Authors

Fergus MacKay

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

Summer 2004

Abstract

The World Bank Group (“WBG”) is a notable exception despite two major reviews, both commissioned by the WBG, which recommend incorporation of FPIC into WBG policy and practice with special reference to indigenous peoples. The first was the World Commission on Dams, which made detailed recommendations in relation to FPIC, all of which were rejected by the WBG. The second, and focus of this article, the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Review (“EIR”), is presently under consideration by WBG management prior to submission to the Board of Directors. In a leaked January 2004 WBG management response to the EIR’s Final Report, the WBG again rejected FPIC. The WBG has also stated its opposition to FPIC on a number occasions in the past eight years in response to indigenous peoples’ long standing demands that FPIC must be a fundamental component of WBG safeguard policies. This short article provides an overview of the EIR and its implications for the WBG, and takes a closer look at FPIC, its components and its bases in international law.

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