Mozambique: Dialogue can cut conflicts with extractive industry – NGO

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Mozambique: Dialogue can cut conflicts with extractive industry – NGO

9:42 CAT | 23 Jan 2024

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

The Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO) Centre for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD) said on Tuesday that there should be “dialogue with the communities” where extractive industries are installed in order to prevent conflicts.

“There has to be this dialogue, this discussion, not only with the government but also with the communities,” said Hélio Sitoe, the CDD’s focal point for business pillars and human rights, during the discussion meeting on Human Rights in Mozambique, taking place today in Pemba, Cabo Delgado.

He added that if the community feels respected by the companies and realises that they “respect human rights”, then “consequently there will be fewer risks” in mining, compared to what currently happens, especially in the north of the country.

According to Hélio Sitoe, one example of the problems affecting the relationship between companies in the extractive industry and local communities on the African continent is related to unfair compensation for the granting of exploration licences and the lack of consultation with communities before installation.

“This relationship is important, and it’s important to fulfil the promises they’re going to make (…) that the compensation is fair so that the community feels in favour of the company operating in the region itself,” said the head of the Mozambican NGO.

The province of Cabo Delgado, he pointed out, can be seen as a mirror of the extractive industry in the country, not least in view of the terrorist attacks that have emerged in the north following the announced investments to exploit natural gas, but also the usual cases of the authorities shooting illegal prospectors who enter areas where various minerals are being exploited in the region, sometimes resulting in deaths.

“It’s very easy in these contexts for there to be this revolt on the part of this community that sees its resources being extracted but doesn’t feel like it’s benefiting from the investments,” recognised Hélio Sitoe.

“It’s important that human rights are observed, that communities feel that their resources are not being stolen,” he concluded.

At this meeting in the provincial capital of Cabo Delgado, the CDD brought together various personalities, including members of the government, civil society and NGOs, to discuss human rights in the context of the extractive industry in order to minimise conflicts between companies and the local communities where the extractive industries are installed.

PRINCÍPIOS VOLUNTÁRIOS
SOBRE SEGURANÇA E DIREITOS HUMANOS EM MOÇAMBIQUE

Formação em Direitos Humanos e Princípios Voluntários
para Representantes da Governação Local
e de Organizações da Sociedade Civil

Data: 23 de Janeiro de 2024
Horário: das 8h30 às 16h00
Local: pic.twitter.com/gjqxdWq0p2

— CDD – Centro para Democracia e Direitos Humanos (@CDD_Moz) January 18, 2024