Declaration on a Human Rights-Based Approach to Natural Resources Governance: adopted in preparation to the Rio+20 Summit
Stressing the interdependence between human and economic development as well as the integral nature of the Earth, our home,
Recalling the 1981 African Charter of Human and People’s Rights as authoritatively interpreted by the 2011 Tunis Reporting Guidelines and the 2010 Nairobi Implementation Guidelines on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in particular Articles 20, 21 and 24 of the Charter protecting the rights of peoples to pursue their social and economic development in terms of policies they have freely chosen; to freely dispose of their natural resources in the exclusive interest of the people; and to a generally satisfactory environment;
Recalling Principle 2 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development establishing State sovereignty over natural resources, read with Principle 1 providing that “human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature” and Principle 22 providing that “local communities have a vital role in environmental management and development and, as a result, their identity, culture and interests must be protected”;
Noting that there has recently been rapid progress in the definition of minimum international standards with respect to natural resources required to maintain life itself. Noting in particular the recent recognition of the human right to food and the human right to water and sanitation, implying that natural resources governance must be operated in such a way as to respect these rights, and fight the fast depletion of water resources in Africa due to – priority given to inappropriate resource mining, excavation of water sources, and inadequately vetted commercial or industrial interest in land investment and development;
Observing that current natural resources governance is gravely hampered by ill-planned development, misappropriation of land, corruption, bad governance, misaligned budget priorities, lack of strong institutional reforms, weak policies coupled with continued denial of civil and political rights and prevailing insecurities, including military interventions in extractive areas;
Mindful of the disproportionate impact of human rights abuses upon the rural communities in Africa that continue to struggle to assert their customary rights of access and control of various resources, including land, minerals, forestry and fishing;
Working towards a reaffirmation at the Rio+20 Summit in 2012 that natural resources governance and international agreements must respect international human rights law and international law and standards to combat corruption, and protect the integrity of the global environmental and developmental system,
The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights reaffirms that:
In accordance with the principle of State sovereignty over natural resources established in the Rio Declaration and Art.21.1 of the African Charter, the State has the main responsibility for ensuring natural resources stewardship with, and for the interest of, the population and must fulfil its mission in conformity with international human rights law and standards;
All necessary measures must be taken by the State to ensure meaningful, transparent and free participation, which includes the free, prior and informed consent of communities, in decision making related to natural resources governance;
States should place natural resources governance under transparency, including through open budgeting and certification processes and protection of the freedoms of the press, information and expression. The right of access to information and to documents generated by the government, or to which the government is a party, that are necessary for citizens to understand the extent and value of their natural resources and the payments for those resources received and disbursed by their governments and/or local communities, in order to bring their legislation in line with Article 1 of the African Charter, must be ensured;
States should vigorously fight corruption at all levels of decision making by strengthening and enforcing criminalization of corruption, decisively ending impunity and ensuring asset recovery and repatriation for illicitly expatriated capital;
States should boldly ensure that natural resources governance does not undermine the full enjoyment of basic human rights, respect of the rule of law and the principles of equality and non-discrimination as stated in the African Charter as completed by the Tunis and Nairobi Guidelines, in particular the right to health, the right to property, the right to work, the right to culture, the right to housing, the right to food and the right to water and sanitation in addition to civil and political rights necessary to assert all other such rights and that communities are protected from forced evictions;
States should ensure respect for human rights in all matters of natural resources exploration, extraction, toxic waste management, development, management and governance, in international cooperation, investment agreements and trade regulation;
At the occasion of the Rio+20 Summit in order to ensure an enabling framework for sustainable development, States should:
- Establish a clear legal framework to sustainable development as it impacts on natural resources, and in particular water, that would make the realization of human rights a prerequisite for sustainability;
- Set up international mechanisms to review existing mining legislations and standards, and to strengthen regional efforts, such as the 2009 ECOWAS Directive on mining, to harmonize natural resources legislation that respect human rights of all and require transparent, maximum and effective community participation in a) decision-making about, b) prioritisation and scale of, and c) benefits from any development on their land or other resources or that affects them in any substantial way,
- Set up independent monitoring and accountability mechanisms that ensure that human rights are justiciable and extractive industries and investors legally accountable in the country hosting their activities and in the country of legal domicile,
- Ensure independent social and human rights impact assessments that guarantee in particular free prior informed consent; effective remedies; fair compensation; women and indigenous and customary people’s rights; environmental impact assessments; impact on community identity including livelihoods, governance structures and culture, and ensuring public participation; protection of the individuals in the informal sector; and economic, cultural and social rights,
Done in Banjul – 16th April, 2012
