Blog

Building on the commitments of last year’s inaugural Finance in Common (FiC) Summit and a joint statement by several Latin American, African, and Asian banks focused on agriculture, this year’s FiC Summit will focus on the themes of agriculture, food security, and agribusiness.

By reflecting principles of responsible business conduct and human rights due diligence as outlined by the OECD and the UN, the GRI Standards now include crucial stakeholder engagement and grievance redress disclosures for institutions that seek to contribute to sustainable development.

Last month, representatives from 50 civil society organizations and the independent accountability mechanisms of 19 development finance institutions gathered for a virtual roundtable to discuss how to address the challenges of COVID-19 in the handling of complaints of harm caused by internationally financed projects.

Tanzania is violating pregnant girls’ rights to education – to self-determination, to safety, to a future – with support from the World Bank. A recent Human Rights Watch report confirms what we have heard from partners and girls in Tanzania.

In this article, we look closely at complaints that allege gender-based violence (GBV) and GBV-related harms, and theorize about why we don’t see more GBV concerns in the complaints given the pervasiveness of GBV. This article is part 4 of a series exploring the issues raised in community-driven complaints to Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs).

The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently announced sweeping changes to its accountability office, now known as the Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM). As a result of stakeholder engagement in the recent review of the IRM, the accountability office will now be more accessible and equitable to African communities seeking redress for negative environmental and human-rights impacts from AfDB-financed projects.

One year ago, in September 2020, the World Bank Board of Directors published two resolutions: one codifying updates to the Inspection Panel’s mandate, and the other establishing the Bank’s new Accountability Mechanism. The communities who have filed complaints to the Bank’s accountability office during the past year are without updated…

Communities in Western Nepal are taking action to challenge forcible land acquisition by an EU-funded hydropower project that was recently condemned by an official, independent investigation of the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Nearly a quarter of all complaints filed to accountability offices raise issues related to displacement. We explore examples of how community complaints raising displacement issues are addressed through IAM processes, and the different outcomes and challenges communities face as a result of IAM processes.

As the world focuses on how to reorient economies away from fossil fuels and toward solutions, there is a welcome, new focus on centering communities in climate solutions.

We are deeply concerned by the statement released by the government of Uganda last Friday announcing the suspension of 54 civil society organizations. The suspension order by the National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organisations affects organizations including environmental, human rights, religious and electoral advocacy groups. This move is the latest escalation in a rapidly worsening environment for civil society actors in Uganda over the past year.

This month, Accountability Counsel provided feedback to the European Investment Bank (EIB) as part of its public consultation process to review the Bank’s draft Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework (ESSF). Our concerns and recommendations to improve the draft ESSF were grounded in our support to communities in Nepal who have waged a long struggle for an EIB funded transmission line to respect their rights.

What are “unknown complaints,” and why are there so many of them? Research Associate Marisa Lenci explores why over two hundred complaints appear to have almost no information associated with them, where they come from, and what they mean for transparency and accountability.

Last year, Accountability Counsel reviewed the first set of disclosures from investors who signed onto the Operating Principles for Impact Investment to see who reported having an accountability mechanism to measure unintended investment impact. We’ve undertaken that analysis again this year and see an increase in the number of Signatories…

Over the past over 25 years, the options for communities seeking accountability and redress for negative impacts from internationally financed projects outside of the judicial system have steadily increased. There are now dozens of non-judicial grievance mechanisms housed at the institutions that finance these projects, and the number of these…

In July 2021, the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) adopted guidelines for how the Board responds to findings of its accountability office, the Independent Redress Mechanism (IRM). By clarifying how the GCF Board engages with IRM findings, the guidelines affirm the importance of Board responsiveness and transparency in managing environmental and social issues.

This month, Accountability Counsel and partners published a civil society response to an evaluation of the Inter-American Development Bank’s independent accountability mechanism, the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI). Our response focuses on how to best implement the evaluation’s recommendations so that communities harmed by IDB Group projects have an effective way to seek justice.

Community members in Kawaala Zone II in Kampala, Uganda have filed a complaint to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel following attempts to evict them from their homes and farmland without adequate compensation to make way for the Lubigi drainage channel expansion.

The International Finance Corporation’s and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency’s accountability mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, has a new policy that governs its process for addressing complaints from communities alleging harms caused by IFC and MIGA projects. The new policy is the first major outcome of a nearly year-long process to…

To support communities through the complaint process and as an ongoing knowledge sharing effort, the Accountability Console hosts information on all IAMs in a searchable database that links to complaints filed, IAM policy documents, projects about which complaints are filed, and other relevant information that communities and their advocates can use.