Proactive engagement means that the UoC should:

Guidance for Indicator 3.13.1 offers information about how to:

evidence of engagement with local communities

minutes from any meetings with community members

documented grievances and their resolutions.

confirm that the UoC is aware of which communities may be impacted by their activities;

confirm that the UoC understands some of the possible negative impacts that their activities may have on communities;

confirm that the UoC has engaged in some way with local communities.

The UoC:

can demonstrate this right by showing:

review local legislation related to legal or customary rights of Indigenous and tribal people to water

land titles, deeds, licences

evidence of agreements with communities

evidence of FPIC agreements with Indigenous communities.

how community members engage with the UoC;

the UoC has all appropriate land titles, deeds and licences in place;

whether there are any past or ongoing conflicts between the community and the UoC about the UoC’s use of resources.

Ensuring that the community benefits economically from the UoC can:

The UoC can develop partnerships and agreements that ensure that nearby communities benefit economically from site operations. This may include:

sourcing goods from the community, for example:

sourcing services from the community, for example:

infrastructure development, for example:

Actions that the site can take include:

sourcing policy

recruitment processes and advertisements for jobseekers

employee records

agreements with local businesses.

how jobs are advertised and goods are sourced;

the degree of locally recruited employees and locally sourced goods and services;

the reasoning for recruiting employees or sourcing goods and services from elsewhere.

The UoC can be a busy environment, and operations can have an impact on surrounding communities, who may experience increased:

In consultation with the community the UoC should:

an analysis of any negative impacts caused by the UoC

records or minutes of meetings or other engagement with the community

a mitigation plan for any negative impacts.

the UoC understands who the communities are who are potentially impacted by its operations;

the UoC has carried out a process of understanding what, if any, the impacts from its operations are for the local communities;

where possible, if communities have been engaged in a process of understanding the impacts of the operations of the UoC;

communities are aware of the mitigation plan.

The aim of this criterion is that the UoC:

Communities may have lived in the area for centuries, and the natural resources may:

These areas can include:

It is the responsibility of the UoC to:

The UoC can take several steps to engage in these responsibilities:

Step 2: The UoC conducts social impact assessments:

assesses which communities may be affected by their operations:

Step 3: The UoC develops a mitigation plan:

Step 4: The UoC educates and trains employees about:

Step 5: The UoC integrates community engagement into management systems (see also Criterion 1.2):

Step 6: The UoC establishes conflict resolution mechanisms, which are:

Step 7: The UoC ensures transparency, reporting and communication, internally, to the communities and to other interested stakeholders. This can include:

reports from environmental and social impact assessments

impact mitigation plan

reports or meeting minutes from community meetings and other engagement

documentation from grievance procedures

brochures, posters and other materials used for communication with communities.

which communities may be impacted by the operations of the UoC and if they are Indigenous communities or not;

whether the methodology for stakeholder mapping was robust enough to identify the key rightsholders and stakeholders.

if the stakeholders identified include diverse groups representing different segments of the community.

where possible with communities, that the assessments were conducted in good faith and include all significant sites that the UoC may have an impact on, or where this is not possible seek input from local NGOs or other organisations.

the mitigation plan is being implemented;

communities understand how to access the UoC’s community grievance mechanism;

documentation from grievance processes, the nature of the grievances and how they have been resolved;

how communities engage with the UoC;

whether there are any conflicts about the use of resources by the UoC or if the UoC has restricted access to sites of religious or spiritual significance for Indigenous people;

whether there are any other negative impacts they experience from the UoC.

IFC stakeholder engagement handbook: <https://www.ifc.org/en/insights-reports/2000/publications-handbook-stakeholderengagement–wci–1319577185063>

Guide to social impact assessment: <https://www.eianz.org/document/item/5876>

World Resources Institute “Breaking Ground: Engaging communities in extractive and infrastructure projects”: <https://www.wri.org/research/breaking-ground>

Guidance for Free Prior and Informed Consent (but also useful for community engagement more generally):

If a confidential grievance process has been requested, anyone managing the grievance process receives, processes, files and monitors records with particular attention to ensuring that the identity of the person raising the claim is:

Sometimes there may be a situation where in order to properly investigate and understand the grievance, the UoC has to share some information about the grievance. If this is the case:

grievance policy with provisions for confidential procedures

records of grievance processes.

employees understand that the grievance processes are confidential;

those processing grievances understand how to keep the process confidential.

Employee representation is freely chosen or elected by their peers without interference from management.

The UoC staff may wish to have employee representation in the form of a committee to support the grievance mechanism. In this case, the committee:

The UoC staff may wish to have employee representation in the form of a committee to support the grievance mechanism. In this case, the committee:

Employee representatives:

evidence of training for employee representatives on the relevant topics

clearly documented roles and authority levels needed for employee representatives

job descriptions for employee representatives

records of employee representative selection process

minutes of any committee meetings.

that employees feel represented by the employee representatives;

how employee representatives feel the system is working in practice.

The system used to track grievances, responses, communication and remedy should include:

records of grievance processes.

records of grievance processes are complete.

The UoC follows the procedure to address grievances, beginning with acknowledging the receipt of the grievance within 10 days from submission.

The UoC develops a clear action plan to resolve the grievance within 90 days from submission.

Urgent concerns should be addressed sooner. For example:

Full remediation of the issue may take place over a longer timeframe when required by the circumstance. For example:

records of grievance processes.

the timeframe in which grievances are resolved.

Non-retaliation means that no action can be taken by the UoC against a person or an entity bringing a grievance that has been raise in good faith.

If retaliation occurs, this means that the grievance mechanism is inadequate.

This protection against retaliation applies to those bringing grievances and to whistleblowers.

ILO defines whistleblowing as: ‘the reporting by employees or former employees of illegal, irregular, dangerous or unethical practices by employers’.

Examples of retaliation in the workplace can include:

Examples of retaliation for a community member or Indigenous or tribal person can include:

Ways to protect employees and communities from retaliation can include:

grievance policy or procedure, including provision for confidentiality

records of grievance processes.

policies and provisions for non-retaliation with employee and community representatives.