Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and Article 19 of UNDRIP

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a principle protected by international human rights standards that states that all communities have the right to give or withhold consent to proposed projects that may affect the lands they customarily own, occupy or otherwise use.

Here's a breakdown of the term:

Free: Consent must be given without coercion, intimidation, manipulation, or any form of pressure from the project proponents or government authorities.

Prior: Consent must be sought and obtained well in advance of any authorization or commencement of activities, and respect time requirements of Indigenous consultation/consensus processes.

Informed: Information provided must cover at least: the nature, size, pace, reversibility, and scope of any proposed project or activity; the reason(s) or purpose; the duration; the locality; areas likely to be affected; a preliminary assessment of the likely economic, social, cultural and environmental impact; personnel likely to be involved in the execution; and procedures the project may entail.

Consent: Consent is a collective agreement reached by the affected people, and in many Indigenous cultures, consensus decision-making is the norm.

For example, but not limited to; suppose a corporation plans to build a pipeline through the traditional lands of an Indigenous community. Before the project starts, the company should inform the community about every aspect of the project, including potential risks, benefits, and impacts. The community must then have the opportunity to approve or disapprove the project without any form of coercion. If the community does not give its consent, the corporation should not move forward with the project. This process ensures that the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected and protected. 

Article 19 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) states:

"States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them."

Essentially, this means that governments must engage in good faith negotiations with Indigenous peoples before implementing laws or administrative measures that might impact them. The negotiation process should aim to obtain the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous communities.

The overarching principle of Article 19 is that Indigenous peoples have a right to be involved in decisions that may affect them.

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