The Indian Law Resource Center provides this World Bank Safeguards Review Update to inform indigenous leaders and allied organizations regarding the revision of social and environmental “safeguard” policies at the World Bank and efforts to strengthen protections for indigenous peoples and their environments. This update covers developments during the recently-ended first phase of the 2-year review process. For additional information, visit http://indianlaw.org/mdb.

World Bank Civil Society Consultations
Between November 2012 and April 2013, the Bank held a series of consultations with civil society and governments in 30 countries. Unfortunately, in many cases, indigenous peoples organizations were not included in these consultations. In Guatemala, for instance, the Coordinator of Communities Affected by the Construction of the Chixoy Dam (COCAHICH) was excluded from the civil society consultation. COCAHICH represents the 33 communities, predominantly Maya Achi, which suffered grave human rights violations, including forced relocations and massacres, as a result of a hydroelectric project funded by the World Bank. These communities are calling for reparations for the losses they have suffered. The input of affected communities is essential for understanding what works and doesn’t work with the safeguards framework.
 
Dedicated Consultations with Indigenous Peoples
The Bank is in the process of developing a plan for dedicated indigenous peoples consultations and has been hosting regional meetings toward that end. It is very unfortunate, however, that this plan was not in place at the start of the review. The Center has urged the Bank to ensure that 1) dedicated consultations reach actual grassroots leaders, and 2) indigenous peoples and affected communities are actively included in every aspect of the review process.

Center Advocates in Expert Meetings
During this phase of the review, the Bank held focus groups with experts on seven denominated “emerging areas,” including human rights, land tenure and natural resources, and free, prior and informed consent. In March, Center Senior Attorney Leonardo Crippa was invited to attend the expert meeting on free, prior and informed consent in Manila, Philippines. Leonardo advocated for the Bank to move beyond the current “do no harm” approach of the Indigenous Peoples Policy to a “do good” policy that will help indigenous communities fully exercise their rights to development, self-determination and self-government within all stages of the development process.

UN Special Rapporteurs Call on Bank to Incorporate Human Rights Standards
During the Bank's spring meetings in April, leading UN human rights experts made a united appeal to the World Bank to ensure “consistency with international human rights standards” in all the activities it supports.  Along with the Special Rapporteurs on Extreme Poverty, the Right to Food, and Foreign Debt, the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, urged the Bank to “heed the call of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which provides that…UN specialized agencies, including the World Bank, shall promote respect for full application and realization of, its provisions.” In an official submission to the Bank, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, called on the Bank to “adopt safeguard policies aligned with the international human rights obligations of its member States and clients,” especially in regard to resettlement activities. 

Center Advises Bank to Ground Indigenous Peoples’ Policy on Rights to Self-Determination and Ownership of Land, Territories and Natural Resources
In May, the Center submitted recommendations to the World Bank Safeguard Review, urging the Bank to work with indigenous peoples as equal development partners and as rights-holders. The Center called on the Bank to incorporate protections for indigenous peoples’ fundamental rights of self-determination and collective ownership of lands, territories and natural resources within its operational policies, going beyond mere consideration of the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent. The Center also cautioned the Bank that strategies and policies aimed at securing “land tenure” run the risk of further impoverishing indigenous peoples if they do not acknowledge indigenous peoples’ special relationship to the land and their unique rights of collective ownership over their lands, territories and natural resources. 

UN Permanent Forum to Discuss Bank Safeguards
The 12th Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, to be held at UN Headquarters in New York this month will feature a half-day discussion on the World Bank and regional banks on May 24th. The Secretariat of the Forum has released reports on World Bank Safeguards as well as safeguards in REDD+ to inform these discussions. The Center also has submitted recommendations.  

Center to highlight real impacts of the World Bank’s Indigenous Peoples Policy
On May 23 the Center is co-sponsoring a side event at the Permanent Forum entitled, “Holes in the Safety Net: Real Impacts of the World Bank’s Indigenous Peoples Policy,” to discuss the impacts of the World Bank’s safeguard policy on indigenous peoples and ways to strengthen the policy. The Center is partnering with Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact and the Association for the Integral Development of the Victims of the Violence of the Verapaces, Maya Achí (ADIVIMA), an organization working to secure reparations for the victims of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Power Project in Guatemala.
 
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