Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Program

According to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples have the right to give or withhold their consent for projects and legislative measures that affect their lands, territories, livelihoods and natural resources. In 2014, at the United Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, this commitment was reaffirmed by the world’s governments. Unfortunately, still, the standard of FPIC is rarely, if ever, met. Which is why we are working with Indigenous Peoples’ communities to develop their own FPIC protocols.

Our goal in promoting community-led FPIC protocols, is to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are able to make decisions based on their own priorities, procedures, and governance systems. Establishing robust standards for FPIC processes contributes to improved development outcomes, conflict resolution, healthier communities, and enhanced environmental protection.

The underlying principles our FPIC program are:

Indigenous peoples are not simply passive recipients of development, they are active participants, with their own visions of development.
Indigenous Peoples’ traditional knowledge and resource management strategies are vital to building resilient societies, ensuring global food security and enhancing sustainable economic growth
Indigenous Peoples should be engaged as partners in development and conservation through their own social, political and legal institutions.

Our Free, Prior and Informed Consent Program contributes to progress in the following areas:

1.

Defending and asserting Indigenous Peoples’ collective rights to their lands, territories, resources, self-determination, and their right to determine their own development priorities.

2.

Promoting democracy, good governance, and empowerment of Indigenous women and girls while mitigating the impacts of climate change and preserving biodiversity,

3.

Enabling governments, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, the private sector, and NGO’s to more skillfully consider and adopt Indigenous Peoples’ perspectives in the design and implementation of development assistance strategies.

Our FPIC Program has worked with the following Indigenous Peoples’ communities to develop FPIC Protocols:

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