Suchergebnisse

International and domestic rights frameworks are setting the stage for the full recognition of Indigenous Peoples' rights in Canada. However, current political promises to restore Indigenous relations, to reconcile historic wrongs, and to foster mutual prosperity and well-being for all people within Canada remain woefully unfulfilled. Indigenous Peoples continue to call for full engagement with emerging Indigenous rights frameworks such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and its principles of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). This article discusses the key findings from a multi-year university–community research partnership with Matawa First Nations in which we collaboratively seek to advance understanding of consultation processes and Indigenous experiences of and perspectives on FPIC. The article, based on several years of dialogue and interviews and a two-day workshop on FPIC, offers insight into Indigenous perspectives on FPIC advancing an Indigenous-informed relational approach to consultation and consent seeking.

The international agreement to regulate hazardous waste trading, the Basel Convention, has relied on the procedure of prior informed consent (PIC) to ensure that human health and the environment are protected. As the debate over banning such trade continues, and as a new agreement using PIC for the trade in hazardous chemicals is being negotiated, it is useful to ask how effective the PIC mechanism has been. This article outlines how PIC functions in theory and in practice, and examines data on the notification and response rates of hazardous waste trade proposals. After outlining the experiences and draw backs of the PIC mechanism for hazardous wastes, several lessons regarding the use of PIC for hazardous chemicals are suggested.

Investment approval processes are the gateway through which governments set the agenda for their country's investment environment. Yet too often these processes fail to incorporate meaningful requirements regarding participation in decision-making by Indigenous and other affected communities, increasing the risk of under-performing and conflict-ridden investments. Enabling meaningful participation by rights holders and obtaining and maintaining their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) throughout different investment approval processes can help governments to fulfill their legal obligations, mitigate financial and political risk, and, ultimately, attract more sustainable land-based investments. Featuring concrete guidance and drawing on case studies from Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone, this briefing explains how governments can incorporate FPIC and meaningful consultation into each stage of the investment, namely: 1. Creating an enabling environment and attracting the right investors 2. Registration of intent and screening 3. Community consultations and impact assessments 4. Permits, contract negotiation, and approval 5. Throughout the life of the project For further information on incorporating FPIC into contract negotiations, see our working paper on Mechanisms for Consultation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent in the Negotiation of Investment Contracts.

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) - Consultation has become one of the most powerful tools indigenous people and minorities have to generate a dialogue and begin a negotiation in the country to face Government decisions, private companies seeking to carry out any work or when legislative measures are about to be implemented on their territories with a possibility of damaging them. In Mexico, this right is based over a group of not articulated among themselves normative foundations. This end up causing confusion and uncertainty on its application. This article presents elements to review the FPIC - Consultation foundations in Mexico for discussion and theoretical deepening in the light of human rights.

Investor-state contracts are regularly used in low- and middle-income countries to grant concessions for land-based and natural resource investments, such as agricultural, extractive industry, forestry, or renewable energy projects. These contracts are rarely negotiated in the presence of, or with meaningful input from, the people who risk being adversely affected by the project. This practice will usually risk violating requirements for meaningful consultation, and, where applicable, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and is particularly concerning when the investor-state contract gives the investor company rights to lands or resources over which local communities have legitimate claims. This article explores how consultation and FPIC processes can be practically integrated into investor-state contract negotiations to better safeguard the land rights and human rights of members of project-affected communities. Based on a review of relevant international law standards and guidance documents, a close analysis of typical investor-state negotiations and of consultation and consent processes in other contexts, and a workshop with Indigenous and civil society representatives, the article provides three options for integrating consultation and consent processes into contract negotiations, the appropriateness of which will vary depending on local contexts and communities' resources and decision-making structures.

1. Introduction -- 2. The Global Time-Space: FPIC in the Fields of Transnational Law -- 3. The National Time-Space: FPIC in Liberian Fields of Post-Conflict Law-Making -- 4. The Local Time-Space: FPIC in the Fields of Community Forestry -- 5. Conclusion: FPIC's Journeys.