In 2011, the United Nations adopted principles on Corporates and human rights. These action was made to prevent arbitraries from companies and to protect individuals and communities that are under influence of these companies.
At CDHD, the Corporate and human rights programme is focussed on the impact of natural resources companies' activities on communities. Companies activities include environment degradation, deforestation, forced displacement of communities, no contribution to local development etc.
The programme aims:
- To protect local communities living on natural resources rich-zones (mining and forest zones) ;
- Assisting communities in the elaboration of their local development plans that involve extractive companies' contributions;
- Improving dialogue between extractive companies and communities to solve various community problems;
- Monitoring the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility;
- Assessing the environmental impact of extractive companies operations on local communities
CDHD's action take place in the province of Katanga, the economic hub of the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the main producers of copper and cobalt worldwide and where over 400 extractive companies have been recorded.
Since the liberalisation of the extractive sector in 2002, there socioeconomic impact of hundreds mining investments is still very little. However communities where these investments take place, have been victims of arbitraries including:
- Unlawful demolition of local populations’ houses;
- Forced displacement of populations and delocalisation of villages;
- Pollution of waters;
- Impoverishment
