Frederic Wilson

Frederic Wilson is the Regional Program Officer for the human rights and advocacy program of DTP partner, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP). AIPP is a regional network based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights in Asia.

Frederic’s advocacy springs from his own experience as a member of the Indigenous Dusun Putih Llivagu people of Sabah, Malaysia. He grew up amid widespread discrimination towards Indigenous Peoples (Orang Asli) in Malaysia.

Before joining AIPP, Frederic worked for a decade with Indigenous Peoples organisations in Malaysia including a year with the Assistant Minister of Law and Native Affairs in Sabah.

Frederic credits DTP for introducing him to the UN mechanisms and he believes that DTP’s specialised and focused training on business and human rights benefitted him immensely.

“The DTP training significantly enhanced my capacity and understanding to engage in human rights advocacy. Thanks to the DTP training, I appreciate the value in collaborative advocacy now. Most importantly DTP training was pivotal in elevating my knowledge on choosing and using appropriate complaint mechanisms and special procedures. There are lot of avenues available for challenging human rights violations by businesses. DTP trained us to appreciate the significance of selecting appropriate and effective mechanisms as key to successful advocacy.”

Following the DTP training, Frederic became the Chairperson of the Asia Steering Group member of Zero Tolerance Initiative (ZTI), a global coalition of Indigenous Peoples empowering human rights defenders in Indigenous communities addressing businesses violating human rights. Frederic now contributes to ZTI’s work building the capacity of the human rights defenders to hold the companies and investors accountable for violating rights of the Indigenous People where contributes effectively.

In Frederic’s view, DTP training was practical in nature with participants engaging in hands-on exercises. Frederic said that DTP training made him more confident in locating appropriate mechanisms and using them to counter human rights violations in his work.

“We are engaged in a long-term advocacy against a hotel development linked to the Marriott group being built on the land belonging to Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh. Utilizing a UN mechanism particularly by engaging with a UN Special Rapporteur, we saw temporary success in pushing back the hoteliers and the development is now on hold.”

Frederic has subsequently worked with DTP and AIPP to design and facilitate capacity building programs. Frederic finds that DTP’s method of breaking down the multiple aspects of the right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and how to apply these in advocacy is highly beneficial for the participants.

Frederic is now the focal person for AIPP’s engagement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Additionally, Frederic offers regular analyses and updates on various human rights mechanisms to the Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Defenders (IPHRD) network and programme committee.

Frederic is playing a key role in developing the AIPP/DTP partnership and collaboration on capacity building initiative. He suggests potential future collaborations with DTP could include engagements with national human rights institutions in Asia.