Ensuring communities’ rights and involvement

Landscapes
Social Safeguards

In all aspects of our work, we must ensure that the voices of those affected by conservation are heard, both before and during our projects and activities. To this end, we have put in place tools to both seek comunities’ consent, take their suggestions into account and redress their grievances in the best possible conditionss, and work to ensure inclusion and equality.
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FREE, PRIOR AND INFORMED CONSENT (FPIC) PROCESS

 

  • PIC aims to create high standards in the presentation of a prospective project to ensure that all viewpoints within Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) are equally represented and considered in decision-making.
  • Through open dialogue and multiple meetings, adapting the process to what is culturally acceptable and collegially accepted helps lay a sound foundation for the relationship between conservation and communities.
  • The use of tools such as video, image boxes, participatory mapping and social assessment, and distinct meeting groups (such as youths, women or IPs) facilitate the process while making it safe and accessible to all concerned.
  • FPIC is a continuous process that requires regular meetings throughout the life of a project or activity, that are to be documented, following co-developed and agreed indicators.
GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM (GRM)

 

  • The GRM is a tool used to communicate with the community and address all ideas, suggestions, problems and concerns related to a project, to empower communities to exercise their rights.
  • Through a variety of grievance channels, GRM aims to make dialogue with communities available, simple, confidential and secure, using community relays, mailboxes, a hotline and direct contact with staff.
  • The GRM is implemented through a participatory process to adapt to the cultural and socio-economic particularities of the communities and groups, and an awareness campaign to ensure that the tool is understood and accessible to all.
  • All reported grievances undergo a resolution process within 30 days. The process is fully documented and archived, and can lead to resolution or coercive action while respecting the claimant’s anonymity.
PROMOTING EQUALITY AND INCLUSION
  • WCS Congo aims at promoting gender and ethnic integration through its employment practices and gender-sensitive training, monitoring and evaluation.
  • Through organizing gender-specific and ethnic-specific breakout groups, the program seeks to ensure their equal participation in its activities, giving them a safe space to express themselves.
  • Support to local administrations has resulted in birth certificates being issued to Indigenous Peoples neighboring the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, to reduce their marginalization and enable their employment.
  • Projects give attention to the role of minorities in the design of their activities, to engage and support them adequately, while respecting social and traditional values.

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