Thanks to excellent co-facilitators from the National Human Rights Commission of Côte d’Ivoire (CNDHCI), Action pour la Protection des Droits de l’Homme (APDH), Ligue Ivoirienne des Droits de l’Homme (LIDHO) and the Agence Nationale de l’Environnement (ANDE), our training covered topics ranging from the legal and regulatory framework, the life cycle of an industrial mine, land and housing rights, a healthy environment, rights of women and minorities, and access to remedy.

I also showed a video recently released by New Media Advocacy Project (N-Map) illustrating how a community in Upper West region of Ghana self-organized to counter companies’ usual divide-and-rule approach, especially by mapping their lands and resources. For the risk and impact assessment, we used a bespoke methodology I developed, borrowing from and building on existing tools, most especially the Getting It Right Human Rights Impact Assessment Guide from the now defunct organization, Rights & Democracy, as well as the Human Rights Due Diligence methodology under development by the Coalition for Human Rights in Development.

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Written in a question-and-answer format, the 150-page information and toolkit provides basic legal and factual information, tools and strategies on four key subjects of industrial mining (legal regulations, project life cycle, roles and responsibilities, impact assessment), local communities (representation, actions, documentation and monitoring, access to remedy), benefits (royalties and taxes, local content, local development agreements, and financial management), and negative impacts (land acquisition and compensation, environmental pollution, cultural heritage impacts, conflicts). The information and tools are based on domestic DRC laws and regulations, regional and international standards, industry best practice and experiences of civil society organizations and affected communities in DRC and globally.

Download here:

• The document is available in French.

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The issue paper was co-published in June 2016 by Afghanistan Research Evaluation Unit and GIZ.

Download here:

• The document is available on AREU’s website.

The post A Balancing Act for Extractive Sector Governance in Afghanistan first appeared on Communities First.

In this context, it’s a small glimmer of hope that a resettlement guide for affected communities that I contributed to – along with others including International Rivers and the University of Washington School of Law’s Sustainable International Development Program – was recently published by International Rivers. This guide is just one of the many steps that local civil society organizations in Bas-Congo province are taking to prepare and equip the 10,000 people who will be affected by this project to know and assert their rights in the face of an increasingly worrying situation where politics may once again trump respect for the law.

“African Dams, Rivers and Rights: A Guide for Communities to be Impacted by the Inga 3 Dam” published by International Rivers is available for download in English and French.

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Building on the telephone and other interviews we had conducted before my trip, our meetings in Kabul touched on a wide range of topics, from capacity-building for both government and private sector on impact assessments, to community-based water management, to land rights, to women’s participation in the labor force, to seismic hazards and the accessibility and availability of geologic data, to conflict prevention and peace building, and to the government’s emerging plans for benefit-sharing by focusing on value chains. We were warmly welcomed for these meetings by representatives of the environmental regulator, the ministry of mines, special advisor to the President, a series of NGOs and private sector consultants, among others. We are continuing our interviews remotely and are working on the paper that will be presented at a Govern4Afg High-Level Symposium planned for February 2016 in Kabul.

About the issue paper

Afghanistan is estimated to hold $USD 1 to 3 trillion in untapped mineral deposits, ranging from lootable ones (such as gems, marble, gold, coal, lapis lazuli and the like) to more non-lootable ones (such as iron ore, copper, oil and gas). The extractive sector has existed for centuries in the country, though most of it is artisanal or small-scale, informal with dangerous working conditions, and products smuggled across the border unchecked or through collaboration among smuggling mafia and armed groups operating in the region. The National Unity Government in Kabul has recently set out an elaborate agenda to realize self-reliance over the coming years, according to which, the “extractives industries will be a key source for revenue generation over the next few decades and beyond,” as one of the three pillars alongside the agriculture and transport sectors. Very high hopes are pinned on the idea that extractive sector revenue can soon replace dwindling donor flows and support the government to provide security, avoid bankruptcy and support broader economic development.

Our issue paper will address three key issues related to the planned development of the extractive sector. First, the threshold question of whether the extractive sector can support development and peace in the Afghan context, and which principles may favor development and peace. Second, the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) process in Afghanistan, including current policy, practice, challenges and recommendations whether on process, substance or implementation of this ESIA process designed to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive outcomes. Third, the topic of extractive sector benefit-sharing and civil society participation, including a definition of the sector’s possible benefits (revenue and others), as well as current policy, practices and challenges concerning civil society participation and benefit-sharing.

Our issue paper on the extractive sector is one of six that will be produced as part of the German-Afghan two-year “Governance Forum Afghanistan: Govern4Afg” project implemented by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), intended to establish a platform for policy dialogue on governance topics in Afghanistan. The Govern4Afg website will be launched in just a few weeks’ time.

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