Development Finance for Community Environment and Justice Defenders in Southern Africa

As part of its business and human rights initiatives, SARW is implementing a project focused on development finance for mining communities through grievance redress mechanisms. Within this project, SARW advocates for a novel and effective grievance redress mechanism aimed at fostering trust between mining communities and companies. The proposed model emphasizes that mining companies can prevent grievances by investing upfront in Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). This grievance redress mechanism places communities at the forefront of addressing issues arising from mining activities. SARW has developed a TOOLKIT ON EFFECTIVE GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISMS IN MINING PROJECTS detailing how to establish an effective and inclusive grievance redress mechanism. The toolkit has been applied in four countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The project has yielded success in Zambia and Zimbabwe, facilitating constructive engagements among companies, communities, and local authorities. See emerging models for Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as DRC Below.