of trade and investments on indigenous peoples' poverty situation
The Permanent Forum welcomes the effort of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to establish a regional human rights mechanism and offers its expertise and cooperation in this matter. The Forum recommends that the mechanism be called the “ASEAN Human Rights Commission” and that the commission explicitly recognize indigenous peoples in its terms of reference. We look forward to a strong commission with full investigatory and implementation powers, which uses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as its framework in dealing with indigenous peoples’ issues. The Forum also recommends that the commission establish a committee on indigenous peoples in addition to its proposed committees on migrant workers and women and children.
The Permanent Forum recommends that in the case of projects affecting indigenous peoples, States ensure that transnational corporations and other business enterprises comply with specific standards contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169.
The Permanent Forum recommends that the Human Rights Council consider the development of a framework for the implementation of article 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as adopted by the Human Rights Council, to assess implementation of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous peoples in all regions of the world.
The Permanent Forum recommends that Governments, bilateral and multilateral donor and development agencies and other development partners responsible for or assisting in the implementation of sectoral strategies or other programmes affecting lands owned, occupied or otherwise used by indigenous peoples review the consistency of such strategies and programmes with internationally recognized standards for the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples and the impact of such strategies and programmes on indigenous communities and report to the Permanent Forum at its seventh session in 2008 on the results of these reviews and on any strategies adopted to address the challenges they might identify.
The Forum recommends that the United Nations system, particularly the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNEP, taking note of the World Bank's extractive industries review, organize a workshop on resource extraction and indigenous peoples to further discuss such issues as corporate accountability and the rehabilitation of mined out areas, polluted water bodies and compensation of adversely affected communities, sustainable development and land rights, with a view to developing a mechanism to address the issues.
The Forum recognizes and applauds other indigenous fellowship programmes, in particular the fellowship programme established and funded by the regular budget of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the newly established fellowship programme of the ILO. Furthermore, the Forum particularly recognizes the capacity-building efforts of the indigenous fellowship programme of the Office and requests that, in order to complement their Geneva based training, the indigenous fellows at the Office should participate, on an annual basis, in the sessions of the Forum. Further consideration should also be given to provide some time for training at the secretariat of the Forum, during non-sessional periods.
The Forum takes note of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples following his latest visits to Chile, Colombia and Mexico. The Forum calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to elaborate technical cooperation programmes to assist in the implementation of the recommendations.
The Forum recommends that UN-Habitat jointly, with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, through the United Nations Housing Rights Programme, organize an expert group meeting in 2006 to review the status of the realization process of indigenous peoples’ housing rights globally, and identify and document best practices and report on the outcome and recommendations of the expert group meeting at the sixth session of the Forum.
The Permanent Forum welcomes the reports of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, on the international seminars on “Constitutional Reforms, Legislation and Implementation of Laws regarding the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” held in Geneva and Tucson, Arizona, in July and October 2005, respectively (E/CN.4/2006/78/Add.5). Concerned about the status of recommendations and the implementation gap, the Permanent Forum recommends to indigenous peoples’ organizations, non-governmental organizations and interested United Nations organizations and States that they hold United Nations expert seminars regarding the implementation of the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations and request that the results of the meetings be reported to the Permanent Forum at its sixth session.
The Forum reiterates the recommendations contained in paragraph 24 of its report on the first session, namely, it recommends that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights organize activities with indigenous peoples in Africa and Asia with a view to: (a) Providing international and regional human rights training for indigenous peoples; (b) Encouraging dialogue between States, indigenous peoples and others on the concept of indigenous peoples in the context of the promotion and protection of cultural diversity; (c) Inviting inter-agency consultation with States and indigenous peoples at the national and subregional levels and to report to the Forum at its third session.
The Permanent Forum urges African States, in coordination with the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, to support/organize two regional conferences/seminars in Africa, one for French-speaking States and the other for English-speaking States, to enhance the capacity of indigenous organizations to engage in dialogues with Governments at the country level and to promote an improved understanding of indigenous issues, including through the teaching of indigenous languages at schools with the special adaptation of education to the way of life of nomadic peoples; recognizing and sustaining indigenous knowledge systems and partnerships between States and indigenous peoples on the protection of conservation areas; and inter-agency consultation on poverty reduction strategies and on designing a regional strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.