“Territory for us as Indigenous peoples is the space where we live – the social, natural, cultural, political space where we exist. It’s where we interact, construct, exchange. This is our definition of territory. This is why land is so important to us as Indigenous peoples.”

- Naty Atz Sunuc, National Coordinator of CEIBA in Guatemala.

KAIROS is thrilled to announce the launch of our Guatemalan partner CEIBA’s report on its unique and inspiring experience with community consultations and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC).

Entitled KAIROS Participatory Research with Partners on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent: CEIBA’s Experience in Guatemala, this study is now available to view and for download below.

Between 2005 and 2014, CEIBA helped community leaders, traditional authorities, and municipalities organize 78 community consultations in which more than 2 million people participated. In its study, CEIBA documents this impressive assertion of democratic participation, self-determination and collective rights.

KAIROS has the privilege of working with Indigenous partners and communities in Canada, Latin America and Asia who have diverse and grounded experiences of the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC). As part of our focus on Indigenous rights and resource extraction we are supporting some of these partners, such as CEIBA, in carrying out participatory research in the communities they accompany and documenting these experiences.

We hope that the publication of CEIBA’s study, along with the experiences of other partners, will deepen understanding of these issues and address a gap in research and knowledge of community experiences of FPIC. At the same time, this research project aims to promote exchanges between partners in Canada, Latin America and Asia so we can learn from each others’ experiences, strategies and best practices and identify collective strategies to defend the right to FPIC.

“Community consultations represent social licenses, a means of resistance and the defense of the territory. They are a legitimate means of democratic participation. They are a response to the violation and “invisibilization” of the rights of Indigenous peoples.”

- KAIROS Participatory Research on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent: CEIBA Experience in Guatemala.

Download PDF – http://www.kairoscanada.org/wp-content/plugins/google-document-embedder/...