Blog

Last week, the accountability office of the Inter-American Development (IDB) found our Colombia case eligible for compliance review.  Accountability Counsel has been assisting Comunidades Unidas, a community-based organization located in the locality of Fontibón, Bogotá, in their complaint regarding serious noise pollution caused by the IDB-funded expansion of the El Dorado International Airport.

Last week, five Haitian organizations, with assistance from Accountability Counsel and the NYU School of Law Global Justice Clinic, submitted a letter to the World Bank expressing serious concerns with the Bank’s involvement in the Haitian mining sector.

Today, Accountability Counsel submitted comments on a new draft international standard of best practices for mining industry projects. The standard, which is being developed by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA), includes requirements that all mining projects maintain a project-level grievance mechanism to review and address complaints from affected communities, and that each grievance mechanism meet certain criteria.

The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) recently released a revealing independent investigation report describing its role a failed biomass project that harmed hundreds of Liberian farmers, charcoal producers and workers.

Oct. 15, 2014—A U.S. federal agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (“OPIC”) recently released a revealing independent investigation report describing its role in a failed biomass project in Liberia. OPIC approved over US$200 million in financing for the project, operated by Buchanan Renewables. Read full press release here.

We are pleased to share our new brochure, “Mexico: The Cerro de Oro Project”, which reports on the historic victory in this Accountability Counsel case.  Accountability Counsel supported three communities in Oaxaca, Mexico in their efforts to prevent the Cerro de Oro Hydroelectric Project from causing contamination of their drinking water and fishing areas, and other threats to their livelihoods and culture.  To read more about the case, please visit our Cerro de Oro case page.

Today, Accountability Counsel submitted a report to the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States.  Our submission focuses on actions that the U.S. should take to promote access to remedy for business-related human rights abuse, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.  Read more on our UPR policy page.

Accountability Counsel, along with a coalition of other groups throughout Latin America and beyond, registered our deep concerns with the latest revision of the Policy governing the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) accountability mechanism, the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (ICIM).

Accountability Counsel is pleased to welcome two new Board members to our team, Shashi Buluswar and Julia Shepardson.  Both come to us with decades of diverse experience in global issues and development, as well as expertise in strategy and non-profit management. Please join us in welcoming Shashi and Julia!

Today, Accountability Counsel provided comments in a public consultation by the UN Working Group on business and human rights, highlighting the issues States need to address in their National Action Plans in order to improve access to remedy.  In particular, States have a duty to ensure access to remedy for…

Accountability Counsel and 12 other organizations from around the world submitted comments to the African Development Bank’s review of its accountability office policy.  Our comments advocate for simpler and more straight-forward procedures to improve the accountability office’s accessibility to people who have been harmed by African Development Bank projects.  Read more in our full submission.  More information about our advocacy at the African Development Bank is available here.

On August 27, 2014, Accountability Counsel and 20 civil society organization from around the world jointly submitted a letter to World Bank President Kim and Inspection Panel Chair Eimi Watanabe, requesting suspension of the Panel’s “Pilot Program” that prevents cases from reaching full investigations into social and environmental compliance issues.  Read more here.

We welcome you to read about our recent work in communities around the world, policy advocacy and organizational updates.  We welcome your comments and feedback through our online contact form!

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is now accepting comments on its new draft accountability office policy.  Comments will be accepted now through September 15, 2014.  This is an important opportunity to provide feedback on the current functioning of the IADB’s accountability office, the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI, for its Spanish acronym), and to guide its development as a more transparent, accessible, fair, and legitimate mechanism.  For more information on the policy review process and directions on how to submit comments, please visit the IADB website.

Today, Accountability Counsel provided comments to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, highlighting how multilateral developments banks can impact these rights through their funding decisions.  Inadequate human rights due diligence prior to financing and lack of oversight during project implementation are two of the main failures that can lead to multilateral development banks funding serious rights violations.

In a shocking decision, the Inspection Panel has refused to register a case involving mass forced evictions in Nigeria.  The Panel’s decision to drop the case, over the objections of displaced community members, was made as part of the Panel’s new “Pre-registration Pilot” program.  The case confirms Accountability Counsel’s fears that the Pilot program can be used to deny access to remedy to communities who have suffered serious harm from Bank projects.  We call on the World Bank Board of Directors to initiate an independent review into how the Pilot was carried out and to suspend the Pilot program pending the results of the investigation.

Accountability Counsel is concerned to learn that, eight months after filing a complaint, communities forcibly evicted by a World Bank project in Nigeria are still appealing to the World Bank’s accountability office, the Inspection Panel, to register their complaint.  Rather than registering the complaint immediately, the Panel moved the case into its new “Pre-Registration Pilot” program, which we have been tracking due to concerns that it undermines accountability and fails to protect communities.

Today, Accountability Counsel and 22 other civil society organizations sent a letter (Spanish only) to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) demanding a robust public consultation period of no less than 60 days regarding the soon-to-be-released draft revised Policy of the Bank’s accountability office.

On May 7, the EBRD announced new policies, including the policy governing its complaint office, called the Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM).  Accountability Counsel worked hard over the past two years to influence the PCM policy review and we are pleased that many of our recommended changes are reflected in the final policy.  More information and analysis is coming soon here.

Today, Accountability Counsel partnered with Oxfam, Global Witness, ActionAid International and others to support Honduran groups in their demand that the World Bank’s IFC learn lessons from their disastrous investment in Dinant, a Honduran company confirmed to have committed rights abuses by the IFC’s own auditor.  At issue is a new $15 million IFC loan to a Honduran Bank called Davivienda that is being “fast tracked” without discussion at the World Bank’s Board and in spite of the known risks that the funding will contribute to further abuses in Honduras.  Read our letter to the World Bank’s Executive Directors here.