An explicit requirement to assess human rights conditions within the social impact assessment process is essential. From the outset, a company needs to be identifying the potential positive and negative impacts of its proposed operations on its stakeholders, and the means by which to maximise the former and minimise the latter. Wide-ranging and ongoing consultation with local communities, NGOs and other involved parties is fundamental to this:

• assessing the impact of the proposed operation on the rights of the communities in the area – who will have access to employment opportunities generated by the company? Who will be excluded from these opportunities? Are there existing human rights problems within the communities? Are independent unions allowed? Is there any risk of forced location of communities because of the company’s operations? These are just a few of the human rights questions that need to be addressed in the social impact assessment process.

• estimating potential areas of conflict between business operations and the local population’s political agenda – what are the land rights of indigenous communities where the company is planning operations, are local people protesting about possible development of agricultural land?

• recommending practical and strategic ways in which the project could be improved to be more compatible with international human rights standards – which NGOs are useful to engage with, what partnership opportunities are there with local community groups, is there potential for collective action with other companies in this sector to address common problems collaboratively?"