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On December 19, 2011, the Inspection Panel released its Investigation Report, confirming violations of the Bank’s policies and announcing the Board’s approval of an action plan to require steps to bring the project into compliance!  This news comes after two years of Accountability Counsel’s work to support smallholders in Papua New Guinea working to hold the World Bank accountable for this poorly designed and implemented project.  Read more about our Papua New Guinea case page here.

Read about the historic conclusion to the dispute-resolution phase of our case involving the US Government’s OPIC Office of Accountability!  On November 14th the communities announced their decision and the case has now moved to an audit of OPIC’s compliance with its own policies and procedures.

Accountability Counsel and CELCOR released a report, The World Bank’s Duty in PNG, which highlights the ongoing concerns of smallholders in Project-affected areas and the responses still required by the World Bank to bring the Project into compliance with its own policies, along with a detailed critique of the Effluent Study that the Bank released many years late in July 2011.  We presented the report to the Bank’s Board of Directors, and the Board will vote regarding next steps on December 13, 2011.   Read more about our Papua New Guinea case page here.

We are pleased to welcome attorney Sarah Singh to our staff!  

Learn more about the risks to the Inspection Panel and read our comments here.

On September 8, 2011, a multi-sectoral commission of Peruvian Government Vice-Ministers signed an agreement with the indigenous communities Nuevo Sucre and Canaán confirming the negative impacts of Maple Energy/ Maple Gas operations on Shipibo territories.  Read the press release.  At their request, Accountability Counsel is providing support to the communities during these meetings.  More about this case.

The Shipibo villages we represent in the Peruvian Amazon decided on August 11, 2011 to end negotiations with Maple Energy.  The communities made the decision after Maple failed to take responsibility for the health and environmental consequences of at least six oil spills on their territory in three years.  Read the press release (Spanish version) and see our Peru case page.

Two indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon ended mediated negotiations regarding the harmful effects of six oil spills in their territories with Maple Gas Corporation del Peru SRL. Maple Gas is a majority owned subsidiary of Maple Energy plc (MPLE), a company registered in Ireland. Community leaders cite Maple’s lack…

The Guide contains updated sections on the Inter-American, African and Brazilian Development Banks, among others.  Please see our Resource Guide page for more information.

On July 10, 2011, children bathing in a creek observed a spill while the community was in mourning over the death of Luis Saldaña, see below.  The company had men from Nuevo Sucre clean up the spill with no training, protective gear, or information about the impacts of exposure to crude oil.  Women and children continued to use the water during the spill.  Despite our complaint to the CAO about the same atrocities in 2009, Maple provided no food or water to the community members who rely on the waterway for their survival.  Read more on our Peru case page.

We mourn the loss of our client Luis Saldaña, who passed away on July 7, 2011 in the Shipibo village of Nuevo Sucre in the Peruvian Amazon.  Luis suffered greatly in the past few years from the impacts of oil contamination on his land.  We will continue to fight for accountability on behalf of Luis and his people.

On March 11, 2011, the company and the communities reached an agreement that places the future of the project in the communities’ hands.  See the agreement (English version).

In late January 2011, the World Bank’s Board met to discuss Inspection Panel reports in three cases.  The Chinese Executive Director to the World Bank requested that the Bank’s General Counsel intervene in the cases, significantly challenging the Panel’s independence.  Accountability Counsel and colleagues worked to ensure that the Board vote maintained the Panel’s key independent role – and succeeded.  This was a reminder of the vigilance required by civil society to keep accountability mechanisms strong for the communities who need them.

On Wednesday, Mexican lawmakers called upon the State Governor of Oaxaca to suspend the Cerro de Oro Hydroelectric Project. The call comes in support of indigenous communities in the Project area who filed a complaint to a U.S. government agency financing the Project based on concerns about the Project’s impacts…

Today, Mexican villagers filed a complaint to prevent contamination of their drinking water and fishing areas, and other threats to their livelihoods and culture from a U.S.-backed hydroelectric project. Located in Oaxaca, Mexico, the project is financed by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a U.S. government agency. The project…

Our comments ask for key reforms to the U.S. National Contact Point.  Read more about the US NCP here.

In early September 2010, the World Bank Inspection Panel visited PNG to conduct a formal investigation of the complaint. Accountability Counsel and PNG-based CELCOR traveled to Oro Province to accompany claimants in meetings with the Panel.  Read more about our case in Papua New Guinea here.

On July 15th, 2010, BankTrack submitted a paper written by Accountability Counsel’s Natalie Bridgeman Fields on a proposed human rights policy for private sector banks.

On April 21, 2010, Accountability Counsel sent a letter to the President of the World Bank requesting that funding for the World Bank’s Smallholder Agricultural Development Project (“SADP”) be suspended until admitted policy violations are corrected. Read more about our case in Papua New Guinea here.

Today Accountability Counsel and partners filed a complaint with the World Bank’s accountability mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), seeking redress for toxic oil spills that have caused human rights and environmental violations in Peru.  Read more about our case in Peru here.