The FPIC-360 Tool for Monitoring and Verifying Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC)

Equitable Origin (EO) and RSB are delighted to have received replication grant funding from the ISEAL Innovation Fund to continue the development of the FPIC-360° tool for monitoring and verifying Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in an EO initiative in partnership with RSB and COICA.

FPIC is a principle that informs the right to consultation and is enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169. As voluntary standards, we draw upon normative frameworks of international human rights to establish performance targets for companies in a variety of sectors related to natural resource development. Many of the ISEAL Alliance member standards, as well as International Finance Institutions, have now incorporated FPIC requirements. The problem facing standard-setting bodies, however, is the lack of knowledge, experience, examples and guidance on how FPIC can and should be implemented, what successful FPIC is, and how assurance providers can verify whether FPIC has been achieved.

To address this challenge, Phase 1 of this project, undertaken between 2017-18, developed a practical “FPIC-360° “ framework for monitoring and verifying FPIC, informed by an extensive literature analysis as well as participatory workshops conducted in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru where we worked with Indigenous Peoples community representatives to develop a set of culturally relevant and measurable indicators.

Phase 2 of this project, therefore, will see us refining the content of the monitoring and verification framework through implementing it in a case study context. We will also refine the format of the framework into a functional early prototype of the FPIC-360° tool through co-design consultation workshops with a variety of end-user groups, including indigenous Peoples community representative, standard setters, IFIs, assurance providers and private sector representatives.

In parallel with the FPIC-360° tool’s development, EO will also lead a Community of Practice consisting of ISEAL member standards, Indigenous Peoples’ representatives, standard setters, assurance providers, IFIs and NGOs.

Learn more about this exciting project and the work being done by EO on FPIC here.

For more information about this project, please contact Soledad Mills: [email protected]