Ensuring Communities Have a Genuine Voice
When mining, oil, agriculture, or infrastructure projects move into communities, the affected people rarely have meaningful input on what happens to their land, their livelihoods, or their environment. Yamalé works to make community participation not just a principle — but a legal requirement with teeth.
Agreements Made Without the People Most Affected
Across Africa's extractive industries, development agreements are routinely signed without the free, prior, and informed consent of the communities whose lands are at stake. Promises made during project approval are often unenforceable. Communities lack the legal tools to hold companies or governments accountable — and when harm occurs, there is rarely an accessible path to remedy.
Rights-Based Legal Frameworks That Actually Protect People
We apply the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) principles to create binding legal protections — not voluntary commitments that companies can walk away from.
We work upstream with governments to draft legislation that mandates community participation as a legal requirement. We work downstream to negotiate and structure Community Development Agreements that include revenue-sharing, employment guarantees, and environmental safeguards — all enforceable, all monitored.
When agreements are breached or harm occurs, we help communities access remedy through domestic and international legal mechanisms.
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01
FPIC Legislation Drafting laws that make community participation and free, prior, and informed consent legally mandatory.
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02
Community Development Agreements Negotiating enforceable CDAs with real, binding protections for affected communities.
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Revenue & Safeguards Structuring revenue-sharing arrangements, employment guarantees, and environmental protections.
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Implementation Monitoring Holding companies and governments accountable to commitments made during project approval.
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Community Legal Capacity Building communities' ability to understand, assert, and enforce their legal rights.
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Human Rights Frameworks Applying UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to extractive industry contexts.
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Access to Remedy Supporting communities in accessing domestic and international legal remedies when rights are violated.
Ready to Protect Your Community's Rights?
If you represent a government seeking to protect communities, or a community seeking to understand and assert its rights — we're ready to listen.