Filter results
Securing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Self-Determination: A Guide of Free, Prior and Informed Consent
This guide is written to support Indigenous Peoples who are defending their lands, territories, and resources. It is meant to provide clear guidance to Indigenous leaders and communities about how to exercise the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). It includes technical and strategic recommendations on how best to navigate global systems of power and finance so that Indigenous Peoples can respond successfully when confronted by those systems.
The guide is organized in the following way:
- Part 1 defines what Free, Prior and Informed Consent means and describes how some Indigenous Peoples are proactively drafting FPIC protocols that define the course of any future FPIC engagements.
- Part 2 describes steps that Indigenous communities can take to prepare internally. Most important among these is to draft your own FPIC protocol. This section also suggests taking action to understand who exactly the investors/project developers are, and who is funding their work.
- Part 3 describes what an Indigenous community may want to do during the FPIC engagement process itself, including getting legal and technical support, making sure you are fully informed, requiring the investor to minimize project risks, and negotiating what benefits you will receive in exchange for your lands if you do consent.
- Part 4 describes the variety of follow-up actions that an Indigenous community may need to take after the FPIC consultation process has concluded. It describes what you may need to do to protect your rights if you consented to the project, and what you may need to do to defend your decision if you withheld consent.