The Community Guide to the International Finance Corporation is a resource for people affected by IFC-funded projects.   The guide is designed to help communities understand their rights and entitlements vis-a-vis IFC projects and to decide whether they want to file a complaint with the IFC’s independent grievance mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), as a part of their advocacy strategy.   The guide includes an introduction to the IFC and the way it supports the private sector, including through direct and indirect lending and equity investments.  It explains the IFC Performance Standards, including who is responsible for implementing them and making sure they are respected on the ground.  Two of the Performance Standards – covering Involuntary Resettlement and Indigenous Peoples – are described in more detail.  Finally, the guide covers what affected communities can do when IFC-supported projects do not comply with the Performance Standards and cause or threaten to cause harm. It discusses various advocacy options, including the ins and outs of filing a complaint with the CAO and using its compliance or dispute resolution functions.

The Facilitators’ Manual contains activities and guided discussions on each topic to help communities use the information that they learn to develop an advocacy strategy to defend their rights.  This can be used to facilitate a 1.5 – 2 day workshop.  The guide is currently available in English, French and Vietnamese and will soon be available in Khmer and Burmese.

Avoiding Forced Displacement:  A Community Guide to Negotiation and Advocacy is an innovative resource designed by Inclusive Development International in collaboration with Equitable Cambodia.  This four-day training curriculum helps communities to think strategically about how to negotiate with private companies and government authorities seeking to take their land. The guide can also be used to help prepare communities for mediations regarding redress of displacement impacts already suffered, including through dispute resolution processes facilitated by international accountability mechanisms.  The training aims to address the radical power imbalances in these processes by situating negotiation within a broader rights-based advocacy strategy.

Through case studies and interactive exercises, the resource guides facilitators through 12 lessons that teach the fundamental principles of interest-based negotiation and advocacy skills to strengthen the negotiation position and capability of communities facing displacement. This edition was developed for the Southeast Asian context and it is currently available in English and Khmer.

Both resources are available for download here.

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In her first report on the subject, the Special Rapporteur called attention to the global tenure insecurity crisis, manifesting itself in many forms and contexts — forced evictions, displacement resulting from development, natural disasters and conflicts and land grabbing — and evident in the millions of urban dwellers living under insecure tenure arrangements.  In the second report, the Special Rapporteur presents the guiding principles, which provide guidance on existing human rights standards as they pertain to housing and land tenure, and commentary on each principle, including examples of their practical implementation from around the world.

The guiding principles build on previous international instruments on the topic, including the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, adopted by the Committee for World Food Security in 2012.  Importantly, the guiding principles clarify that the concept of “legitimate tenure rights” extends beyond mainstream notions of private ownership and are predicated upon “a presumption that individuals and communities occupying land or property to fulfill their right to adequate housing, and who have no other adequate option, have legitimate tenure rights that should be secured and protected.”

In its resolution, the Human Rights Council recognized “the need to promote, protect, and strengthen a variety of tenure forms, as a part of mainstreaming human rights, in particular in urban development, including in housing and slum upgrading, land management and land administration policies, to ensure social integration, with the full participation of all relevant stakeholders.”

IDI’s Legal Director, Natalie Bugalski, assisted the Special Rapporteur to draft the Guiding Principles and commentary, drawing from responses from 31 States to questionnaires, as well as thematic and regional consultations with various stakeholders, and comments and input from civil society organizations.

The report of the Special Rapporteur, including the Guiding Principles, is available here.

The Council resolution is available here.

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