World Bank accused of ‘turning blind eye’ to sexual abuse in Kenyan schools it funded

The World Bank has been accused of failing to prevent child abuse at a school chain it funded in Kenya.

The bank’s internal watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), found that the bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) had failed to satisfy its own environmental and social requirements before it started funding Bridge International Academies in 2014, and during its supervision of its investment in the project, which came to an end last year.

Margaux Day, policy director of rights organisation Accountability Counsel, said: “How could we trust the institution [IFC] to do better next time if they can’t get it right in this very emblematic and egregious case?”

Read the full article from The Guardian here. This coverage was also published in The Times of India, iAfrica, Les Actualités, and International Business Times.