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Today, the World Bank’s independent watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), released a monitoring report finding that the World Bank has failed to deliver on commitments to address serious health and safety concerns facing the 155,000 people that live and work on tea plantations it owns in India’s Northeast.

Accountability Counsel is pleased to share that our 2017-2018 Annual Report is now available.

On January 17, 2019, Accountability Counsel attended the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Accountability Mechanism Expert Meeting in London.

Yesterday, Accountability Counsel attended the European Investment Bank (EIB) Complaints Mechanism 10 Year Anniversary event at the EIB Headquarters in Luxembourg.

Today, Accountability Counsel and 66 global partners submitted a joint statement to the World Bank Group’s Board of Directors, expressing disappointment that three important measures were not approved in the initial review of the Inspection Panel’s toolkit.

Yesterday, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim’s announcement of his sudden departure signaled that something is deeply amiss. His February 1, 2019 departure date, more than three years before the end of his term, translates into unanticipated costs to the Bank as it is forced to prematurely undergo a major leadership change. The full story about why he resigned is not yet public. But there is much that can be said about Kim’s legacy as a Bank President, his immediate next move that violates the Bank’s Code of Conduct, and implications for the future of Bank leadership and the institution as a whole.

In October 2018, the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act became law, creating a new U.S. development finance institution. The new institution, the United States International Development Finance Corporation (USDFC), will subsume the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and some USAID entities. Accountability Counsel successfully advocated for the BUILD Act to require the USDFC to implement strong environmental and social protections and for the new institution to have an accountability office, which would allow individuals harmed by the USDFC’s activities to seek redress.

Accountability Counsel, and 24 partner organizations, made a joint submission today to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on its draft Impact Investing: Operating Principles for Impact Management (the Principles). The Principles will be a set of voluntary guidelines for impact investors, touching on impact strategy, assessment, and monitoring. Our submission illustrates how accountability is crucial to effectuating the Principles, and recommends strengthening the Principles by including explicit references to good accountability practices.

Arntraud Hartmann was recently selected to join the Independent Expert Panel of the Independent Complaints Mechanism (ICM), replacing Maartje van Putten who had recently completed her term. Hartmann will be one of the three Panel members supporting the ICM, which is a joint initiative of The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), German Investment Corporation (DEG) and, starting next year, the French development bank Proparco.

As we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this week, human rights defenders across the globe are under attack. A human rights defender is not just a visible leader in a campaign for justice. Rather, every person asking for information about or voicing their concern about a project, be it privately or sitting in a protest, is a defender who runs the risk of retaliation.

Caracol, Haiti — On December 8, 2018, hundreds of Haitian farmers and their families, representing nearly 4,000 people, reached an historic, negotiated agreement with their government and a development bank concerning the taking of their farmland for the Caracol Industrial Park in 2011. The agreement provides for remedial support with a…

Accountability Counsel and 22 partner organizations sent a letter today to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Mr. Achim Steiner. Our joint letter requests Mr. Steiner’s expeditious review of social and environmental complaints stemming from UNDP activities. It calls upon UNDP to provide remedy to project-affected communities in an efficient and timely manner.

Human Rights Defenders are a Cornerstone of Sustainable Development. Together with over 200 groups around the world, Accountability Counsel calls upon governments and development banks to safeguard human rights defenders.

Villagers in rural Olyanytsya, in central Ukraine, are hopeful that village life is about to become a lot more bearable. After putting up with intense heavy vehicle traffic from the industrial farming operations of agro-giant Mironivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) for years, the company has finally finished building a bypass road to divert traffic around residential areas.

This week, Accountability Counsel’s team is in full swing with a packed agenda in Washington, D.C., with a host of events centered around development finance institutions and their independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs). As our work shows, IAMs are crucial as they can provide access to remedy for individuals and communities who have been harmed by internationally financed activities.

(Brussels, November 13, 2018) – In a step backwards for the EU bank’s transparency and accountability, the Board of Directors of the European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a controversial new policy of its Complaints Mechanism, a move that will take the bank further away from the communities affected by its operations – say NGOs.

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Jam v. International Finance Corporation, a landmark case challenging the World Bank Group’s claim to immunity in a lawsuit brought by Gujarati fishing communities and their lawyers at EarthRights International. As the Supreme Court deliberates, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is claiming that because the IFC has its own “robust internal accountability mechanism,” it does not need to be sued. This internal mechanism is the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO).

Today, the World Bank Inspection Panel announced that Ramanie Kunanayagam will be the newest member of the Inspection Panel. As advocates for people who seek justice through independent accountability mechanisms, Accountability Counsel welcomes Kunanayagam into her new role.

WASHINGTON DC, U.S.A – Monday, October 22, 2018 The World Bank finally released a report by international dispute-resolution expert, the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) late last week. The CBI report sheds new light on ways to prevent the “proliferation of conflicts” that had been occurring in Nepal between local communities…

During the 2018 World Bank Group annual meetings in Bali last week, Indonesian authorities forcibly shut down civil society convenings that have, for decades, met alongside the Annual Meetings.