Human Rights Impact Assessment of Mines and Infrastructure Mark Wielga, Nomogaia

1. State of the Art and Challenges Human Rights Impact Assessment of Mines and Infrastructure Mark Wielga, Nomogaia

2. I. Public and Private HRIA Public Action Private Action Examples: Mines, oil and gas fields, plantations, factories Covers the corporate duty to respect human rights Covers specially affected groups and specific impacts of corporate operations • Examples: Trade Agreements, Government Programs • Covers the government duty to protect, respect and fulfill human rights • Covers specially affected groups and broad societal impacts

3. Human Rights Impact Assessment of Corporate Action • Norm: United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011) • Requires companies to act with “due diligence” • HRIA is a form of due diligence • Many transnational companies now attempting to do HRIAs

4. Problems with the current state of corporate HRIA • Not public • No standard method • No established expertise inside the company • No established expertise among consultants • Little guidance in the academic literature

5. Mining: Public HRIAs

6. Mining HRIA—Timing and Affect

7. Mining HRIA--Methodologies

8. II. Mine HRIA Example Paladin’s Kayelekera Uranium Mine in Malawi

9. KAYELEKERA Open Pit Uranium Mine Operator Paladin (Africa) Ltd. Owned: 85% Paladin Resources Ltd. (Australia) 15% Government of Malawi

10. Kayelekera: Project, Context and Company Project (medium size open pit uranium mine and mill) Context (Northern Malawi: sparse poor rural population, weak infrastructure) Company (Paladin: Australia based medium size company, good policies and short track record)

11. Ratings -12 to -25 -0.5 to -12 0.5 to 12 12 to 25

12. Kayelekera: Example of Human Rights Impact Ratings HIV/Aids:There will be a significant increase in rates without strenuous additional efforts. (Strong Negative) Water Quality:Negative impacts on water downstream. (Negative, but may be mitigated or offset by multi-million dollar water treatment system) Discrimination: Hiring is of men from Southern Malawi - no efforts to recruit or train locals or women. (Negative) Food: No significant productive land lost to project. Project sources food locally. Increase in local demand has inflated prices for consumers and farmers. (Mixed) Labor standards: Safe healthy work environment. (Strong Positive) Standard of Living:For many employees significantly increased. (Strong Positive)

13. Recommendations: HIV Drama Group at Mine

14. Recommendations: Upgraded Schools

15. Recommendations: Sanitation

16. III. Infrastructure HRIAs • Need a different methodology from large footprint corporate HRIAs to consider systematic impacts • Need to consider human right duties of companies and governments

17. Example of Human Rights Analysis of an Infrastructure Project: Disi Conveyance Project

18. Jordan: An Extremely Water Poor Country

19. There is a small Footprint Effect

20. But a much greater System-wide Effect

21. Disi was funded as a public-private partnership development project.

22. Infrastructure HRIA: A Hybrid • Needs to measure the systematic human rights impacts: increased water use in a water stressed country or subsidy for large agriculture? • Needs to measure direct effects of footprint: land use changes, people are displaced • Both are relevant to development

23. Conclusions HRIA of Corporate Projects • Still in its infancy • Need for a leading methodology • Need for transparency, criticism, improvement HRIA of Infrastructure Projects • Just beginning • Methodology must consider footprint and system effects

24. THANK YOU!