SFCG joins the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights

John Marks, SFCG President

SFCG recently joined the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs), an initiative created in 2000 in response to the concerns of governments, extractive companies, and civil society over the growing challenges that difficult operating environments represent to both security and human rights. The VPs have been designed to provide practical guidance to help strengthen human rights safeguards in company security arrangements in the extractive sector, and bring together all major extractive industry corporations to work on their implementation.

For many years, the VPs process has lacked the involvement of NGOs like SFCG who work with local civil society, communities and security forces on the ground and who can help ensure a real and effective implementation of the VPs at the local level. In addition, SFCG expertise in conflict-resolution, and particularly through its Sustainable Business Practices’ program, constitutes a valuable resource to participants who are looking for assistance with training, community engagement, risk assessments, or local governance.

In this context, SFCG was invited to participate in a workshop in Bogota, Colombia, on June 15-16 about the VPs in-country process in Colombia, where participants from Colombia, Peru, Indonesia, Ecuador and DRC shared their experiences implementing similar initiatives in their countries, gained understanding of Colombia’s implementation of the VPs and began to draft a guide on national level VPs implementation.