Senegal: LSD and an association of women fish processors filed a complaint with the Turkish NCP against the Turkish company Tosyali over violation of the OECD Guidelines
On 28 August 2020, Lumière Synergie pour le Développement (LSD) and the Association of Women Fish Processors of Bargny Guedj filed a complaint with the Turkish NCP against the Turkish company Tosyali Holding Senegal (Tosyali).
The complaint alleges that Tosyali has violated the OECD Guidelines Chapters II (General Principles), IV (Human Rights), and VI (Environment) through its plans to build a mining and steel complex on lands currently used by women fish processors at the Khelcom site in Senegal. The complaint asserts that Tosyali did not undertake an adequate human rights due diligence process to assess the risks that its operations will pose, including specifically to the women fish processors.
Of note, Tosyali failed to carry out an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, submit a resettlement plan, and consult with the impacted community. More than 1,500 women have been fighting for 10 years to defend their rights to free consent, to work, to dispose of their means of subsistence, and to a healthy environment in the face of the central project, the proposed 125 MW coal fired Sendou power plant.
The complainants LSD and the women fish processors seek the good offices of the Turkish NCP to urge Tosyali Holding Senegal to comply with the OECD Guidelines, immediately stop its activities on the Khelcom site, and engage in dialogue with the women.