Oxfam Australia has just published a Guide to Free, Prior and Informed Consent to help Indigenous communities understand and demand this right, which is guaranteed by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Raja Devasish Roy, a king of the indigenous Chakma people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh/India, launched the new Guide. A member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Raja Devasish Roy is a leader in his people's struggle to resist resource extraction and infrastructure projects imposed on their land.
The Guide to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is a practical resource for peoples and their NGO supporters whose lands and natural resources are threatened by industrial projects. Oxfam plans to produce translations of the guide in French, Spanish, Khmer, PNG Pidgin, Bhasa and Tagalog. The English version can be downloaded here:
