International exp on R& R

Lessons Learned from various country’s R & R
Each country’s R & R has some lessons here are few examples from Columbia, China,
Brazil, Papua New Guinea, Chad and South Africa, to be learned on the key issues
which has been classified into four different themes viz., (I) Legal and Policy
Framework; (ii) project preparation; eminent domain and compensation; (iii) community
participation and benefit sharing; and (IV) grievance redress; monitoring and
transparency. The salient messages are here organized below.
A. Legal and Policy framework:
The Colombian legislative framework is informed by international norms set out in
several agreements such as the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the
Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations Agreement on Protection of World, Cultural, and
Natural Patrimony, the Amazonian Cooperation Treaty, and multiple agreements on
indigenous and tribal peoples. The Colombian constitution itself recognizes
environmental protection and the right of people to participate in decisions that affect
them as fundamental rights. It also protects ethnic, cultural, and natural diversity. The
Law 21 of Columbia has the provision of benefit sharing with the affected community.
In China, gradually, laws and regulations developed at the Central government and at the
project level along with the above and the technical guidelines for resettlement and
planning particularly in irrigation sector. A strong need for institutional capacity in order
to implement resettlement in accordance with the principles and policies led to the
creation of several new ‘Resettlement Management Organizations’. There are separate
state agencies for resettlement (for example, the Resettlement Bureaus in the Ministry of
Water Resources and for Three Gorges Project) as well as others including the National
Reservoir Resettlement Research Centre and river basin resettlement bureaus for the
Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the Haihe River, and the Pearl River. Ultimately,
development projects change the resource equation in China, and improving the
legislation and policy framework enables benefit-sharing that can help to optimize the use
of available resources. This also helped China in tackling legacy issues of pre-1978
projects.
In Brazil, both the right of the federal, state, and municipal governments to expropriate
land and the right of people to housing are enshrined in the constitution. Though there is
no specific legislation in Brazil for rehabilitation, there are a number of programs that
vary greatly across the country. Additionally, there is no legal requirement to provide
irrigated land to people who are displaced due to dams built for irrigation. But the
example of the Ponto Novo dam showed that providing irrigation to resettled farmers and
giving them training in their own language on how to conduct irrigated agriculture was
successful.

In Papua New Guinea, there is a provision of negotiation in the constitution it self. The
constitution provides for formation of development forum for negotiation which
concludes with signing of Memorandum of Agreement which acts as guideline for
implementation. Compensation is regarded as right and not a benefit. In order to establish
land records, self declaration by land owner it self is sufficient (primarily because, 97%
of the total land in PNG is communally owned).
In Chad, to manage direct oil incomes, an oil security board has been established. This
board is called College of Control and security of oil resources. The members of the
board includes Magistrate, representative of government, (a deputee and a Senator),
National director for banks of central Africa countries, General Director of Public
Accountancy, a representative from Development NGO’s, labor unions, associations for
Human Rights and religious communities. Members of college are chosen by other
members and elected by president for three years. Membership can be renewed once,
except for representatives of Public Accountancy. The direct oil incomes cannot be used
for specific programs without approval of Security College that owns a technical team.
As per Decree 457/PR/MEF/2004, a Provisory Management Board for oil incomes has
been established which is responsible for developing instrument for economical and
social developments identify, select and approve projects of regional interest,
implementation of projects and supervisions. Members of the board include 3 deputies
from producer region and two representatives each from civilian society, traditional
authorities and state representatives.
The Protected Areas Act, 2003 of South Africa, prioritized protection and conservation
of ecologically viable areas, provided for establishment of national registrar of all
protected areas, set down national norms and standards for their management, offered
scope for intergovernmental and public consultation on matters concerning protected
areas, and called for continuation of all national parks. The Act provides for community
harvesting of natural resources and community-based natural resource management;
insists participation of local authorities in integrated management of protected areas; and
provides for overall ministerial oversight, public participation in management planning,
and maintenance of community rights registrars for each wildlife park.
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B. Project Preparation; Eminent Domain and Compensation:
The element of the Brazilian best practices that was the Ponto Novo project made use of
a comprehensive survey in order to establish a baseline and to identify existing residents.
This will help the proponent implement the benefit-sharing and compensation programs
outlined above effectively, while limiting benefits for those who move to the area later –
perhaps as rent-seekers or otherwise.
In Urra Project in Columbia, EPM raised an in-house multidisciplinary team for the
preparation of its Resettlement Action Plan, but it outsourced the implementation.
Agricultural plots were planted in advance so that the PAP could have a new harvest
when they arrived in their resettlement area.
In road sector project in China, proper project preparation including analysis of
alternative helped in reducing the extent of land to be acquired by 60%. The option
selected also helped in increased road safety.
In Chad, a database of the community linked to the pipeline was created using satellite
imageries. This allowed the project to understand the community and map their socio-
economic status. The data base of the Doba Project is operational. The database helps to
identify the land occupied temporarily and / or permanently by the project. It makes it
possible to visualize the occupied impact and the extension of the fragmentation of the
land. It also helps in determining surfaces of bush, fallow and grounds cultivated in each
village (limited villages were superimposed on those produced).This determination
allows the classification of the villages according to their degree of impact. Community
monitoring programme was developed based on the database and evaluation is carried out
every three years
The IFC presentation detailed out three types of Land Acquisition is possible with each
of them having different connotations for the seller in terms of his/her need for legal
protection. While pure market transaction entails no need for legal protection for the
seller because he/she would only accept if he/she is adequately compensated. In case of
Negotiated settlement, seller needs legal protection and in the event the negotiation fails
expropriation methods are the back up. Acquisition through expropriation too entails the
need for legal protection for the seller but it has the inherent risk of unfair compensation
and may not solve the problems relating to compulsory acquisition and possible
displacement. Besides in such a scenario, there is asymmetry of information and an
imposition of easement or rights.
The IFC projects shows that while pure market transaction is preferred norm in sectors
such as general manufacturing, agribusiness and health and education, in sectors such as
oil/gas, mining and power/transport LA is carried out either via negotiated settlements or

expropriation procedures. The responsibility too varies according with private companies
being responsible for LA in General manufacturing, agribusiness, health and education.
In oil, gas and mining and power/transport private companies are granted concessions.
The Brazilian presentation highlighted the importance of legal and acquired rights of
property – a very pertinent issue for many countries conducting R&R. Before the project,
many of the affected people had no birth certificates, marriage certificates, records of
land ownership, or inheritance rights. In order to guarantee informal rights, acquired by
the length of time the generations of the same family have lived in a plot (sometimes
decades), the land titles were regularized with no charge to the people as a part of the
project. Legal support services were also offered, and improvements to the property were
taken into consideration as much as possible, irrespective of the existence of title or deed
[note: in Brazil, it take 5 years of residence to obtain an acquired right in an urban setting;
20 years in a rural setting and it takes 3 - 12 months for processing]. A benefit of the
program became legal citizenship and land titles for the affected people which otherwise
would not have been formalized. The state was then able to offer compensation for both
legal and acquired rights to property held by the affected people.
In Brazil, the developer adopted an approach that included ‘monitored compensation’
combined with ‘social subsidy’. The ‘monitored compensation’ (or ‘self-resettlement’)
was calculated using either i) the estimated value of a regularized estate including its
improvements, or ii) the estimated value of the improvements to a non-regularized estate.
If the former was used, no social subsidy was provided. If it was the latter, than the
percentile amount of the social subsidy was inversely proportional to the value of the
compensation for assets. The social subsidy allowed families to enter the real-estate
market and own land, even if they did not formally own land before the resettlement. In
this way, the state was able to make resettlement more attractive in a place where most
people would prefer monetary compensation. Furthermore, the monitored compensation
was considered ‘monitored’ because the subsidy was payable only when it was proven
that the money would be used to buy replacement real estate.
In Papua New Guinea, all land acquired so far for mining purposes, have been acquired
through negotiation. Similarly in hydro projects in Columbia, compensation amount is
negotiated with the affected community. In Canada, compensation package includes ‘fair
market value of land’ (determined through market survey of comparable un-affected
land), 5% of market value paid as disturbance allowance, property purchase tax
compensation, moving costs (for up to 100 km) and reasonable mortgage penalties and
legal fees incurred for the transaction. In Peru, compensation is decided on the basis of
negotiation and an agreement is signed which again acts as guidelines for disbursement
of compensation.
C. Community Participation and Benefit Sharing:
Carrying out the project efficiently and effectively relied heavily on active community
participation. Brazilian presentation showed that this meant not only communicating at
the individual and family level, but recognizing cultural traditions and organizational

forms. Training offered to encourage participation was also helpful in fostering local
institutions and greater understanding. But the team became acutely aware of the time
requirements of such an approach. An ex-poste analysis supports the expectation that this
approach save time, but a social timeline is very different from an engineering / technical
timeline (i.e. capacity building especially required more time than was required to
physically implement the project). Time and physical space had to be given to local
people to express all their emotional grievances.
In Urra Project in Columbia, participation from project affected people (PAP) was
sought on even the minute details, e.g. the colour of paint for the new houses. In one
community, this meant that five different churches had to be built because five different
religions were practiced. As part of benefit sharing, medical and transport services were
made available, and even graveyards moved to the new location. Houses were built by
the company after public bids were made, and a significant portion of the labour was
provided by locals. The company also recognized that there would be a significant
environmental impact of the project, therefore 15 percent of the $700 million project cost
was dedicated to environmental remediation and mitigation purposes. The resettled non-
indigenous also received electricity services
In Papua New Guinea, so far land for mining purpose has been acquired through
negotiation. Public hearing is compulsory before issuing new mining lease or renewal of
old lease. Date of signing of compensation agreement is regarded as cut off date by both
the community as well as project proponent. Community Sustainable Development Plan
is prepared to be implemented by Community Project office and to be monitored by a
Development Committee. The roles and responsibility of each stakeholder is clearly
defined in the decree. One fifth of the total royalty received by provincial or local
government from mining is transferred to the community for developmental activities.
In British Columbia, emphasis is more on long term benefits rather than cash
compensation. The presentation made by BC Hydro clearly pointed out that since there
are always going to be some negative impacts when people are displaced, basic
compensation cannot be replaced. BC Hydro for long is not paying compensation to the
displaced persons as financial help is not lasting. The company is clear that “you cannot
build a relationship based on handing over money”. It is benefit sharing of the profit
which helped the company in smooth operations. The amount spent on the community is
viewed as investment rather than the cost.
In China, the long term goal of improvement rather than simple rehabilitation is the
concept of “resettlement with development.” The guiding principles of this approach are
to:
1 - guarantee resettlers’ rights and ensure smooth implementation of hydro projects
2 - adopt a development approach for resettlement to improve or restore livelihoods
3 - rationally consider the interests of the state, collectives and individuals;
4 - minimize land acquisition and resettlement
5 - harmonize the use of natural resources and environment protection for
sustainable development

In China, as part of benefit sharing, rural connector roads are built to provide benefit to
local communities while developing highways,
In Peru, equity is the key to success. The funds are generated by mining companies
through voluntary contribution and contribution towards social trust fund apart from
taxes and royalties. Peru has a well established mechanism for distribution of mining
royalties and cannons. The local government of the district (department) from where the
mineral is being extracted gets larger share of the pie than regional government. Districts
with higher poverty index, gets higher per capita transfer of royalties and taxes to be used
for community welfare programmes.
In Chad, benefit sharing had two pronged approach: (a) dedicated funds for local area
development (FACIL); and (b) regional development plan. A law was framed for revenue
sharing with details of planning and use of fund by international partners. The approach
however is bottom – up. The request is made by the beneficiaries, which through
intermediaries goes to technical cell. Technical cell also provides support to beneficiaries.
The Kenyan example of Shompole Community Trust in Masai Mara shows how
community can be partnered for sustainable wildlife protection and tourism. Shompole
Community Trust representing the interests of the indigenous Masai people is an active
stakeholder in the management of community based eco-tourism projects in the Masai
Mara region. Protecting the group ranch and improving incomes of the local community
through sustainable eco-tourism has been the key objective of this benefit sharing
arrangement. The outcomes of this arrangement include improved incomes, better road
networks, higher security, enhanced wildlife conservation, and greater harmony between
wildlife and people. Some of the direct benefits received by people include health
services, education; scholarship for needy students; and water resource management. The
spin-off benefits include support for small-medium enterprises set up by women and
youth. The impacts of this innovative benefit sharing arrangement have been positive. A
proper land-use plan has been adopted by the Masai community with 10,000 hectares
earmarked for conservancy. Wildlife numbers have increased by 35 percent over the last
since 2001; and the vegetation cover in degraded land has improved. The economic
impacts and non-monetary benefits received by the community have been significant.
In South Africa, as new state policy, national government emphasized on restitution of
land to those who were forcibly thrown out of their land after June 1913. However,
owner cannot change the land use In view this challenge, community agreed to keep the
land with the national park authority and benefits were drawn from conservation in form
of cash (income through tourism; services, land rehabilitation; and jobs) or in kind (non
timber forest produces; grazing access; etc.). Benefits could be drawn only if community
has right on natural resources and share in the tourism market. To tackle this issue,
community entered into a legal framework for partnership with the private sector called
community property association. The CPA Act details out the functioning, reporting and
accountability of workers. Clear understanding of roles and responsibility of each partner
was the key for successful partnership.

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D. Grievance Redressal. Monitoring and Evaluation and Transparency:
In Chad pipeline project, grievance redressal mechanism is the instrument for social
balance and is quite formal. Government and Oil Company must respond to any
grievance within a stipulated time frame. To ensure proper implementation of
environmental and social aspects of the project, Governments of Chad and Cameroun
have set up 7 tiers of supervision mechanism which helped them to bring in transparency
and continuous monitoring.
In Peru, since source of revenue generation is mining companies, taxes paid by the
companies as well as distribution indexes are published. Per capita transfers and
expenditures made by local and regional governments are published in their web site.
This not only ensures transparency in transaction, but also helps in periodic monitoring of
fund utilization.
The salient message from Brazil on this issue was the importance of transparency; the
success of a socio-economic survey is directly associated with the transparency of its
execution. Before being conducted, the survey and its rules must be publicized, the list of
people made available (in case of missing people or discrepancies), and it must be done
in way that is easily understood. For instance, where illiteracy is high, it may have to
include oral communication.
In Columbia, the monitoring and evaluation component of the Porce II project is what
enabled the lessons to emerge. Accurate information on socio-economic issues was
essential not only to assess impacts but also for developing the original resettlement plan,
hence it was important that social team work very closely with the community. Data
collected and monitored from the start allowed for a baseline to be set. This was
important for further monitoring and evaluation, including an ex-poste analysis.
In South Africa, CPA has laid out robust monitoring and accounting system and agreed
framework for benefit sharing to avoid conflict between stakeholders.
Conclusion
The importance of a uniform approach on R&R; the need for guidelines for efficient and
effective implementation of LA and R&R; the shift in attitude in order to include social
costs of projects rather than focusing on higher immediate returns; the benefit of
meaningful consultation and collaboration with affected communities; the importance of
defining the roles of local government; and of building effective grievance systems.
Overall it can be seen that legal framework was amended in all the countries to address
the issue of benefit sharing. Government only acts as a monitoring agency. The
overarching goal is to alleviate poverty. Poor and in adequate R&R provisions will lead
to additional set of impoverished people.

International exp on R& R

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