E/2004/43 E/C.19/2004/23 development, the mining of groundwater and the use of aquifers for industrial and commercial purposes will affect the lives of indigenous communities prior to conducting any of these actions in order to ensure that indigenous peoples are not confronted with such problems as increasing scarcity of freshwater, the toxic contamination of indigenous peoples’ territories and the lack of access of indigenous communities and other life forms to water, including oceans. Other environmental conventions 83. The Forum recommends that the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna facilitate the full and effective participation, including funding, of indigenous peoples, particularly women and youth, and the Forum in the work to implement these conventions, and involve them fully in policy formulation and in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of environmental programmes or projects. United Nations Forum on Forests and forest-related United Nations bodies 84. The Forum recommends that the United Nations Forum on Forests develop effective means to monitor and verify the participation of indigenous peoples in forest policy-making and sustainable forest management, and establish a mechanism, with the participation of indigenous peoples, to assess the performance of governmental and intergovernmental commitments and obligations to uphold and respect indigenous peoples’ rights. Capacity-building for indigenous peoples 85. The Forum recommends that the Convention on Biological Diversity and other relevant United Nations bodies such as UNEP, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), UNDP, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the World Bank, WIPO, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, support indigenous peoples’ organizations in order to develop capacity on research, work and proposals on human indicators applicable to the implementation of the environmental conventions and the plans and programmes of work of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 7. Health 86. The Forum reiterates its health recommendations made at its first and second sessions, in particular those contained in chapter I, section B, paragraphs 63 to 82 of its report on its second session.2 Introduction: challenges 87. The Beijing Platform for Action, the Cairo Declaration and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, and the Millennium Development Goals stress the importance of investment in health as a prerequisite for reversing the cycle of poverty. They emphasize the need to approach women’s health issues from a holistic perspective, taking into account their emotional, physical and social well-being, and to recognize the connections which 22