ABUJA/Nigeria: The steering committee of the Voluntary Principles Initiative is determined to support the efforts of government, companies, non-governmental organizations and communities in the implementation of voluntary principles.
At a security forum in Eket, Akwa Ibom State and stakeholders round-table in Port Harcourt, the current chair of VPI, Mr. Ronald Roosdorp, Executive Director, Leadership Initiative for Transformation and Empowerment (LITE), Mr. Joel Bisina, representatives of oil companies, security experts and other stakeholders stressed on how the adoption and implementation of the VPI can benefit all stakeholders and Nigeria as a whole.
Specifically, they highlighted the role companies and civil society can play in supporting governments and multilateral institutions on security sector reform, development of institutional capacities and strengthening the rule of law.
Roosdorp called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to sign unto the Voluntary Principles on Security Human Rights,
“Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) are non-binding soft laws established in 2000 to offer guidance to extractive companies (oil, gas and mining companies) in maintaining the safety and security of the facilities and operations with respect for human rights” he said.
“Three elements of VPs are Risks Assessment; Interaction with Public Security; and Interaction with Private Security. The Risk Assessment component states that extractive companies should conduct risk assessment at the location/area they intend to carry out operations with a view to mitigating the risk factors. It further stated that companies on an ongoing basis should conduct risk assessment to ascertain security risks and likelihood of human rights abuses”.
In the Interaction with Public Security component, the VPs acknowledge that it is the duty of the government to provide security for the protection of lives of property, and ensure human rights are protected. The component explains that extractive companies have an interest to ensure that actions taken by security operatives are in line with the protection and promotion of human rights abuses and promote respect for human rights. The guidelines for this component are security arrangements which states that the extractive companies should consult the host government and communities about the impact of the security arrangements on the host communities; conduct and human rights policies, deployment and conduct; consultation and advice; and record of rights abuses”.
“In the third component which is interaction with private security, it is noted that since the host government cannot provide adequate security arrangement for the operations of the companies that it may be necessary for the companies to engage the services of private security providers to complement public security with a view that the private security personnel would adhere to the policies on ethical conduct and human rights of the companies.
The potential benefits of VPs according to Roosdorp are numerous.
