Enabling Landscapes: INTERHOLCO's Sustainability Report 2017

Inclusion and human rights: the IFO Social Team
Led by Mr. Eric Mvouyou, the IFO
Social Team provides a critical
interface between the company
management and its operations and
the needs and expectations of the
local and indigenous communities. In
the Social Team, Mr. Eric Mvouyou
works together with Ms. Gelvie
Nguimbi, Mr. Aubin Lobila and Mr.
Timothée Epoutangongo , who is
himself from an indigenous
community.
In 2016 alone, our Social Team held
over 300 meetings, to maintain an
open dialogue with communities and
listen to their needs and
expectations. To effectively
implement the principle of Free, Prior
and Informed Consent (FPIC), we hired
Mr. Roch Nzobo, director of human
rights NGO 'Cercle des droits de
l'homme et de développement'
(CDHD). He identifies and is notified of
social issues in the villages and
ensures comprehensive and
consistent implementation of the FPIC
requirements, keeping communities
informed, hearing their concerns,
discussing and agreeing on joint
actions, and ensuring that
communities know about, and
exercise, their right to FPIC.
Through our Social Team, we work
with local communities and include
Indigenous Peoples, on participatory
cartography with a view to identifying
forest resources (e.g. trees, medicinal
plants, special sites, water courses,
etc.) which need to be protected from
harvesting to allow food and natural
remedy production, cultural and/or
religious ceremonies, etc.
Benefits are shared with the local
communities and Indigenous Peoples
through a local development fund,
which independently supports
community-projects. From 2014 to
2016, material was provided for
houses, agriculture and livestock
projects were initiated, drinking water
wells, school and clinics were
constructed, etc.
The fund provides the local
communities and indigenous peoples
with key resources, as part of a
benefit sharing process and FPIC.
In addition, our Social Team not only
hears, collects and documents
grievances, but collaborates with the
local people and communities to
prevent and/or resolve them.
50 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2017 INTERHOLCO