E/2009/43 E/C.19/2009/14 Annex General comments to the follow-up to the recommendations of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and on dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples and other special rapporteurs “Article 42 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” Article 42 as basis for a new function 1. The purpose of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is to constitute the legal basis for all activities in the areas of indigenous issues. The task of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in the years to come, following the historical adoption of the Declaration by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007, will be to act within its capacity to transform the Declaration in its entirety into living law. Implementation to the living law will have been fulfilled when the indigenous peoples achieve practical results on the ground. 2. The Declaration has built a new foundation for the rights of indigenous peoples. At the same time, the Forum was assigned an extended mandate with a new function based on article 42, which stipulates that: The United Nations, its bodies, including the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and specialized agencies, including at the country level, and States shall promote respect for and full application of the provisions of this Declaration and follow up the effectiveness of this Declaration. 3. The goal of this general comment is to determine and detail, to some extent, what the obligations of the Forum are, as laid down in article 42 of the Declaration and how the Forum can fulfil those obligations. In order to determine and detail such obligations and actions, one must clarify the legal understanding of the article. This must be discussed on the basis of the status of the Declaration as an international law instrument of a human rights character. 4. The Forum is the only United Nations body expressly mentioned in the article. This wording emphasizes that the Forum, as a United Nations body particularly created for indigenous issues, has a responsibility to realize the purpose of the article. 5. The Forum was established pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 2000/22. As an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council, the Forum has so far had six mandated areas, namely indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, environment, education, health and human rights. Even though the Forum is a subsidiary body of the Council, the General Assembly can, as the global body within the United Nations system, extend and strengthen the mandate of the Forum. Article 42 introduces a new function and responsibility, which should be read in the light of the article as a source of international law. 09-36351 19