BIC and AMPB hold second international workshop on safeguard policies for REDD+

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The Bank Information Center (BIC), in collaboration with the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests (AMPB), held the Second International Workshop on Social and Environmental Safeguards on March 15th and 16th in San Jose, Costa Rica, with broad participation by Mesoamerican indigenous and community leaders. The event was the second workshop held by BIC in a series of trainings for member organizations of the AMPB on the theme of safeguards for REDD+.

Building on the safeguards-related knowledge base established during prior workshops, the goal of the workshop in San Jose was to identify safeguards necessary to protect the rights and natural resources of Mesoamerican communities, from their own perspective. Leaders of AMPB previously identified “land and territory” and “consultation and participation” as the two key themes of regional interest, which served as the thematic focus of the workshop.

The workshop was divided into four sections, each with a corresponding objective: (1) to analyze the definition of safeguard policies and existing safeguard standards; (2) to analyze experiences and accomplishments in Mesoamerica related to the theme of safeguards for REDD+; (3) to identify basic elements for a regional Mesoamerican proposal on safeguards; and (4) to initiate development of an advocacy plan for a regional safeguards proposal. The goal of such a regional proposal is to establish a minimum standard for safeguards in Mesoamerica, which would represent agreement on a basic level of rights and commonalities throughout the region.

Community members and leaders from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama participated in the workshop, accompanied by academic and civil society colleagues from the region. Representatives of the UN-REDD Programme also shared their perspective on safeguards for REDD+ through a presentation and question and answer period. An emphasis on work in groups throughout the workshop—in groups divided both by country and by theme during different sections of the workshop—helped facilitate exchange of ideas and experiences between countries.

The outcomes of the workshop were an improved understanding of the existing standards for the two themes of interest, an exchange of country experiences, a robust dialogue on issues of concern to communities and the safeguards they perceive as necessary to respond to these concerns, and training on the process of developing and undertaking a political advocacy strategy.

The Second International Workshop on Social and Environmental Safeguards was held in the framework of the Mesoamerican Pre-Congress on Area Protected by Indigenous Peoples, which took place on March 17th and 18th in San Jose. The workshop built on the First International Workshop on Social and Environmental Safeguards, coordinated by BIC and AMPB in September 2013 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Subsequent to the First International Workshop, Kepa–the umbrella organization for Finnish civil society organizations working on global development–coordinated two, national-level workshops in Costa Rica and Mexico focused on the same themes.