Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

374 Pitfalls and Pipelines: Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Industries
shaping public opinion. Ensuring strong media coverage was
also an important component of successful advocacy.
25. Good practices included the organization of indigenous
elders, whose wisdom and role in the struggle for human
rights was crucial. Another good practice was the use of unity
pacts or agreements between Indigenous Peoples from different
communities.
26. The use of international mechanisms was also recommended
and could include bringing cases or submitting shadow
reports to international treaty bodies. Similarly, the use of laws
that establish extra-territorial jurisdiction was encouraged, for
example, the Alien Tort Claims Act in the United States.
27. It was emphasized that indigenous communities must
develop the content of their advocacy strategies based on
their own aspirations. Questions to consider included specific
demands to be directed to the extractive industry and government,
as well as indigenous alternative models and policy
proposals for reforming the industry and the underlying socio-economic
framework. In terms of alternative models and
policies, Indigenous Peoples should formulate proposals for
reforming extractive industries to make them truly serve as
an engine for genuine economic development at national and
local levels. Even if not legal tools, these could be educational
and political tools.
28. The need for training on research and human rights work,
as well as leadership training, was emphasized. Such training
would maximize the effectiveness of advocacy efforts focused
on extractive industries. Participants agreed that more materials
and guidelines regarding free, prior and informed consent
were needed for indigenous community use. However,
guidelines should not be used at the expense of the views and
approaches of communities themselves. Ultimately it is for
communities to work out what consent means for themselves.
29. Participants noted that, while environmental impact assessments
are now required in many countries, these rarely
account for the climate change impacts of projects. Also, social
impact assessments and human rights impacts assessments
are usually neither conducted nor required. This should be