While recent years have shown a steady advancement in recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples, the World Bank adopted a new policy framework that threatens to undermine this progress and put Indigenous communities at risk.
In 2012 when the World Bank began a review and update of its suite of environmental and social safeguard policies, there was a hope that the Indigenous Peoples Policy, which dates back to 2005, would be strengthened to provide greater protection and to incorporate advances in the understanding of Indigenous rights — namely, the 2007 adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
But optimism quickly unravelled as an entrenched battle took shape.
First, a few countries which had rarely been vocal on policy issues began to call into question the very existence of the Indigenous Peoples Policy. Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania argued that a policy on “Indigenous peoples” is inappropriate for Africa, goes against national constitutions, and creates ethnic strife. This is despite the fact that the policy provides for the use of alternative locally appropriate terminology, such as “hill tribes” or “ethnic minorities,” and no evidence has been shown that it has ever exacerbated conflict. African regional jurisprudence and many countries’ national constitutions explicitly recognize Indigenous peoples’ rights, and in fact, it is when these rights aren’t respected, that conflict arises.