Black Lives Matter

• As impact assessment professionals, we have a unique opportunity to help implement change.

  

  The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) works towards a just and sustainable world for people and the environment.

  The justice we seek is the same as that being sought by people across the world who stand in solidarity with the family of George Floyd after his murder by a police officer in Minneapolis, USA, in May 2020.

  This includes justice for those murdered by rogue police, justice for those slain by racist vigilantes, justice for those killed during protests, and justice for the millions of other innocent Black lives lost at the hands of systemic racism.

  This targeted, racist oppression against Black people is unacceptable.

  It requires our condemnation.

  It requires us to listen and to learn.

  It requires our steadfast and collective commitment to taking proactive steps towards making material changes that directly target its systemic nature.

  As impact assessment professionals, we have a unique opportunity to help implement change.

  We can implement the change we wish to see in the world. Let us continue to consider the impacts of policies and projects on issues related to race and ethnicity. Let us continue to be inclusive and comprehensive, addressing the broader social and health issues within our impact assessments. Let us continue to advocate for human rights and human dignity in our assessments. Let us continue to listen and learn from people and communities who have different experiences in the world than ours.

  Let us continue to demonstrate to present and future generations how important these principles are when doing work that will inform decision making regarding policies, programs, plans and projects. As IAIA members and staff, we are guided by our Code of Ethics:

  • We will seek to encourage a process of impact assessment that averts infringement of the human rights of any section of society.
  • We do not condone the use of violence, harassment, intimidation or undue force in connection with any aspect of impact assessment or implementation of an intervention arising from impact assessment.
  • We conduct impact assessments in the awareness that different groups in society experience benefits and harm in different ways.
  • We seek to take gender and other social differences into account, and we are especially mindful of the concerns of indigenous peoples. We strive to promote considerations of equity as a fundamental element of impact assessment.

  IAIA is proud to say BLACK LIVES MATTER! Let us all stand up for human rights and continue our work on creating a just and sustainable world for people and the environment.

  David Bancroft

  IAIA Executive Director

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  Read IAIA’s Code of Ethics.

  For more information about how to address these issues in your impact assessments, we have compiled a list of resources for reference:

  • FasTip on Ethics
  • Human Rights Key Citations
  • Social Impact Assessment Key Citations
  • Gender and Gender Impact Assessment Key Citations 
  • Indigenous Peoples Key Citations
  • Cultural Heritage Key Citations
  • Understanding Impacts on Vulnerable Populations Through Psycho-Social Impact Assessment Webinar
  • Social Impact Assessment Guidance
  • Respecting Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Knowledge Best Practices

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