While progressive businesses have made commitments to respect community rights, a gap persists between commitments and practice. Communities lack the access to information and technical resources that businesses have. As a result, time and time again, communities across the Legal Empowerment Network find their voices and genuine consent continue to be missing in investment processes.
To level the playing field, Namati has worked intimately with hundreds of industry leaders and grassroots civil society organizations to design a grantmaking facility that would pool funds from investors, global businesses, and operating companies into an independently managed fund that can be accessed by communities to connect with local independent legal and technical support. The facility would enable communities to better understand and navigate the investment process and give investors greater assurance of the level of community engagement in their development.
This exciting new initiative will pilot in 2023, supporting communities responding to agribusinesses and agricultural commodities in West Africa and Indonesia. We will work with pilot partners, Legal Empowerment Network members, and other supporters to share learning from the pilot process and promote the uptake of robust business-community engagement to fundamentally and systematically change how corporations engage with communities.
We are hiring LEJ Multi Stakeholder Advisor to launch and manage the pilot project. You can learn more about the position here