Blog

Today, Accountability Counsel, OT Watch, and an international coalition of advocacy organizations delivered a review of Rio Tinto’s recently published audit and Operational Management Plans to the World Bank Board.

Environmental groups in Ukraine have highlighted the negative local impacts of one of the biggest agribusinesses in the country, MHP, that is in line to receive additional credit by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

On October 18, 2013, Accountability Counsel and 25 organizations and individuals submitted joint comments to the OPIC Office of Accountability on the draft of their revised rules of procedure (also available in Spanish).  AFL-CIO, Amnesty International USA, Friends of the Earth US, Greenpeace, and Sierra Club are among the 25 organizations who endorsed Accountability Counsel’s letter.  More on the campaign to improve the OPIC OA can be found here.

On October 11, 2013, Accountability Counsel’s Executive Director, Natalie Fields, spoke at the Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California at a Panel on the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and how they have impacted accountability in the extractive industry.

Today, a group of nomadic Mongolian herders filed a complaint demanding just compensation for the impacts of Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in the South Gobi desert.  The complaint was filed with the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (“CAO”), the accountability mechanism for the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (“IFC”) and Multilateral Insurance Guarantee Agency (“MIGA”), both of which are considering supporting the project.  Read the joint press release and learn more on our Mongolia case page.

On September 27, 2013, Accountability Counsel co-hosted a Roundtable Meeting at the World Bank exploring the Promise of Remedy and Accountability with the staff of the world’s independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs).  Over 100 people attended the event that featured a lively conversation and a commitment to continued IAM-civil society dialogue around quickly moving accountability issues.

On September 30, 2013, Accountability Counsel submitted comments to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) joined by 20 other civil society organizations with suggestions for improving the functioning of the IDB’s accountability office.  Background information and the comments in Spanish and English are available here.

Both the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) announced that they are accepting comments on their accountability policies.  We will be feeding our experience using these mechanisms into our comments about how these accountability offices can improve their transparency, accessibility, independence, and effectiveness.

Today, Accountability Counsel, in partnership with ICAR members, urged President Obama to make implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights a priority.  Read the letter and about this Accountability Counsel initiative here.

On July 15, 2013, the Inspection Panel notified our Malawian clients that their complaint to the Panel regarding Bank policy violations in the creation and implementation of a water meter project would not be registered.  On July 17th we sent a letter to the Panel demanding reconsideration of that decision, which shows disregard for the Panel’s own rules.

We are pleased to share our Summer 2013 Newsletter that covers our work in ten countries, policy advocacy around the accountability mechanisms, and organizational updates.

Accountability Counsel filed a complaint to the World Bank Inspection Panel on July 10, 2013, on behalf of communities in the Sindhuli District of Nepal, raising concerns about human rights violations associated with construction of a planned high voltage transmission line funded by the World Bank.  Read more about this case here.

Today, communities in Nepal filed a complaint with the World Bank, demanding accountability for a Bank-funded high-voltage transmission line slated to affect over 100,000 poor and marginalized indigenous villagers.

Accountability Counsel supports tea plantation workers in Assam, India, who have filed a complaint to the World Bank Group’s accountability office, the CAO, regarding human rights abuses associated with the Bank’s investment in Tata/Tetley Tea.  Coercion and intimidation by the company continues, including harassment of workers who have voiced their complaints to the CAO.  Read more here.

On May 29, 2013, Accountability Counsel authored Comments on the Shift Project/ Mazars’ Discussion Paper regarding Developing Global Standards for the Reporting and Assurance of Company Alignment with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.  Read our comments here.

The UK OECD National Contact Point has accepted a complaint regarding human rights abuses associated with the Phulbari Coal Mine in Bangladesh.

On May 29, 2013, Accountability Counsel submitted comments to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as part of their review of their accountability mechanism.  Our comments focused on improving the process of assessing complaints, transparency, and independence, and were joined by the organizations Both ENDS, Forest Peoples Programme, Gender Action, Pacific Environment, SOMO and Urgewald.

Accountability Counsel is convening an International Advocates’ Working Group, a network of civil society organizations around the world to share information, lessons learned, best practice and strategy around international accountability mechanisms.  More information will be coming soon!

There has been another major Maple Energy oil spill in the Peruvian Amazon, Maple’s seventh spill since 2009.  Communities living along the Cachiyau creek are suffering from a spill of crude oil and produced waters.  We are calling on the IFC to take responsibility for yet another human and environmental disaster!  We have been working to support the communities of Nuevo Sucre and Canaan de Cachiyacu in their struggle to hold Maple and the IFC accountable since 2009.  Read more.

Accountability Counsel staff have just returned from our work in communities in Liberia and Mongolia, where we documented human rights and environmental abuses of a biomass company and trained nomadic herders challenging Rio Tinto.