Professor Anaya Participates in High-Level Meeting Convened by World Bank in Ethiopia
On Feb. 11 and 12, James Anaya, Regents' Professor and James J. Lenoir Professor of Human Rights Law and Policy and co-chair of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, participated in a high-level discussion convened by the World Bank in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The convening included World Bank board members, cabinet ministers and other senior-level government officials from East African Countries, and experts in the field of international Indigenous law. The convening is one of a series of consultations regarding proposed updates to the bank’s Safeguard Policies, including the proposed Environment and Social Standard 7 on Indigenous Peoples, which inform the bank’s work in more than 100 countries across the world.
The Environment and Social Standard 7 on Indigenous Peoples (ESS 7) is designed to ensure governments receiving World Bank funding implement adequate safeguards for assessing the project’s impact on the affected community, consult with communities regarding the potential impact, receive free and informed consent for a proposed project prior to the start date, and provide adequate compensation for those negatively affected.
Anaya provided attendees with analysis of how prevailing norms in international human rights law and policy apply in the African context, and how they can inform and strengthen elements of ESS 7. Compliance with the safeguards is vitally important within many developing regions of the world, where Indigenous communities’ traditional lands lie adjacent to proposed large-scale infrastructure projects or are home to vast deposits of natural resources.
The growing recognition among governments and international institutions that Indigenous people’s rights should be promoted and protected result from the tireless advocacy of Indigenous communities and leaders in the field of Indigenous law. After taking part in the discussion Anaya shared that, “While much work remains to promote Indigenous Peoples’ rights, it is promising that the World Bank recognizes the need to improve upon its policies regarding its lending and financing activities that have direct impacts on Indigenous peoples. I am hopeful that the bank will adopt robust reforms in its safeguard policies that take seriously the need to include Indigenous peoples as genuine partners in development efforts.”