Global body moves to protect rights of communities

A NON-GOVERNMENTAL Organisation (NGO), Global Rights, has told host communities of petroleum and other extractive natural resources, to use established international treaties to ensure that multinational agencies operating in their areas don't deny them their rights.Director, Natural Resources and Human Rights Initiative of the organisation, Flavia Milano, in an interview after a workshop on 'African mechanisms for Protection of Natural Resources and Humans' held recently in Abuja, said multinational companies were only in communities to make profit and don't do much to alleviate the sufferings of the host communities who may suffer adversely from the effect of the extraction activities.According to her, in as much as the organisation was not against extraction of natural resources, the hosts should not be neglected and as such, the NGO was working to ensure they were aware of how they could obtain their rights.She said the workshop, which drew participants from 11 countries in West and Central Africa, was organised to equip human rights workers with information to assist host communities of natural resources to seek justice from exploration companies.
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