E/2016/43
E/C.19/2016/11
40. Consistent with the commitments in the outcome document of the high -level
meeting of the General Assembly known as the World Conference on Indigenous
Peoples (General Assembly resolution 69/2) and the standards for indigenous
peoples’ survival, dignity and well-being contained in the United Nations
Declaration, the Permanent Forum recommends that States fully engage indigenous
peoples in good-faith negotiations of treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements on the basis of the unequivocal recognition of indigenous peoples ’
rights to lands, territories and resources and to fully reject the extinguishment of
indigenous rights in form or result. Furthermore, the Forum recommends that States
address the call for full and effective redress for the loss of lands, territories and
resources and State breaches of treaties, agreements and other constructive
arrangements. The Forum reiterates the urgent need for States to institute, in
conjunction with indigenous peoples, high-level oversight bodies to guide and
oversee the conduct of negotiations and implementation of treaties, agr eements and
other constructive arrangements in the light of ongoing negotiation and
implementation issues. Building on the recommendations advanced at the eleventh
session of the Forum, States are encouraged to support the resolution of disputes
between indigenous peoples by providing financial and other methods of support to
achieve peaceful resolution.
Environment
41. In accordance with the right to food security and food sovereignty, the
Permanent Forum takes note of the Indigenous Terra Madre 2015 held in Shillong,
Meghalaya, north-east India, from 3 to 7 November 2015 and convened by the
Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty with the support
of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, the government of Meghalaya and a number of
non-governmental organizations and funding agencies. The event, including a food
festival, was attended by delegates from 62 countries and 170 indigenous
communities, who adopted the Shillong Declaration of Indigenous Terra Madre
2015. The Forum likewise commends the initiative to form the Indigenous Food
Communities Alliance as an indigenous platform for promoting good, clean and fair
food based on agroecological initiatives that respect Mother Earth, are culturally
sensitive, value traditional practices and are based on indigenous traditional
scientific knowledge.
42. In relation to the food security and food sovereignty of indigenous peoples, the
Permanent Forum acknowledges indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge, in
particular that of indigenous women, and recognizes their cultural, social and
environmental practices, which contribute to global efforts and initiatives such as
the Sustainable Development Goals.
43. The Permanent Forum calls upon indigenous peoples to share with the world
their cultural, social and environmental practices relating to the production and
consumption of food, which are part of the solution to the global search for
agricultural systems that are just, healthy, peaceful and sustainable.
44. 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
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