Mission
Promotion of best practices in the extractive industry sector to ensure countries, communities and businesses prosper.
Vision
To help ensure new and ongoing mineral, petroleum and gas projects are implemented in a manner that benefits the interests of stakeholders. To facilitate cooperative relationships between public and private sector actors such that the interests of each party are in greater alignment. To anticipate and proactively address contending interests, mindful of power disparities between local, national, and international actors.
Our Motivation
A 21st century minerals rush is underway as businesses, often enjoying financial backing from governments in industrialized countries, increasingly extract resources such as copper, cobalt, graphite, coltan, tantalum and lithium needed for the transition to more climate friendly economies. Exploration for precious metals and gems as well as for petroleum and natural gas continues unabated.
In the face of human rights violations by private and public security forces and well-intentioned but poorly informed community resettlement efforts that produced a strong backlash from affected communities, the Center seeks to reduce stakeholder risks so that all parties affected by the new mineral rush enjoy greater economic prosperity and human security. The socio- economic benefits to lower and middle-income countries are demonstrable. Industry benefits include positive public standing, peaceful and stable operational environments, a dependable and skilled workforce, and a reduction of risks to their bottom line.
Partner Non-Governmental Organizations
The Center identifies and collaborates with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in countries affected by extractive industries. The objective of our efforts is to achieve a mutual learning relationship among partner organizations and the Center, sharing experiences and knowledge of challenges and best practices as they evolve over time. The Center acts as a clearing house for the collection, classification, and distribution of information, including reports, studies and findings produced by the Center, Partner NGOs and Senior Advisors.
Senior Advisors
A team of expert advisors provide the Center with guidance and counsel in project design, development, and evaluation. Senior Advisors help advance Center goals of improving relationships and understandings among all stakeholders and of ensuring that extractive operations are beneficial to businesses, governments, and local communities.
Programs and Practices
Center efforts to date have been devoted to compiling lessons learned in the field to inform evidence-based best practices. In this regard, emphasis is placed on learning from the experience of in-country experts and activists, government representatives, and industry specialists.
Drawing on best practices and effective theories of change, the Center develops toolkits and designs orientation seminars and workshops for all stakeholders. The toolkits are designed to provide development practitioners and stakeholders with the know-how to understand behavioral dynamics and to help them adopt intervention approaches designed to increase human security and human-centered development.
We envision a cascading process with the overarching goal of reinforcing in-country capacities among civil society organizations, particularly our Partner Organizations, who can learn from best practices from other countries and draw upon their own experiences to adapt toolkits and processes that suit in-country circumstances.
The Center also conducts outreach to media professionals to enable them to inform the public and target audiences of the challenges and constructive approaches that government authorities, business representatives and other stakeholders can adopt to empower and help build prosperous communities.
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