Representatives of indigenous people in Africa, as well as the African Human Rights Commission, have criticized proposals from the World Bank to enable governments borrowing money for projects to waive the requirement to meet Environmental and Social Standard 7, which is intended for the protection of Indigenous Peoples.
A resolution made by the African Human Rights Commission in the Gambia at the end of February said it was "concerned that the opt-out option would encourage states not to comply with their international and regional obligations and commitments," and called on the World Bank to revise its safeguards policy by removing the clause as well as consulting all stakeholders during the revision process.
"This Resolution underlines the dangers posed to us, and our communities, if the World Bank introduces this so-called ‘alternative approach’ and renders the protection of our fundamental rights as optional," said Peter Kitelo from the Forest Indigenous Peoples Network in Kenya after a sub-regional meeting among indigenous peoples’ representatives which had convened in Nairobi.
In the World Bank's proposal, borrowers are required to get 'Free, Prior and Informed Consent' from Indigenous Peoples if they will be affected by a project funded by the Bank. However, according to the proposed 'alternative approach' clause, "the Borrower may agree with the bank on an alternative approach," in exceptional circumstances to avoid "ethnic tension or civil strife," or "where the identification of Indigenous Peoples is inconsistent with the constitution of the country."
Joji Carino, Director of the Forest Peoples Programme, said on Thursday that “the international human rights community could not be clearer about the need to remove the ‘alternative approach’ from the currently proposed safeguards," and pointed to interventions from the UN Special Rapporteurs and Nordic and Baltic States sitting on the Executive Board of the World Bank, who have stated that the proposal is a "great concern."
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights along with a group of twenty-seven other independent experts wrote that “the draft Safeguards seem to go out of their way to avoid any meaningful references to human rights,” in a letter sent to the Bank in December. "The risk of a race to the bottom is real and would be disastrous for sustainable development,” declaring that the failure of other lending projects to uphold human rights standards does not mean that the Bank should follow suit.
