World Bank Set to Ignore Fundamental Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Revision of its Indigenous Peoples Policy
There are disturbing signs that the World Bank plans to approve a deeply flawed and weakened revised indigenous peoples policy which disregards fundamental human rights guarantees for indigenous peoples.
In its rush to finalise the policy, the Bank is ignoring the facts that:
- Indigenous peoples' organisations and activists have totally rejected the Bank's Draft indigenous peoples policy (OP/BP4.10) considering it a retrograde and unhelpful instrument that will not safeguard the interests of indigenous peoples affected by World Bank policies, projects and programmes;
- Indigenous peoples and support NGOs have called for the policy to be re-written to make it consistent with internationally recognised rights of indigenous peoples;
- Indigenous organisations and civil society organisations have called for the whole revision process to be *delayed* until there is a open and informed discussion of the *full findings* of the OED implementation review of the *existing* IP Policy (OD4.20) due to be available in 2003;
There are disturbing signs that the World Bank plans to approve a deeply flawed and weakened revised indigenous peoples policy which disregards fundamental human rights guarantees for indigenous peoples.
In its rush to finalise the policy, the Bank is ignoring the facts that:
- Indigenous peoples' organisations and activists have totally rejected the Bank's Draft indigenous peoples policy (OP/BP4.10) considering it a retrograde and unhelpful instrument that will not safeguard the interests of indigenous peoples affected by World Bank policies, projects and programmes;
- Indigenous peoples and support NGOs have called for the policy to be re-written to make it consistent with internationally recognised rights of indigenous peoples;
- Indigenous organisations and civil society organisations have called for the whole revision process to be *delayed* until there is a open and informed discussion of the *full findings* of the OED implementation review of the *existing* IP Policy (OD4.20) due to be available in 2003;