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To understand how the system of independent accountability mechanisms is working for those who engage their services, we mapped out the path of every single complaint. Our analysis reveals huge barriers to entry, but also high likelihood of affirmation of the complaint if it reaches the compliance investigation or dispute resolution phase.

Data in a new report showing how frequently the International Finance Corporation and its clients abandon investments when communities harmed by those investments demand accountability is especially alarming.

It is near the end of the year (for those following the Gregorian calendar), so now seems as good a time as any to reflect on our continued push for the world’s largest development bank, turned aspiring champion of climate finance and now host of the Loss and Damage climate reparations fund, to finally, finally, finally deliver effective remedy when its projects cause real harm to people. This is also the time to rest up for the road ahead in 2024.

While many are rightly disappointed about the favoritism afforded to the financial sector under the European Union’s forthcoming Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, all is not lost. Exemption under the law does not absolve the financial sector’s responsibility for environmental and human rights impacts directly caused or enabled by their activities. Even if financial institutions are not yet subject to full liability, they can still be held accountable.

Last week, Congressional Labor Caucus co-chairs, Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Steven Horsford (D-NV), and Mark Pocan (D-WI) called on U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) CEO Scott Nathan to address allegations of retaliation against DFC employees for whistleblowing and labor organizing. Retaliation against whistleblowers at the DFC is…

The IFC’s inability to take responsibility for a crisis of its own making comes at a time when the World Bank is asking shareholder governments to trust it more.

With COP28 underway this week, our attention turns to financial institutions and their role in the climate crisis, prompting questions about the effectiveness of climate finance and emphasizing the pressing need for strengthened accountability and meaningful remedy.

Accountability Counsel joins hundreds of organizations calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

As the IDB Group embarks upon adopting a new Institutional Strategy, the IDB should learn lessons from its independent accountability mechanism to ensure that its new seven-year strategy prioritizes improving community impact in addition to focusing on growth.

Responding to disturbing and devastating reports of efforts to cover up child sexual abuse tied to a World Bank Group investment in Kenya, 32 civil society organizations are demanding transparency and justice.

Private sector involvement in multilateral development bank (MDB) projects, both in terms of investment and implementation, undeniably affects the implementation of a project, influencing banks’ adherence to their own policies.

Independence is crucial to the effectiveness of accountability mechanisms at international financial institutions, development agencies, and other institutions. In light of recent threats, 26 civil society organizations sent a letter to the Independent Accountability Mechanisms network (IAMnet) with a call to protect the independence of IAMnet’s members.

As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) meets today for its first in-person annual meeting in four years, civil society groups are questioning the bank’s track record on accountability.

Last week, hundreds of public development banks met in Cartagena, Colombia for the 4th annual Finance in Common summit to discuss how PDBs can advance the Sustainable Development Goals and address climate change and other global crises. This FIC summit proposed to develop “concrete actions to make finance more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive,” yet the conversations largely left out the very people most affected by its members’ financing – local communities.

The lack of a shared “complaint vocabulary” across the various IAMs hampers community comprehension, broader public engagement, and system-wide analysis. As the number of complaints grows, so does the need for a standardized method to assess, categorize, and report complaints.

Civil society organizations play a crucial role in supporting communities throughout, and improving the accessibility of IAM complaint processes. Insights from preliminary research on this topic show the impact representation can have on the success of a complaint, and identify potential policy changes to make IAMs more accessible for communities.

The World Bank Group is evolving its mission to confront a “crisis of development” precipitated by climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemic risks, rising fragility and conflict, and global economic distress. By its very definition, the Evolution Roadmap it has offered for public consultation is evidence enough that this is intended to be a conscious evolution. But as it vies to lead on climate finance, its crisis of accountability jeopardizes a just and inclusive transition that leaves no one behind, especially those it aims to serve. Accountability Counsel, supported by 22 civil society organizations from across the globe, have presented the bank with an Evolution to Accountability Roadmap, outlining necessary reforms to govern its evolution and ensure that communities impacted by WBG financing remain at the center of its broadened mission.

Members of the CSO Working Group on the African Development Bank (AfDB) recently published Understanding the AfDB: A Guide for CSOs and Communities. We hope that this toolkit will help civil society organizations and communities effectively engage in the AfDB’s activities and hold the bank accountable to its development mission and for the impacts of its projects.

The Console now includes all complaint data though 2022. Has anything substantively changed since January 2020?

As of May 2023, people impacted by the mining industry have a new forum to raise environmental and social concerns. The new mechanism, called the Mediation and Consultation Mechanism for the Mining Industry and Mineral Value Chain, is also the first grievance mechanism applicable to many Chinese corporations engaged in…