Read the initial assessment issued by the Italian NCP.
Read the final statement issued by the Italian NCP – 8 June 2017
On 11 March 2016, the NGO Survival International Italy (Italian branch of Survival International Charitable Trust) submitted a specific instance to the Italian NCP regarding the activities of the Italian enterprise Salini Impregilo SpA, on behalf of the indigenous peoples of the Lower Omo Valley, in Ethiopia and Lake Turkana, in Kenya.
According to the submitter, the design, construction and management of the Gibe III dam on the Omo Valley resulted in the breach of the Human Rights chapter of the Guidelines in respect of the indigenous peoples mentioned above. More specifically, the submission alleged that the communities had not been adequately consulted nor asked for their prior consent on the project, in violation of their right to self-determination; they had lost/risked losing their basic livelihoods; they had been denied the right to development, because of the failure to carry out a proper environmental impact assessment of the project and an adequate consultation process.
As a result of the initial assessment, the NCP considered that the case merited further examination - within the limits expressly specified in the initial assessment itself- and offered its good offices. The parties accepted this offer.
On 12 January 2017, the NCP met the parties separately. Salini signed the terms of reference for a conciliation procedure. Survival requested a renegotiation of some parts of the terms of reference, stating that the clauses on confidentiality would prevent it from updating the indigenous peoples it was representing on developments of the procedure and from providing public information on the conditions experienced by the of the Omo Valley peoples.
The NCP did not consider it appropriate to amend the terms of reference and as such Survival decided not to engage in the conciliation procedure.
In light of the above, the NCP concluded the case on 8 June 2017. A final statement was released including the NCP’s findings on the case and recommendations to both parties.