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study centres; urges States to adopt a policy of free university tuition for all
indigenous peoples; encourages those universities that have not already done so to
establish designated places and scholarships for indigenous students; and
encourages UNESCO to support those initiatives where applicable.
87. The Permanent Forum adopts general comment No. 1 (2009), entitled “Article 42
of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. 5
88. The Permanent Forum recommends that all States apply the principles of
general comment No. 11 (2009) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child,
entitled “Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention”.
89. The Permanent Forum recognizes the cultural significance and medical
importance of the coca leaf in the Andean and other indigenous regions of South
America. It also notes that coca leaf chewing is specifically banned by the United
Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961). The Permanent Forum
recommends that those portions of the Convention regarding coca leaf chewing that
are inconsistent with the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain their traditional
health and cultural practices, as recognized in articles 11, 24 and 31 of the
Declaration, be amended and/or repealed.
90. The Permanent Forum takes note of the 2009 report of the ILO Committee of
Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, particularly the
general observation, and the nine individual observations on implementation of ILO
Convention No. 169 on indigenous and tribal peoples. The Forum welcomes the
increased attention paid by the Committee to ILO Convention No. 169 and calls
upon the Committee to fully incorporate the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples in its individual observations as a source of
interpretation of the Convention.
91. The Permanent Forum notes that the observations adopted by the Committee
of Experts incorporate relevant parameters for the implementation of the
Convention by States parties in good faith. The Permanent Forum also observes that
in some instances, the Committee demanded that State parties provide additional
reports for the Committee at its eightieth, in 2009, session, instead of in 2013, as
originally planned. Those requests for advanced reports illustrate that, in a number
of countries, serious obstacles still exist in relation to the enjoyment of indigenous
peoples’ fundamental rights, as affirmed in ILO Convention No. 169 and the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
92. In this connection, and in respect of articles 41 and 42 of the Declaration, the
Permanent Forum trusts that, at its ninety-eighth session, in 2009, the Conference
Committee on the Application of Standards of the International Labour Conference
will pay due attention to the cases of violation of ILO Convention No. 169, which
have been signalled by the Committee of Experts, in the light of the Declaration,
and urges States to respond promptly to the reports of the Committee of Experts.
93. The Permanent Forum recommends that an appropriate form of coordination
should be explored between the Committee of Experts and the Forum regarding the
implementation of ILO Convention No. 169. The Permanent Forum reiterates the
need for a mechanism of coordination to also be established between the ILO
supervisory mechanisms and indigenous peoples, which may include the
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