Best Practices - Equitable Outcomes

The GFCR supports interventions with positive and equitable outcomes and that protect the rights of stakeholders particularly indigenous peoples and local communities and regardless of gender, ethnicity, culture, political or socioeconomic status.

The Equitable Outcomes principle highlights the connection between positive impact and equitable outcomes. It also emphasizes the importance of the rights of stakeholders, diversity, equity, and inclusion, not only as safeguards, but also as a strategy for lasting success. 

The desired reef-positive outcomes that are sought by the interventions of the GFCR must be positive for both reef-associated communities and other key stakeholders as well as for the coral reef ecosystems themselves. Stakeholders should be able to gain both economic and social advantages assuring that in the short term, there are no economic losses, and that the long-term measurable and significant benefits are lasting and equitably shared.

The principle includes the full range of stakeholders yet places special emphasis on indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). The two types of stakeholders are defined as follows:

1. Indigenous peoples: 
   “Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions, and legal system. (Cobo 1981, as quoted by the UN, ICCA Consortium ‘Territories of Life’ report, 2020).
   
   
2. Local Communities: 
   Communities whose identities, cultures, knowledge systems, practices, and livelihoods are closely linked to and embedded in their collective lands and areas. (CBD 2013, UNEP/CBD/WG8J/8/INF/10/Add.1 17 September 2013.)

Although attention to IPLCs dates back sometime and has generated certain safeguards such as the requirement for free, prior, and informed consent (See UN publication) in many situations, this principle seeks to go far beyond safeguards towards engagement with IPLCs as key stakeholders, rights holders, and essential management partners. 
There may be many cases where IPLCs have been managing coral reef resources well in the past and those management systems may have been perturbed by market, regulatory, migratory, or other factors leading to a breakdown in effective systems. 

One solution that could be the most efficient and cost-effective is to return management rights to IPLCs while supporting local management institutions to solidify rights, knowledge generation, and management systems. Having an effective local system of natural resource management, based on clear and equitable rights, and built on strong social values and support structures can greatly increase the likelihood that sustainable market-based solutions and finance mechanisms can be implemented for long-term coral reef management. On the other hand, cases where systems are imposed from the outside without adequate respect for IPLCs, are unlikely to result in cost-efficient or effective long-term management.

The principle also supports the concept of gender equity in that program outcomes or activities should benefit women and men and special attention should be made to providing women, youths, and disadvantaged groups with economically and socially valuable opportunities. In many cases in coastal communities, women and men play different livelihood roles and use natural resources in different ways. 

Attention should be paid to the impact of different management approaches (i.e., reducing gleaning due to reef impacts, which may have a disproportionately negative impact on women) and the promotion of certain sustainable activities and investments should specifically target women as a means to assure financial and social support, especially where women have historically not received equitable opportunities. The GFCR Gender Policy and toolkit support gender safeguards and efforts to improve equality and equity.

Similarly, attention should be made for assuring opportunities and positive outcomes recognizing the diversity of ethnicity, culture, and political or socioeconomic status with special attention to historically disadvantaged groups. Although the environmental and social safeguards system of the program will seek to avoid any harmful impacts based on these categories, it is important to consider how opportunities for financing, project development, and other technical support could be targeted to historically disadvantaged groups to generate both improved inclusion and robust long-term outcomes.

Note on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The concept of “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) as a key approach for enterprises and other organizations has increased in awareness and under this term, there are a growing number of resources available as guidance material – some of which are included below. It should be noted that in addition to the obvious elements of fairness and other benefits cited above, diversity has been shown to be extremely valuable from inclusion in stakeholder groups and discussions through formal structures such as corporate boards and government.

Various Resources:

• eXtension Foundation Impact Collaborative – DEI Resources
• Wharton at University of Pennsylvania
• Harvard Business Review Article - DEI Gets Real

You can access more GFCR Investment Principles' best practices here
The full document covering all the best practice series can be downloaded from here: GFCR Best Practice General Principles 2022.pdf.