E/2009/43
E/C.19/2009/14
13. The Permanent Forum supports the work of the Special Representative to urge
States to integrate human rights into those areas that most affect business practices,
including corporate law, export credit and insurance, investments and trade
agreements. The Forum suggests that the Special Representative urge States to
ensure that such business practices comply with the relevant provisions of the
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Forum urges
the Special Representative to incorporate the specific views and distinct
perspectives of indigenous peoples on social and economic development. Regarding
the Americas, corporations must also comply with the rulings of the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights, which construe the States’ obligations under International
Labour Organization (ILO) Convention (No. 169) concerning Indigenous and Tribal
Peoples in Independent Countries with regard to the Declaration as extending even
to States that have not ratified the Convention. The Forum recommends that this
principle be applied in other jurisdictions.
14. The Permanent Forum recommends that transnational corporations and other
business enterprises adopt minimum standards consistent with the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a requirement of due diligence.
This process has four core elements: the existence of a human rights policy;
assessment of the impact on human rights of company activities; integration of those
values and findings into corporate culture; and tracking of and reporting on
performance.
15. The Permanent Forum recommends that in the case of projects affecting
indigenous peoples, States ensure that transnational corporations and other business
enterprises comply with specific standards contained in the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169.
16. The Permanent Forum recommends that, in order to ensure access to effective
remedies, States enforce corporate compliance with relevant laws and standards.
Transnational corporations and other business enterprises should put into place
operational-level grievance mechanisms to provide early warning and help resolve
problems before they escalate. Significant barriers to accessing effective judicial
and non-judicial remedies persist, and the Forum supports the work of the Special
Representative in identifying and proposing ways of eliminating those barriers.
17. The Permanent Forum supports the recommendations of the international
expert group meeting on extractive industries, indigenous peoples’ rights and
corporate social responsibility addressed to extractive industry corporations, States,
United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, indigenous peoples, nations and
organizations, and international financial institutions, contained in a paper presented
to the Forum. 2
18. The Permanent Forum decides to appoint as Special Rapporteur Victoria
Tauli-Corpuz, a member of the Forum, to conduct a study on the impacts of the
global economic crisis on indigenous peoples, to identify measures and proposals
for Governments and United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes to
address the impacts and to report thereon to the Forum at its ninth session, in 2010.
19. The Permanent Forum calls upon States and corporations to fully recognize the
presence and effective participation of indigenous peoples in all negotiation
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4
See E/CN.19/2009/CRP.8.
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