Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 2.4: Negotiations and Engagement with Companies
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dermine traditional forms of leadership or decision
making, but to augment it with the agreement of all.
For the community it means creating an inclusive
consultation strategy, within the framework of the
traditional forms of governance, and considering
the impacts on everyone of the disbursements of any
benefits. It is worth referring back to the points in
Chapter 2.1 in terms of community organization, as
community cohesion will be vital for a good outcome.
• That negotiations must be well resourced, and given
the necessary time, with jointly agreed timeframes.
• That negotiations are based on mutual respect, both
between the parties and for other stakeholders. As
important as any agreement at the end will be, the
negotiation is a process which allows the development
of mutual understanding. It can be used to build a
longer-term relationship over the life of a project.
Where possible put trial initiatives to the test, and
learn from any mistakes.
• That there is full disclosure, to create an open and
honest dialogue with mutual understanding of culture,
land rights, governance, values, concerns, history
and forms of decision making. This will likely be about
building cross-cultural understanding on both sides.
• That there must be a mechanism for grievance and
resolving disputes, which is confirmed early on in the
negotiations. Also consider what exit strategies there
are if negotiations start to break down.
• That the community must consider participatory
monitoring of the project and the agreement and what
will happen after the agreement, and/or the project,
comes to end.
At the 2009 Manila Conference, the more positive case
study given was from Yana Dordina, presented on behalf of
the Batani International Development Fund in Russia. She
explained about the fund’s mission, history and its work. The
goal was to empower indigenous peoples of the North—who
are the most vulnerable and impoverished section of the
Russian population—through a partnership of indigenous
communities, and companies. She cited the positive example