The UN’s Indigenous Peoples expert bodies sent a joint letter to the President of the World Bank, Dr. Kim Jim, expressing serious concerns with proposed safeguards intended to protect indigenous peoples from harm caused by World Bank projects. The letter’s authors – the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues – argue that the most recent version of the World Bank’s safeguards policies will significantly weaken the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior, and informed consent on projects affecting their communities. It was also sent to the entire Executive Board of the World Bank.
The requirement to obtain the free, prior, informed consent of indigenous peoples before implementing development projects will greatly impact indigenous peoples’ right to lands, resources, and cultural heritage. The letter challenges the Bank to adopt a standards consistent with international law, rather than the proposed “broad community support” requirement which would “undermine the effective implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
This contentious policy will be pivotal to determining the level of protection afforded to people and the environment affected by World Bank projects. In the letter, the UN experts write that they “sincerely hope that the World Bank will adhere to its international responsibilities and support [Free Prior and Informed Consent] over [Broad Community Support].”
Read the full letter here.