106
Key Resources on Negotiating with External Actors
Negotiation and Mediation Techniques for Natural Resource Management (FAO, 2005)
Community-based Principles for Negotiating Water Rights: Some Conjectures on Assumptions and
Priorities (Bruns, 2005)
The ABC’s of Negotiation: An Advocate’s Guide to Negotiating with Providers to Improve Access to
Health Care Services (Community Catalyst, Inc., 2004)
Skills Development and Conflict Transformation: A Training Manual on Understanding Conflict,
Negotiation and Mediation (UNDESA/UNDP and The Centre for Conflict Resolution)
IBA Community Toolkit: Negotiation and Implementation of Impact and Benefit Agreements (Gibson,
O’Faircheallaigh, and the Gordon Foundation, 2010)
A.
FREE, PRIOR, AND INFORMED CONSENT
Free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) is a process. It is not a single moment or one-off event. At any
stage of a negotiation, the community has a right to seek more information, say “no”, or withdraw
entirely. Do not feel pressured or obliged to enter into or continue negotiations if the community does not
want to. The onus is on the project proponent to provide as much information as needed for the
community to feel ‘fully informed’. With reference to a proposed access and benefit sharing agreement,
Figure 24 below illustrates that FPIC guarantees communities the freedom to engage in discussion or
negotiations with other parties without providing their consent or entering into contractual agreements.
FPIC is only granted if a final decision is made according to mutually agreed terms and conditions. At a
more detailed level, the guidelines in Table 21 below illustrate the kinds of elements that can help ensure
the integrity of an FPIC process.
Prior request
Information
Benefit sharing
negotiation
Final decision
Access denied
Request for access
made to access
provider
Access denied
Information
requested
Negotiation of a
benefit sharing
agreement
Negotiations fail:
access denied
Access granted
according to mutually
agreed terms
Figure 24: General stages in an FPIC process in the context of access and benefit sharing
Table 21: Guidelines on procedures for respecting the right to FPIC (Source: RECOFTC and GIZ, 2011)
Preparing for Engagement in FPIC
Element 1
Map rights, rights holders, and land use
Element 2
Identify appropriate decision-making institutions
Element 3
Identify national support structures for rights advocacy
Element 4
Develop a process for seeking and obtaining consent