Free, Prior and Informed Consent Protocol by Communities Affected by the EIB-Funded 220 KV Marsyangdi Corridor in Nepal
On 8 October 2018, communities filed a complaint to the EIB’s Complaints Mechanism documenting that project authorities have left communities in the dark about the transmission line, its various impacts and the route of the line.
The complaint outlined the environmental impacts arising from deforestation, loss of community resources, disruption to wildlife, health and safety impacts, cumulative impacts from associated hydropower projects, and economic impacts, including insufficient compensation to landowners under the line’s right of way.
Developed through intensive consultations with communities, the FPIC protocol comprehensively outlines the steps that project authorities must take, including sharing all project information in languages Indigenous communities understand, ensuring an environment free of coercion, and fully abiding by whatever decision Indigenous Peoples reach, including the decision to refuse consent or to withhold their decision until a later date. In some project-affected areas, the community comprises a mixed population of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples living together, especially Dalit and Bahun-Chhetri people. Therefore, the protocol also includes steps to achieve “broad community support” through information disclosure and meaningful consultation, as required under the EIB’s standards for non-Indigenous Peoples