Good Practices

Verify whether there are any legal or regulatory requirements regarding consultation and consent.

• In particular, identify which methods of engagement with indigenous peoples are required (see 4.1.d.). 
• Clarify whether consent is legally required. Where consent is required, do not proceed with activities until it has been granted.  Note that even if companies are not required by law to obtain consent, seeking consent throughout a project’s lifecycle can nonetheless enhance a company’s social license to operate (see 4.1.d.).

Practical Tools

• International Instruments on Free, Prior and Informed Consent (IPIECA 2015) 
• IRMA Standard for Responsible Mining, chapter 2.2 (Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance 2018)

Seek to ensure the government fulfils its responsibilities regarding  consultations.

• Keep track of government-led consultations on issues related to the project, as they might have implications for future stakeholder relations.
  • Determine at what stages such engagement took place, what commitments and agreements were made, and what unresolved issues still exist that could impact the relationship with local communities.
  • Seek to participate in, or at least observe, government-led consultations with stakeholders, being careful not to create the perception of being on the government’s side.
• Consider providing logistical support (such as travel expenses) to government entities to ensure they are present and able to lead the consultations.  To reduce any risk of being perceived as supporting a government that is not operating in the community’s interest, be transparent and clear in indicating to communities that the company is striving to improve the government’s capacity to lead the process in good faith.

Revisit prior consultation processes and seek to understand what mistakes were made and why.

• Review the project activities and timelines with relevant company departments to ensure ongoing and meaningful consultation with communities is well integrated into planning (see 4.3.b.).
• Note that stakeholders may have been consulted by third parties prior to, or without the involvement of the company, as often transpires in consultations over compensation for land acquisition carried out by government authorities, or previous consultation carried out by the owners of project-associated facilities. If there is evidence of lingering grievances, it may be necessary to address outstanding concerns.
• Engage with other companies in the area to understand their past/current approach and avoid misunderstandings or legacy issues.

When consultation did not start early enough, undertake an active consultation that can support joint analysis and inclusive decision-making from that moment forward.

• Support capacity development so that stakeholders with limited exposure to international corporate processes and structures are comfortable being actively involved in consultation processes and monitoring of the agreements made.
• If open consultations are difficult, adopt other strategies to maintain communication with the communities.
  • Discuss with the local government whether it would be useful to create elected village committees responsible for discussing company-community affairs.
  • Work with independent third parties (e.g. ombudsman institutions, NGOs, external experts, academia) that have the acceptance of all parties. These parties can accompany and support consultation or free, prior and informed consent processes.

  Practical Tools

  • Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement (OECD 2017)
  • Understanding Company–Community Relations Toolkit (International Council on Mining and Metals 2015)
  
  

Good Practices

Be transparent and upfront about decisions, policies and plans for the project.

• Provide relevant information to targeted stakeholders in advance of decision-making.
  • Communicate details of the stakeholder engagement and consultation  process, as well as results of the baseline assessment and impact assessment, to relevant stakeholders in order to get feedback on findings. During public consultation, disclose any actual and potential risks and impacts identified thus far (e.g. cumulative impacts, operational impacts, social impacts, environmental impacts). Openly communicating these with community members can help the company avoid misperceptions that escalate into security incidents (see 4.1.a.).
  • Make technical and environmental information about the project available to communities through channels such as community representatives, town hall meetings and communications materials.
  • Disclose objective information. Avoid overselling the benefits of a project and minimising the negative impacts. Unrealistic expectations can lead to tensions and social conflicts that become security incidents. Be very clear about what the company can and cannot provide. As explained by the International Council on Mining and Metals, this approach can help address potential tensions (for example, resulting from the inability of companies to provide enough jobs for everyone) ‘by managing expectations through a better understanding of project requirements as well as the opportunities and constraints companies may face throughout the project cycle’.
  • Explain next steps and how the community will be involved and consulted going forward.
  • Clarify which project elements are fixed and which can be changed or improved.
• Share information in a timely manner, in languages that communities are able to understand and in a format that makes sense to the local population. Not sharing information may fuel misinformation that can damage a company’s reputation and undermine efforts to engage in an informed dialogue with stakeholders (see 4.2.c.).
• Communicate important information multiple times and in a variety of media to ensure that the message is received and absorbed.
• Communicate the company’s expectations and encourage stakeholders to share their expectations during consultation processes in order to ensure that all sides understand each other’s positions.

Clarify company and government responsibilities.

• Agree on the respective responsibilities regarding social investment and compensation with host government authorities at the national and local level (see 1.2.d.). Communicate this agreement to local communities, explaining what the company can and cannot provide. This will help to ensure that expectations do not become grievances, potentially leading to social conflicts.

During consultations, build understanding with the community on the issues at stake.

• Improve communities’ understanding of the project so that they have realistic expectations of the benefits that are available to them. In particular, explain the different phases of the project, what are the consequences and opportunities related to each stage of operations, the security and safety implications, and the timelines involved. Also explain the problems that may arise and how the company will work to mitigate them.
• Ensure communities fully understand their rights in relation to the company’s operations, security arrangements and impacts under both local and international law (including, for example, rights related to land, environment, labour, etc.). Also explain the respective responsibilities of the company, government and other stakeholders.
• Use a variety of channels to deliver information (e.g. booklets, videos, radio, theatre shows, bulletin boards, a public information office established in a nearby village and/or visits to each community) to show how operations will look at each stage and what areas community members cannot access, for safety or property reasons. Indicate where and how many security providers will be stationed, what uniforms they will wear and what equipment they will use. It is also useful to create a to-scale model to show how the site will look after closure, if relevant.
• Consider taking landowners to other sites of operations to gain insights on company operations and better understand their implications.
• Support indigenous communities’ capacity to engage in decision-making, for example, by providing access to independent expert advice where appropriate, capacity-building, facilitation and mediation, or involving external observers. Capacity-building efforts can be included as an element of an indigenous peoples’ development plan, which aims to enhance benefits and minimize the adverse effects of a project on significantly impacted indigenous peoples.

Key Resources

Good Practice Guide: Indigenous Peoples and Mining (International Council on Mining and Metals 2015)

Establish a company-community committee that would help in managing the relationship throughout the project cycle and resolving conflict before it is exacerbated, as well as being a hub for information about the project.

Conflict-Sensitive Business Practice: Guidance for Extractive Industries, flashpoint issue 4:7 (International Alert 2005)

From the outset of community consultations, provide detailed information on existing or proposed grievance mechanisms and other mechanisms for accessing remedy (i.e. judicial and non-judicial mechanisms).

• Discuss these grievance mechanisms with community members to ensure they are accessible, appropriate and culturally relevant. Also discuss whether any additional mechanisms (e.g. trusted focal points, accessible complaints boxes) are needed, with special consideration to the needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups.
• Include any grievance mechanisms and remedy mechanisms relevant to the company’s security arrangements.

Use consultations as an opportunity to identify any actual and potential impacts that the company has not previously anticipated (see human rights due diligence). Update risk and impact assessments accordingly.

Actively involve communities in drafting impact mitigation and management plans, on the basis of identified risks and impacts.

Human Rights Impact Assessment Guidance and Toolbox, Phase 4: Impact Mitigation and Management (Danish Institute for Human Rights 2020)

• Before and during consultations, provide clear, detailed information on any mitigation measures the company has already proposed, designed or considered. Explain these in detail to ensure the community understands both the impacts and the management plan.
• Discuss proposed mitigation measures with different stakeholder groups to ensure they are appropriate, effective and culturally relevant. Ask whether any measures should be changed or whether new measures are needed. Negotiate appropriate solutions.
• As necessary, revise the impact mitigation and management plan to ensure community feedback and priorities are placed at the centre.
• Place particular emphasis on the feedback of groups most affected by the project, as well as vulnerable and marginalised groups (see 4.2.b. and 4.2.d.).
• Incorporate impacts and mitigation plans related to security arrangements.

Negotiate in good faith when engaging with communities.

• Ensure the terms of negotiations are mutually agreed in advance and conform to legal obligations, including the requirement of renegotiation when circumstances change.
• Make it very clear to the community who has the authority to make commitments on behalf of the company to ensure coherence in communications and avoid misunderstandings.
• Verify, validate and record all final agreements with those present during the negotiations.
  • When relevant and possible, support agreements with the use of pictures.
  • Make sure that agreements reached are then translated into local languages and made available to the relevant communities.
  • Publish minutes of meetings.
  • At all times, remain sensitive to literacy challenges and find other accessible ways of making information available to community members.
• Clarify next steps after the negotiations or dialogue, and agree on who is responsible for implementation and follow-up.

Practical Tools

• Five-Step Approach to Stakeholder Engagement (BSR 2019)
• Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement (OECD 2017)
• Human Rights Impact Assessment Guidance and Toolbox, phases 2 and 4 (Danish Institute for Human Rights 2020)

Good Practices

Determine the types of information that will be shared with communities as early as possible.

• Pre-define clear criteria for deciding what, when and with whom to communicate. Ensure these criteria are decided jointly among company departments.
• Provide relevant information to stakeholders early on, regularly and in a timely manner, ensuring consistency in messaging (see Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities and Working with Communities Information sharing, consultation and consent Local communities consent: ensuring it is based on realistic expectations and a realistic understanding of impacts within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).

Build communities' capacity to address security and human rights issues

(see Working with Communities Information sharing, consultation and consent Local communities consent: ensuring it is based on realistic expectations and a realistic understanding of impacts. [4.3.b.]).

• Use the appropriate language and methods to facilitate communities’ understanding (e.g. illustrations, real-life examples). It is important that local communities understand their rights and responsibilities, as well as the rights and responsibilities of security personnel, which include the right of self-defence.
• Engage with independent third parties (e.g. NGOs, national human rights institutions or academia) that can educate communities on security and human rights issues and act as intermediaries to facilitate communication.

Establish regular meetings to discuss security-related issues with communities.

• Organise different kinds of meetings for different purposes, including:
  • Large open meetings for information-sharing purposes (Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).
  • Smaller meetings with community representatives to discuss security arrangements and find joint solutions to address related concerns and impacts (See Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).
  • Joint sports or leisure events, such as sports tournaments between company security and community teams or occasional open houses where community members are invited to come into company compounds. Such events can develop trust and provide an informal setting for communities to learn about company operations, meet staff or bring forward grievances.
  • A multi-stakeholder forum to develop a standardised approach to discussing security and human rights issues with the community (see in-country working groups).
• Prior to embarking upon substantial consultations, determine the process to be followed and who is to be involved in the dialogue.  Jointly agree on a set of principles to guide the discussions and ensure a constructive and effective exchange, such as the need to focus on security-related issues or a rule to speak one at a time.
• Keep in mind that any human rights or social challenge may become a security issue if left unaddressed. Guide stakeholders to other forums that might exist that address other issues at greater depth (such as environmental challenges).
• Encourage the participation of representatives of public and private security in community consultations, provided the community feels comfortable discussing security issues in their presence.
• In situations where community consultation is not possible, consider relevant alternatives, such as consulting credible, independent experts, including human rights defenders and others from civil society.

Listen carefully and provide feedback on inquiries (Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities within Stakeholder engagement strategy  – Working with Communities).

• Ask stakeholders what type of information they want and need, and in what type of format.
• Allow communities to voice their concerns on security arrangements. However, remember that in certain circumstances, being involved in these kinds of discussions may present risks for local community members, and they may be not willing to talk. If that is the case, consult with credible third parties that may provide some insights into communities’ concerns. Make available confidential/anonymous avenues for participation. Inform stakeholders about the limits to the confidentiality that the company is able to provide.

Practical Tools

• Human Rights Due Diligence in High Risk Circumstances (Shift 2015)

Good Practices

Internally develop a shared understanding of the value of stakeholder engagement.

• Ensure senior management understand the risks of not putting in place a long-term sustainable stakeholder engagement strategy (e.g. commercial risks, investor-related risks, reputational risks and legal risks). Translate human rights language into other concepts familiar to the company: the languages of business risk, of operational benefits, costs or of technical business processes. In particular, link human rights responsibilities to ESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria.²⁴
  • Present data about the costs of community conflicts (e.g. percentage of staff time invested in managing conflict, lost productivity due to delays).
  • Provide case studies on the consequences of poor stakeholder engagement.
  • Outline potential legal consequences, especially in light of global trends towards enhanced regulation and mandatory human rights due diligence legislation.

Promote greater involvement of senior management in social issues.

• Express a commitment to meaningful stakeholder engagement in corporate policy and make sure this is endorsed by senior leadership within the company (see Sensitive discussions on security and human rights: addressing issues constructively within Human rights concerns – Working with Host Governments).
• Create senior, cross-departmental decision-making platforms when operating in high-risk environments (see centralized data sharing to identify security and human rights risks).  
• Establish a system that promotes the integration of stakeholder views into decision-making at the managerial level.
• Create opportunities for senior management to interact directly with communities, ensuring that company leaders are educated on how to engage in a culturally appropriate way. This is the best way for senior management to understand community concerns and security issues, as well as to make decisions that are mutually beneficial to the company and communities.
• Ensure potentially serious risks are escalated to senior-level management. 

Integrate human rights compliance and social performance into the bonus structure and career progression for all staff, in particular for senior management.

• Develop key performance indicators related to community engagement and include these in the performance reviews of all managers.
• Ensure that work to establish good community relationships is rewarded through the payment and bonus systems of the company.
• Attach a code of conduct or similar policy for community engagement as an annex to employees’ contracts.
• Integrate community issues in company staff career paths by ensuring that all up-and-coming company leaders are assigned a job in the community relations department sometime in their career.

Key Resources

• Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement (OECD 2017)
• Human Rights Due Diligence in High Risk Circumstances (Shift 2015)
• UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework (Shift and Mazars 2015)

Good Practices

Make stakeholder relations a collective responsibility.

• Develop a shared understanding of the value of stakeholder engagement (see senior management buy in: securing recognition and resources required for engaging constructively with communities within Internal alignment and coordination on stakeholder engagement – Working with Communities)
• Communicate the stakeholder engagement strategy internally. Every business unit needs to be aware of the strategy and understand why the company is committing time and resources to it.
• Provide training to all staff on human rights responsibilities, community relations issues, and related corporate policies and processes.
  • Train new staff members on community issues. Include ‘dos and don’ts’ for staff and company behaviour and explain the types of services external relations staff can provide to support other departments.
  • Train security officers to ensure that the company’s approach to security is based on inclusive decision-making and partnership, rather than seeing the communities as a source of risks.
• Involve technical teams and security personnel in dialogue with communities as a way to ensure that community concerns are properly addressed and incorporated into programme design and decision-making, as well as in security arrangements.
• Ensure that good community relationships are rewarded through the company’s payment and bonus systems (see senior management buy in: securing recognition and resources required for engaging constructively with communities within Internal alignment and coordination on stakeholder engagement – Working with Communities).

Promote alignment and coordination across the company in all decisions and activities that concern or impact stakeholders

(see senior management buy in: securing recognition and resources required for engaging constructively with communities within Internal alignment and coordination on stakeholder engagement – Working with Communities) and security contractors : ensuring compliance with company policies within Internal alignment and coordination on stakeholder engagement – Working with Communities).

• Review policies and processes throughout the company and integrate emerging stakeholder engagement good practice. Emphasise that effective stakeholder engagement can play a significant role in supporting effective respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.
  • Ensure corporate policies meet the needs of specific operational context and respect national laws.
  • Review potential legal, regulatory and contractual requirements for stakeholder engagement in close consultation with relevant departments (e.g. legal, public affairs, government affairs).
• Manage stakeholder engagement as a business function. According to the International Finance Corporation, companies should develop a single well-defined strategy for stakeholder engagement with ‘a clear set of objectives, timetable, budget, and allocation of responsibilities’ (see Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).
  • Identify critical points in the project lifecycle where stakeholder engagement will be needed. Determine who will carry out stakeholder consultations and how they can be integrated into core business functions.
  • Ensure consistency in company communications to external stakeholders.
  • Establish a system for recording and tracking information relevant to stakeholder engagement.
  • Develop and maintain a register of company commitments. It should contain timeframes for action and assign responsibility to the appropriate individuals, business units and/or implementing third parties (which, in some cases, may be the contractor, an NGO or local government agency).
• Ensure that internal decision-making, budget allocations and oversight processes enable effective responses to current, emerging and future impacts. This should include the establishment of direct reporting lines to senior management (see Consultations conducted too late or not according to international standards: Facing a lack of social license to operate within Information-sharing, consultation and consent – Working with Communities). Consultations conducted too late or not according to international standards: Facing a lack of social license to operate  [4.3.a]).
• Institute a human rights working group that oversees the day-to-day implementation of the human rights policy, including grievance mechanisms and a remedy system (see Community mistrust: ensuring an effective company grievance mechanism within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).
• Develop indicators in consultation with human rights experts. Shift explains that such consultation can ‘enable ongoing monitoring of human rights risks and of the effectiveness of business processes for identifying and managing those risks’. 
• Hold routine ‘risk and opportunities’ analysis meetings between project managers, relevant experts (e.g. geologists and environmental engineers), community relations personnel and security personnel. On the basis of this process:
  • Produce a crisis management plan and an emergency response plan.
  • Build a systematic approach to integrate the findings of impact assessments and act upon them to prevent and mitigate negative impacts – see human rights due diligence).
• Ensure that those company departments that impact human rights are held accountable for their actions.

Give prominence to the community relations function.

• Transform the community relations function ‘from firefighter to internal service provider’. This means that the community relations function should not be reactive to issues and challenges, but should adopt a more proactive role and resolve issues before they arise. Organise meetings where community relations managers explain their work and the types of assistance they can provide to each department.
• Develop a policy to ensure that all new projects are subject to human rights due diligence and reviewed by the community relations department before they can be implemented.
• Develop coordination procedures between the company’s community relations department and the security department, with the community relations department as the focal point for any interactions with local communities.
  • Ensure that the community relations team is constantly kept appraised of any company security assessments and is involved in the design of new security measures, particularly if the latter are likely to have an impact on communities.
  • Ensure the community relations team engages with communities to explain security arrangements and the company’s human rights policies, as well as how to report any cases of security-related concerns or grievances (see Information Management: determining what to share in relation to security arrangements within Information -sharing, consultation and consent – Working with Communities).
• Establish community liaison offices and ensure liaison officers are known and available to the community. The community relations team should include a mix of locals and non-locals, since sometimes community members may prefer to talk to an ‘outsider’.
  • Involve communities in the selection of local liaison officers.
  • Sponsor training on cultural understanding, dialogue and mediation skills for community liaison officers.
  • The International Finance Corporation recommends that companies ensure community liaison officers ‘have the authority to negotiate on behalf of the company. This requires a clear reporting structure and clarification as to which decisions they can take unilaterally, and which are to be passed on to higher levels within the company’.
  • Require liaison officers to report all relevant information back to the company.
• Ensure the community relations budget is realistic. Establish a budget that covers at least the basic systems and protocols. As explained in  this may include ‘a local content policy, a community-monitoring mechanism, regular (quarterly) public meetings in communities, an effective grievance procedure, etc.’

Practical Tools

• Human Rights Due Diligence in High Risk Circumstances (Shift 2015)
• Getting It Right: Making Corporate-Community Relations Work (Luc Zandvliet and Mary B Anderson, Greenleaf Publishing 2009)

Good Practices

Consider security contractors’ roles and activities as part of the company’s risk and impact assessments

(see Unidentified root causes, unaddressed impacts of the operation or unfulfilled commitments: addressing persistent tensions within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).

In the request for proposals (RfP), include award criteria related to the private security provider and their security officers as set out in Selecting private security providers: assessing quality and cost considerations within Bids and contracts  – Working with Private Security Providers.

• Award criteria related to the security provider may include:
  • Internal policies (codes of conduct).
  • Knowledge of national and international laws, in particular human rights law and international humanitarian law.
  • Possession of all necessary business licenses.
  • Fair renumeration, working conditions and social benefits.
  • Adequate internal control systems capable of ensuring ethical conduct (e.g. grievance mechanisms).
• Award criteria related to security personnel may include:
  • Records of past conduct.
  • Training.
  • Records of possession of all necessary permits related to equipment and small arms and light weapons, if relevant and permitted by relevant national laws.

Practical Tools

• A Guidance Tool for Contracting Private Military and Security Services, sections 1.3 and 1.4 (Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance 2017)
• Recommendations for Hiring Private Security Providers (SociosPerú, PeaceNexus, International Committee of the Red Cross and Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance 2015)

Consider the set of criteria laid out in section Selecting private security providers: assessing quality and cost considerations within Bids and contracts – Working with Private Security Providers). For the evaluation of proposals and ensure the community relations team participates in this process.

• Ensure that contractors’ financial proposals include a sufficient budget for community engagement, impact management and other activities that are part of the contractors’ responsibilities. This will help to ensure that contractors do not cut corners in social performance as way to reduce expenses once tenders have been awarded.26

Develop a binding contract with each contractor that includes clear clauses on human rights and international humanitarian law

(see Compliance with international standards and good practices: developing implementation guidance within Bids and contracts – Working with Private Security Providers).

• These clauses should cover:
  • Respect for national laws, international humanitarian law and human rights law.
  • Company human rights standards and policies, including the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers.
  • Performance requirements on stakeholder engagement.
  • Clarity on the company and contractor’s respective roles and responsibilities, including the contractor’s shared responsibility for dispute resolution with local communities when they have contributed to tensions.

Develop a coherent stakeholder engagement strategy that considers the role of contractors

(see Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities within Stakeholder engagement strategy –Working with Communities).

• Speak with one voice to the local communities, ensuring consistency in messages.
• Agree on a procedure for managing community grievances that avoids confusion between the role of the project proponent and the main contractors.28 Where appropriate, integrate the contractor’s grievance mechanism into existing mechanisms. However, there may be instances in which the contractor should have its own functioning grievance mechanism, especially when it prominently interacts with the local community (see 4.2.e.).
• Inform local communities about the details of contracts with local contractors, explaining their roles and responsibilities, as well as how to report any security-related grievances.

Offer support to contractors to enhance their capacity to deliver services in compliance with company standards.

• Train contractors so that they have the adequate knowledge and skills to operate in accordance with effective security and community engagement practices.
• Share best practices and guidelines, as well as information identified in risk and impact assessments. Explain their relevance and how contractors can use this knowledge in practical, actionable terms.

Monitor contractors’ implementation of social commitments in accordance with the contract.

• Designate a company representative who is responsible for monitoring and ensuring contractors’ compliance with agreed requirements, including social commitments.
• Hold regular meetings with the contractor to discuss community relations and consider inviting community representatives to participate in these meetings. Be aware that community members may not always feel comfortable publicly sharing their concerns, particularly with security providers present. Discuss community concerns raised through any grievance mechanisms, with care to avoid disclosing any information that might reveal the identity of complainants.
• Agree on systematic and regular reporting requirements.
• Ensure clarity on procedures for managing community grievances in order to avoid confusion between the role of the company and that of the contractor. The company can either integrate the contractor’s grievance mechanism into existing mechanisms or, if more appropriate, indicate that the contractor has its own functioning grievance mechanism (especially when it prominently interacts with the community) (see 4.2.e.).
• Inform local communities about the details of contracts with local contractors, explaining their roles and responsibilities, as well as how to report any security-related grievances.

If contractors fail to comply with clauses in the contract, consider the following options:

• Negotiate a timeline for compliance.
• Withhold payments as established in the contract until the issue is satisfactorily addressed.
• Condition an ongoing relationship on performance and provide further, detailed guidance and training, together with regular performance review.
• Terminate the relationship with noncompliant contractors.

Good Practices

Analyse the context and assess risks and impacts regularly

(see Unidentified root causes, unaddressed impacts of the operation or unfulfilled commitments: addressing persistent tensions within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).

Develop a risk and impact mitigation strategy in consultation with local communities and other relevant stakeholders.

• This could be part of wider human rights due diligence. Based on the information collected, determine a strategy to prevent, mitigate and address any risks and impacts, with input from community members on the most appropriate and effective approaches.
• Prioritise the most serious risks and impacts. Note that the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights classify severity based on the scale, scope and irremediability of impacts. Where risks or potential impacts are high or extreme, do not start the project or activity until the risks have been reduced or mitigated to an appropriate level. CDA explains, ‘A company’s inability to operate in ways that do not, at a minimum, “avoid harm” should prompt serious consideration of withdrawal from the context’.29 (For more information, see 1.2.)
• Conduct a mapping of different security needs in the host communities, adopting a gendered perspective and taking into account the needs of groups that are particularly at high risk.
• Ensure the mitigation and management strategy is proportionate to the identified risks and impacts, as well as tailored to the company’s involvement in particular risks or impacts. The company generally has a greater responsibility to address issues that it causes or contributes to the issues it is linked to through its business relationships (see 2.8.d.).
• Exercise due diligence to identify and deal with negative legacies. Acknowledge poor practices in the past, apologise publicly for them on behalf of the industry and seek, as far as possible, to remedy past damage (e.g. by rebuilding trust in security providers through clear accountability processes).
• Be aware that there are no quick fixes for pre-existing and/or complex conflicts, and a company neither can, nor should, try to address them on its own.
• Coordinate with competent authorities to strengthen their ability to respond to heightened risks, ensuring that security measures adopted are appropriate to the risks.
• Develop joint approaches with other companies in the region to address increases in crime, violence or the presence of armed groups. This could be undertaken via multi-stakeholder working groups on business, security and human rights (see in-country working groups).
• Support non-governmental actors in conducting programmes that prevent and address sexual exploitation and violence against women and children by security actors.
• Work with key stakeholders through existing multi-stakeholder platforms or develop a multi- stakeholder security forum if none exists (see In-Country Working Groups as a Tool for Cooperation and Remediation: A Case Study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Carefully monitor the company’s business relations, transactions and financial flows.

• As emphasised by the Human Rights Translated Business Reference Guide, ‘Do not enter into or condone protection arrangements with any illegitimate armed actors, particularly in conflict areas or regions with poor human rights records’.
• Carefully analyse whether the company’s operations, supply chain, social investments, local community engagement, etc. might benefit, facilitate or contribute financially (e.g. through extortion) to the activities of armed groups.
• Regularly discuss the company’s expectations and contractual standards with suppliers and contractors. Include clauses in contracts prohibiting human rights violations and illicit payments (see Information Management: determining what to share in relation to security arrangements within Information -sharing, consultation and consent – Working with Communities)
• Include audit clauses in contracts and, if appropriate, specify in contracts that illicit payments to illegal armed groups may be grounds to terminate the contract.
• The UN Global Compact and Principles for Responsible Investment recommend that companies ‘develop a rigorous supply chain management system to assess and monitor if and how […] suppliers obtain resources and raw materials in conflict-affected and high-risk areas’.

Practical Tools

• Human Rights Impact Assessment Guidance and Toolbox, phase 4 (Danish Institute for Human Rights 2020)
• Preventing Conflict in Exploration Toolkit (CDA 2016)
• Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas (OECD 2016)
• Chinese Due Diligence Guidelines for Responsible Minerals Supply Chains (OECD and the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters 2015)
• Identifying and Prioritizing Human Rights Risks (Shift 2014)

Establish, maintain and update effective grievance mechanisms (see 4.2.e.).

Conduct human rights due diligence and update it regularly in consultation with local communities

(see Unidentified root causes, unaddressed impacts of the operation or unfulfilled commitments: addressing persistent tensions within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).

Develop a risk and impact mitigation strategy that is adapted to the local context. This should be part of the wider human rights due diligence procedures in place to prevent, mitigate and address any negative human rights impacts

(see Senior management buy-in: securing recognition and resources required for engaging constructively with communities within Internal alignment and coordination on stakeholder engagement – Working with Communities).

Develop a local content strategy.

• Define ‘local’. Agree with local communities on the definition of who should be considered local for the purpose of employment and stakeholder engagement. However, be aware of biases in defining which communities are considered ‘local’. Avoid excluding groups or communities and exacerbating or creating social tensions. Seek to identify any communities that may have been overlooked (e.g. camps of refugees or internally displaced persons).
• Maximise employment opportunities for local people.
  • Establish a minimum quota of local staff for the company, as well as for its contractors and security providers.
  • Be clear about the number and type of jobs available in the company.
  • Be transparent about hiring criteria and publicly commit to hiring local community members to the greatest extent possible. Consider why local community members might not be qualified for certain jobs and consider implementing training, educational initiatives and/or other measures to address these gaps.
  • Ensure that hiring practices are inclusive for women, ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples and any other vulnerable or marginalised groups.
• Support training to increase local communities’ long-term job opportunities.
  • At early stages of operations, perform a survey of trades, industries and opportunities within the region to determine where gaps exist in vocational skills. Also identify potential partner organisations to collaborate with on skills training.
  • Begin vocational skills training at an early stage of investment.
  • Where possible, aim to provide official diplomas or certifications attesting to participants’ skills and training.
  • Provide youths with scholarships and apprenticeships in relevant fields.
• Develop or support programmes to help local people identify and take advantage of business opportunities. This could include establishing business development centres, setting up microcredit programmes and/or serving as guarantors with local banks to help local entrepreneurs obtain access to credit.
• Consider establishing programmes where company representatives teach specific skills (e.g. business administration, accounting, business development planning, human resources management) to emerging local businesses.
• Keep in mind that company operations may not be permanent and adapt vocational training accordingly.

Institute an in-migration management plan at an early stage of investment.

• Involve representatives of all stakeholder groups (e.g. local communities, civil society organisations and representatives of national, regional and local authorities) in the development of the in-migration management plan.
• Develop programmes and support discussions that help communities anticipate and prepare mentally for the changes they will experience from the influx of migrants, especially where existing ethnic, religious, social or gender dynamics may be upset by an influx of male workers.
• For crowd control, avoid practices that may attract excessive numbers of people to the area of operations (e.g. avoid hiring people at the company gate).
• Mitigate the impact of non-local jobseekers on the host community, by, for example, ensuring local infrastructure is strengthened as part of the in-migration management plan.
• Support non-governmental actors in programmes that aim to prevent and address sexual exploitation and violence against women and children.
• On the basis of risk assessments and human rights due diligence findings, look for appropriate ways to strengthen and support community security mechanisms, in collaboration with the police and/or other community-based entities.

Practical Tools

• Community Development Toolkit, management tool no. 17 (International Council on Mining and Metals 2012)
• Getting It Right: Making Corporate-Community Relations Work (Luc Zandvliet and Mary B Anderson, Greenleaf Publishing 2009)

Good Practices

Ensure that security arrangements convey openness and accessibility.

• Keep conspicuous and heavy-handed displays of protection to a minimum (e.g. avoid overt militarisation, displaying weapons, cars with blackened windows or convoys that drive fast through populated areas without stopping).
• Explore all possible ways to lessen the impact of security measures (e.g. build a safe pathway across the company site if the usual pathway has been closed due to operations).
• Before contracting with private security providers, determine whether there are cultural or ethnic sensitivities associated with their deployment in the area of operations. 
• Where possible, employ women as security guards or interlocutors to facilitate women’s access to the company.
• Employ people from local communities that speak local languages.
• Consider inviting community members to observe select training sessions for public and/or private security.
• Encourage security personnel to attend select community meetings so they can gain a better understanding of community issues (provided this does not deter community members from attending). Ensure there are ample opportunities for engagement without company security in attendance.

Ensure alignment between the company’s stakeholder engagement strategy and security policies and practices.

• Educate personnel across all company departments on the stakeholder engagement strategy (see Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities within Stakeholder engagement strategy  – Working with Communities).
• Ensure communities are not treated as a threat, but as partners.
  • Emphasise to all company staff understand that the company is hosted by the communities and that they should be treated respectfully at all times.
• Develop coordination procedures between the company’s community relations department and the security department, with the community relations department as the focal point for any interactions with local communities (see Local communities’ consent: ensuring it is based on realistic expectations and a realistic understanding of impacts within Information-sharing consultation and consent – Working with Communities).

Discuss security measures regularly with local communities and work together to address any security-related impacts

(see community representatives: ensuring they engage in support of communities as a whole rather than narrow interests within Stakeholder engagement strategy  – Working with Communities and Senior management buy-in: securing recognition and resources required for engaging constructively with communities within Internal alignment and coordination on stakeholder engagement  – Working with Communities).

• Share information in a timely manner, in languages that communities are able to understand and in formats that makes sense to the local population.
• Assure people that to the best of the company’s ability, the information they provide about security issues will be treated confidentially to protect their privacy, unless they want it to be shared publicly.

Key Resources

• Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement (OECD 2017)

Ensure public security forces understand their mandate

(see Privatisation of public security within Working with Public Security Providers).

In areas of the community where there is insufficient public security presence, work with public security management to strengthen law enforcement.

• Agree with public security on security measures that are appropriate to respond to local risks.  Take into account that security measures which are conspicuous and heavy-handed could damage the trust of the community, thereby heightening security risks rather than reducing them. 
• Encourage public security forces to appoint their own community liaison.

Publicly condemn violence against civilians in the region where the company operates.

Discuss security arrangements with communities

(see information Management: determining what to share in relation to security arrangements within Information -sharing, consultation and consent – Working with Communities) and Company safety and security measures: avoiding the perception that the company sees and treats communities as a security threat within  Impacts of Company operations on the security of communities – Working with Communities).

• Explain the purpose of security arrangements to communities and engage communities in discussions about how to improve security practices.
• Encourage the participation of a representative of public security forces in select community consultations. Ensure there are ample opportunities for engagement without public security in attendance.
• Encourage social interaction between public security, company staff and local communities, such as regular fairs, sports tournaments, development of joint exercises, etc.
• Work with key stakeholders through existing multi-stakeholder platforms or develop a multi- stakeholder security forum if none exists (see in-country working groups)

Monitor stakeholder perceptions regarding the project.

• Conduct regular surveys or assessments on community perceptions of the project, security arrangements and company relationship with public security, possibly independently administered. Use the same set of questions over time to maintain continuity and measure any changes (see Unidentified root causes, unaddressed impacts of the operation or unfulfilled commitments: addressing persistent tensions within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).
• Use the grievance mechanism to address concerns before they escalate (see Community mistrust: ensuring an effective grievance mechanism within Stakeholder engagement strategy  – Working with Communities).
• Consult with credible and knowledgeable third parties to gain insights into communities’ concerns.
• Where perceptions have become more negative, open a dialogue with stakeholders as to why and how this can be addressed.

Good Practices

Before commencing new projects, carry out human rights due diligence that assesses company impacts on local livelihoods

(see Unidentified root causes, unaddressed impacts of the operation or unfulfilled commitments: addressing persistent tensions within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).

Update this assessment regularly.

• Ensure the assessment reflects seasonal activities that may vary throughout the year.

Conduct a stakeholder mapping exercise in the area of operations

(see Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).

To address impacts on livelihoods, consider developing the following measures in collaboration with affected stakeholders.

• Engage with the host government to ensure community interests and needs are taken into account when developing a resettlement action plan for affected stakeholders. This should include finding alternative hunting, fishing and/or farming areas nearby to minimise the impact on livelihoods.
• Establish an alternative livelihoods programme, including scholarships and/or training, that facilitates access to other employment opportunities. Initiate the process of developing the programme at early stages of investment, in consultation with development agencies, government agencies, communities, marginalised groups, NGOs and civil society organisations.
• Employ affected stakeholders that qualify for jobs at the company (e.g. artisanal miners).
• Procure goods and services locally and help local businesses qualify for tenders.
• Cooperate with efforts to formalise the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector.
  • Support efforts by the host government to professionalise and formalise the artisanal mining sector, such as through the establishment of cooperatives, associations or other membership structures.
  • Engage with ASM associations and explore the possibility of reserving an area of the company’s concession for artisanal mining, whereby portions of the concession are subleased to small-scale miners who operate as sub-contractors to the company.
  • Support certification efforts that raise artisanal miners’ compliance with human rights and labour standards and enable their access to the global market.
• Engage with other companies operating in the area to develop an impact mitigation plan that addresses the loss of livelihoods, especially in cases of cumulative impacts.

Ensure that public and private security are trained on how to deal with the unauthorised presence of community members in the company’s concession. Training should address the exposure to bribes

(see Training within Working with Public Security Forces and Training within Working with Private Security Providers).

• In mining contexts, ensure security is trained on how to address artisanal and small-scale miners seeking access to the concession in exchange for mining products or other benefits.