May 2005

Indigenous groups are demanding that the World Bank seek their consent - not just consult them - before carrying out development programmes on their ancestral lands. Representatives of native communities came away from U.N.-sponsored talks criticising the global lender for, in their view, making cosmetic changes in its development policies, which they said continue to undermine native interests. They referred to the bank's new policy on indigenous peoples' development introduced earlier this month. Canadian aboriginal activist Arthur Manual summarised the concern bluntly. ''Consultation sounds good, but does nothing,'' he said. ''It's a mechanism to allow for the ultimate theft of our indigenous propriety interests free of charge. Prior informed consent is recognition of our land, culture, and way of life." By seeking to negotiate with groups within a given indigenous community under the rubric of consultation, rather than simply submitting plans for each community to discuss and decide upon internally, the bank would be ''dividing our communities," added Nilo Cayuqueo of Abya Yala Nexus, an indigenous group based in California. Here is the full report by Haider Rizvi