E/2013/43 E/C.19/2013/25 34. The Permanent Forum calls upon States to ensure that national policies regarding indigenous pastoralism and hunter-gatherers comply with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 35. The Permanent Forum acknowledges that indigenous women in Africa face multiple forms of discrimination and several related challenges, including limited access to high-quality health care and sexual and reproductive health services; limited access to high-quality and relevant education; limited access to economic empowerment, vocational training and capacity-building programmes and processes; denial of or limited access to property rights and violation of their rights to inherit land; vulnerability to conflicts; gender-based domestic and other forms of violence; and food insecurity. 36. The Permanent Forum calls upon the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP and other entities of the United Nations system to develop programmes and projects that support and build the capacity of indigenous women in Africa in order to empower them economically and socially. A good practice in this regard is strengthening the entrepreneurship of indigenous women and facilitating their access to formal markets and financial institutions for their activities. The Forum also encourages States to develop affirmative actions that are aimed at actively including indigenous women in decision-making at all levels and at ensuring that indigenous women’s voices are equally represented in economic, social and political decision-making processes. 37. The high rate of indigenous children who are out of school requires urgent attention, in particular in respect of securing access by girls to high-quality and relevant education that respects the cultures and traditions of the communities and that is responsive to their needs. Given that many indigenous peoples live in regions that have been defined as geographically remote or inaccessible, and many services do not reach such indigenous and/or nomadic communities, there are also serious challenges regarding the long distances required to reach hospitals and health-care centres, which lead to higher maternal and infant mortality rates in indigenous communities. The Permanent Forum urges States to ensure that health and education services reach remote areas and meet the needs of nomadic peoples. 38. The Permanent Forum notes the increasing operational activity of extractive industries and other large-scale development projects, including land grabbing, which is taking place on or near the territories of indigenous peoples in many African States, often without the involvement of indigenous peoples and without their free, prior and informed consent. The Forum recommends that African States must respect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in particular the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent. Human rights 39. During its twelfth session, the Permanent Forum held an extremely constructive dialogue with the Chair of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Chair of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Member States and indigenous peoples on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The recommendations below reflect issues that arose at the twelfth session that are of universal character or of an urgent nature. 13-36172 9