Training at Jakarta!

SOMO, Cividep India and Business Watch Indonesia have jointly organized an advanced training programme on “Business and Human Rights & Grievance Mechanisms” in Jakarta from 9-12 September 2013. NGOs and trade unions from Asia region like Philippines, Cambodia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Indonesia, China, Nepal and India had participated in the programme. Sankar Pani of Natural Justice has participated and shared his experience of engaging with the OECD Mechanism.

The training focused on the use of different non-judicial grievance mechanisms and tools to address corporate misconducts and human rights violations. In the era of globalization, many developing and under-developed countries are getting significant international investments from various international and regional financial institutions like Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, JICA amongst others. Sometimes these investments contribute or lead to the process of involuntary displacement, abuse of human rights and grabbing of resources restricting the access of communities to local resources. So as to deal with situations where international investments lead to human rights violations, each of these financial institutions have independent redressal mechanisms. Some of the grievance mechanisms used are the CAO (Compliance Advisory Ombudsman) and World Bank Inspection Panel instituted by World Bank to look into the human rights violations caused by business houses. In a similar fashion, the ADB has a grievance redressal mechanism to deal with the issues of human rights violations arising out of their investment in various projects.

The companies who are operating or have their parent company in Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (34) and 10 more non-OECD countries who have adopted the OECD Guidelines for Multi National enterprise have to respect the guideline for responsible business conduct. Anybody who wishes to file a complaint for violation of human rights against the brand company or its supply chain can file the complaint with National Contact Points where the company or its supply chains are operating.

However most of these non-judicial grievance mechanisms encourage mediation or negotiation between the parties and leave no choice for parties who think their rights are non-negotiable. In some cases the mechanism allows for compliance of guidelines and directs the companies to exercise due diligence of respecting the human rights in their business operation. More often the recommendation or directions or statements have no legal obligation on the parties. Similarly all the states have adopted the UN Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights which is based on the Protect, Respect and Remedy frame work. This frame work mandates that the state protect its citizens against human rights abuses by third parties, corporate to respect human rights and victims to remedy against the human right violations. Though the UN Guiding Principles are backed by UN members they are not legally binding, have no grievance mechanism, no extra territorial obligation or direct reference to indigenous communities.

Despite several limitations, non-judicial grievance mechanisms are gaining acceptance for many reasons - less expensive, wider scope of jurisdiction like filing of complaints in all countries along the supply chain of the  company, prompt response from NCPs and quicker settlement where the parties have agreed to enter into mediation.

Read More

Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration Submit New Letter to EU MEPs Regarding the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol as the European Parliament considers its Implementation within the Union

On 6 September 13, Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration sent an letter to the Members of the European Parliament regarding the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (Nagoya Protocol) in the European Union.

The original Draft Regulation on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization in the Union presented by the European Commission (EC) in October 2012 (Draft ABS Regulation) included a number of short comings, including the fact that user obligations were only going to be triggered by the physical access of genetic resources in the provider country post ratification of the Nagoya Protocol. When the Draft was considered by the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI Committee) on 4 July 2013, the ENVI Committee adopted a number of amendments that addressed some of these short comings, including the modification of the scope of the regulation to include new and on-going utilizations of genetic resources (GRs) and traditional knowledge (TK). In their letter, Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration urge Members of the European Parliament to adopt the balanced proposal tabled by the ENVI Committee without further amendments.

The two organizations argue that if the ENVI Committee text were amended to revert back to access-based trigger points for user compliance, the European Regulation implementing the Nagoya Protocol would not apply to the new utilization of GRs and TK accessed before its entry into force, even when the use of such GRs and TK is newly initiated or the GRs or TK has been accessed illegally. They underscore that this approach would undermine the Nagoya Protocol’s principles in relation to the fair and equitable sharing of benefits, be inconsistent with an overwhelming body of ABS laws of provider countries, thereby increasing legal uncertainty for European users, and would lead provider countries to take extensive control measures at the moment when GRs are taken out of the country, regardless of the purpose for removal. Similar and additional arguments  were submitted to EU MEPs by the African Union on behalf of the African Group on 9th September.

The upcoming vote at the European Parliament in the coming days is key as it will set the path of the next negotiation phase. In order to ensure a greater legal certainty for providers and users of GRs, as well as to facilitate access to GRs for European users and consistency with the spirit of the Nagoya Protocol, Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration therefore call for the adoption of the proposal tabled by the ENVI Committee in its current form.

See also:
Joint Letter to the European Union Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on the EC’s Draft ABS Regulation
Letter by Indigenous Information Network and Natural Justice, signed by 53 civil society organisations and individuals, 2013

Joint Submission to the European Union on the Draft Proposal on the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing
Submission by Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration on access, utilisation, and user obligations, 2013

Read More

The Rise of the South African Platinum Mining Industry and the Nature of the Post-Apartheid Order

On 11 and 12 September, Stephanie Booker of Natural Justice attended an international colloquium anchored by leading researchers, co-organised by the Society, Work and Development Institute (SWOP) and the Review of African Political Economy entitled “Meanings of Marikana Colloquium: The Rise of the South African Platinum Mining Industry and the Nature of the Post-Apartheid Order”.  Over one hundred diverse participants attended representing different perspectives, including community members, NGOs and CSOs, union leaders, academics, government, researchers and students.

Held at the University of Witswatersrand, experts and researchers presented on a range of different issues with respect to South Africa’s platinum industry.  Specifically, there were robust discussions on the following:

• The political economy of platinum;
• Platinum and the ANC’s New Resource Nationalism;
• International Comparisons: Southern Africa and Latin America;
• New rural transformations on the platinum belt;
• Change and continuity in the platinum mine-labour regime;
• Regulating reproduction: the state, informal settlement and health and safety;
• The great strike wave: NUM’s crisis and new forms of worker organisation; and,
• Meanings of Marikana: implications for the post-apartheid order.

Sponsored by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and the Ford Foundation, the colloquium was a unique opportunity for experts and participants to engage in robust discussions on the rise of the platinum mining industry in South Africa and the issues causing and emerging from the events at Marikana on 16 August 2012.  For more information, see SWOP’s website here.

Subscribe to NATURAL JUSTICE by Email

Read More

Natural Justice attends the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba

Stephanie Booker of Natural Justice attended the 2nd Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 10th -11th September 2013.

Hosted by the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), the Environmental Justice Network (EJN), the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) and the Chiadzwa Community Development Trust (CCDT), the theme of the ZAMI was "Community Rights, the key to Empowerment". Held parallel to the annual Zimbabwe Mining Indaba, the ZAMI was attended by over 100 participants of civil society organisations, non-government organisations, community-based organisations including the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and Women in Law Southern Africa, as well as and chiefs and members of communities affected by mining from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia.

Participants discussed key issues such as:

• Ongoing and envisaged reforms in the mining sector;
• The impacts of mining on women;
• The impacts of mining on communities and strategies being used to advance community interests;
• The Kimberly Certification Scheme;
• Opportunities and challenges under the new Constitution;
• The African Mining Vision;
• Mining taxation and illicit financial flows.

Participants were also privileged to hear direct experiences from community members themselves, including the impacts of mining on families, general health, the health of pregnant women and water sources.

The Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba featured in Zimbabwean Daily News here.  In it, ZELA Programme Officer, Shamiso Mtisi notes that whilst the extractives sector is one of the most important sources of a nation’s income with great potential to contribute to economic development, the costs of extractive industries have been socialised, with a huge impact on communities.

The Declaration formulated by the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba 2013 can be found here.

For more information and for regular updates on mining issues in Zimbabwe, like ZELA’s facebook page.

Subscribe to NATURAL JUSTICE by Email

Read More

Self-evaluation workshop of civil society actors and indigenous peoples on REDD+ in DRC

From 2nd to 7th September 2013, Cath Traynor and Lassana Koné from Natural Justice attended as observers, a self evaluation workshop in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The objective of the workshop, sponsored by UNDP and Rainforest Foundation Norway and facilitated by Samuel Nnah Ndobe, consisted in developing a strategy for civil society actors and indigenous peoples in the REDD+ process in DRC.

 The REDD+ mechanism was launched in DRC in January 2009, with the first joint mission carried out by the United Nations for REDD + (UN-REDD) and the Forest Carbon Partnership Funds (FCPF) of the World Bank. With funding from these partners ($7.3 million from UN-REDD and $3.4 million from FCPF), DRC spent three years in the preparation phase for REDD+ after producing a very ambitious Readiness plan (R-PP), which was adopted in March 2010 by the UN-REDD board and the FCPF Participants Committee. The UN-REDD Programme pays special attention to the informed and constructive participation of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities, and support them in the implementation of REDD + at the national and international level. 

The implementation of the R-PP was made through a large consultative and participatory process with key stakeholders, including civil society. The Working Group on Climate and REDD (GTCR), is a platform for consultation of NGOs working in the DRC in the Environment sector.

During 6 days, the GTCR was able to engage positively and make a self assessment of their involvement in the REDD+ process in DRC. They also drafted an internal strategic roadmap to move from the preparation phase to the investment phase.  Entering the investment phase, the GTCR will therefore need to prioritise, and take robust internal measures and actions, because the context and the issues are the subject of a new reality. The GTCR must adapt itself to these new terms and engagement approaches to effectively meet the new opportunities offered by the process.

A report on the lessons learned of the civil society engagement in the REDD+ process in DRC is expected by end of October.

Subscribe to NATURAL JUSTICE by Email

Read More

Block Level Training Programme on Community Forest Rights in Keounjhar District

A Series of workshops on community forest rights (CFR) was organized in Harichadanpur, Banspal & Telkoi Block of Keounjhar district on 22nd, 23rd and 24th August 2013 respectively. The programme was organized by Natural Justice's local partner organization KIRDTI with co-operation from the district administration and Block officials. Sankar Pani of Natural Justice facilitated the workshop.

The workshops in Harichandanpurl and Telkoi Block were conducted at Block Headquarters and the Banspal workshop at Kuanar Panchayat office premises.

The Welfare Extension Officer (WEO) of Harichandanpur Block stated that approx 10,000 individual forest rights claims have been filed in the block while around 6,400 of those claims have been recognized and titles issued. He further stated that around 2,900 claims have been rejected at Gramsabha level. Approximately 99 villages have been covered in terms of distribution of title and few more villages are pending as of now.   He has sought help of the local NGO to identify villages and expedite the process of community rights recognition.

Similarly the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Telkoi Block declared that approximately 3,360 individual titles have been distributed while 4 community claims are under process for recognition.

In Banspal Block the Special Officer of Juang Development Agency (JDA) has requested villagers to co-operate in implementation of CFR rights in their respective villages and has prioritized the implementation at 35 micro project villages in the first wave.

Further, a target has been set by the Block officials to identify at least 10 villages every month with help from local organizations and to then expedite CFR processes at these villages.

Subscribe to NATURAL JUSTICE by Email

Read More

Theatre and the Law with the Borana Community

Natural Justice has been working with its Kenyan partner, Kivulini Trust, to support the Borana Pastoralist community assert their traditional land and resource rights. Through this process the Borana have been developing a bio-cultural community protocol (BCP) to highlight their community vision, traditional land and resource use based on their customary laws. During the week of the 19th of August, members of the Borana community, including elders, women and youth met in Isiolo town, Kenyato continue their BCP development through the use of theatre techniques. These interactive techniques facilitated discussion on issues facing the community and proposed positive solutions for change.

The visioning experience included setting out where the community is now, where it plans to be in the future and concrete steps on how it wishes to get there. The process was facilitated by community theater expert, Hjalmar Joffre-Eichhorn, who has also been working with Natural Justice and the National Khoi-San Council in South Africa.

This group of the Borana community then travelled to Marsabit County to attend the Kalacha Festival, a gathering of over 600 pastoralists from northern Kenya. During the festival the group performed a short play they had written during the week of training, which highlighted real issues affecting the Borana and other pastoralist communities. The audience included approximately 400 pastoralists and members of the Marsabit County Government, including the Governor. Using forum theatre techniques, the audience was invited to participate by proposing solutions to address the issues they had just witnessed in the play.

During the festival, Gino Cocchiaro (Natural Justice) and Hassan Roba (Kivulini Trust) also held a panel session on pastoralism in Kenya, focusing on community land rights.


Subscribe to NATURAL JUSTICE by Email

Read More