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target 3 of Sustainable Development Goal 2, which calls for secure and equal access
to land.
12. The Permanent Forum calls on States, in consultation with indigenous peoples,
to establish national judicial institutions tasked with identifying lands, waters, coastal
waters and other resources to which the indigenous peoples concerned have
established ownership and usufruct rights, and to demarcate such lands and resources.
13. The Permanent Forum draws attention to the number of reports, from around
the world, of acts of intimidation and reprisal, including restrictions on the ability of
representatives of indigenous peoples to attend the Forum’s sessions. Indigenous
leaders and human rights defenders face disproportionately high rates of intimidation
and reprisal, as shown by various studies, including by the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights defenders.
14. Given that the United Nations relies on the cooperation of the people whom it
serves and that everyone, individually and in association with others, has the right to
unhindered access to and communication with the Organization, the Permanen t
Forum requests the Secretary-General, through the Assistant Secretary-General for
Human Rights and in consultation with other relevant United Nations mechanisms, to
report on trends related to intimidation and reprisals against indigenous peoples who
seek to engage with the United Nations, including by providing suggestions to prevent
and address reprisals through reporting from all parts of the United Nations system
and with input from indigenous peoples, to the Forum at its eighteenth session, in
2019. 2
15. The Permanent Forum continues to be concerned that the World Bank’s new
environmental and social safeguard 7 allows the conversion of the collective
territories of indigenous peoples into individual ownership rights, even though it
recognizes the importance of protecting the collective attachment of indigenous
peoples to their lands. Providing funding for States to divide the lands of indigenous
peoples generates conflict, irreparably harms livelihoods and traditional resource
management strategies and erodes the governance structures of indigenous peoples.
Paragraph 29 of environmental and social safeguard 7 should urgently be revised to
ensure that indigenous peoples maintain their collective rights to lands, territories and
resources in all projects funded by the Bank.
16. The Forum reiterates its request to the Inter-Agency Expert Group on
Sustainable Development Goal Indicators to make the land -related indicator
operational, including on changing land use and the security of land tenure in the
traditional territories of indigenous peoples.
17. The Permanent Forum urges all agencies, funds and programmes of the United
Nations system to incorporate the recognition of the collective rights of indigenous
peoples to lands, territories and resources into their policies and programmes at the
country level and to report to the Forum on progress made at its eighteenth session.
18. The Permanent Forum expresses its concern for the indigenous peoples of
certain African countries, who continue to be victims of violations of their rights to
lands, territories and resources. Multiple threats and obstacles hinder their social,
economic, political and legal development, including discrimination and
marginalization; lack of rights to land and natural and productive res ources; denial
and lack of access to justice; violations of cultural rights; denial of the rights to legal
recognition, political representation and participation; lack of access to basic social
services; denial of the right to existence and self-development; violence against
indigenous individuals and communities, including rape of indigenous women; and
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See www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Reprisals/Pages/ReprisalsIndex.aspx.
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