E/2004/43 E/C.19/2004/23 13. Violent conflicts and militarization fundamentally affect the lives of indigenous women and their families and communities, causing violations of their human rights and displacement from their ancestral lands. Yet indigenous women do not see themselves as passive victims but have taken up the roles of mediators and peace builders. Recognizing the profound concerns of the impact of conflict situations on indigenous women, the Forum recommends: (a) That IOM and other relevant United Nations entities incorporate the needs and priorities of women and girls as ex-combatants in the design and implementation of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes, and ensure their full access to all resources and benefits provided in reintegration programmes, including income-generation and skill-development programmes; (b) That UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, WHO, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme, and other field-based agencies collect data on the situation of indigenous women living in conflict areas. Such data would be valuable for analysis and programme development; (c) That IANWGE integrate indigenous women issues into its strategies on women, conflict, peace and security; (d) That the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other United Nations human rights bodies ensure that statutory provisions prohibiting war crimes and crimes against humanity cover criminal acts perpetrated on a gender basis since their occurrence remains particularly acute, especially the high incidence of mass rape and mutilation during armed conflict; (e) That UNHCR give priority to indigenous women and their families who are displaced internally and externally by force due to armed conflict in their territories. 14. To ensure that the concerns and priorities of indigenous women are properly taken into account, the Forum urges States: (a) To take concrete steps to increase the participation of indigenous women in governance and decision-making structures at all levels; (b) To clearly identify and define the issues and needs of indigenous women, taking into account regional and local cultural differences; (c) To develop and strengthen structures and mechanisms for the advancement of indigenous women within the wider agenda for the advancement of women; to clearly define their mandate by taking into account the holistic and crosscutting nature of indigenous women’s issues; to allocate appropriate resources to those institutions; and to provide support from the national political leadership to those structures; (d) To ensure the implementation of international human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, regarding indigenous women, and to integrate those instruments into the formulation of a coherent national public policy for indigenous women (including legal frameworks, budget allocations and specific programmes and projects addressing indigenous women’s issues); 6