Blog
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31 August 2021
After the IPCC Report, What’s Next If You Want to Fund Climate Solutions? Start With Listening to Communities
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. -
27 August 2021
Ugandan Government Suspends 54 NGOs in Latest Attack on Civil Society
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. -
23 August 2021
Five lessons the European Investment Bank must learn from its mistakes in an infrastructure project in Nepal
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. -
2 August 2021
What Do We Know About Unknown Complaints?
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. -
29 July 2021
Impact Investors Recognize that Accountability Mechanisms Help Manage Unintended Impacts
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… -
22 July 2021
AC Hosts Training for Grievance Mechanisms on Ensuring Access and Safety for Communities
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… -
19 July 2021
New Board Guidelines at the Green Climate Fund Codify Governance of Environmental & Social Accountability
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. -
19 July 2021
Civil Society Organizations Comment on MICI Evaluation, Call For Effective Implementation
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. -
8 July 2021
Complaint to the World Bank highlights impacts of forced eviction during COVID-19 lockdowns
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. -
7 July 2021
New CAO Policy Comes Into Effect
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… -
4 July 2021
How to Compare Independent Accountability Mechanisms on the Console
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. -
7 June 2021
Haiti: Human Rights Defender Milostène Castin in Danger
Milostène Castin has dedicated his life to the protection of smallholder Haitian farmers from exclusion, marginalization, and abuse. He was instrumental in bringing the concerns of hundreds of families displaced by the Caracol Industrial Park to international attention, supporting them to successfully demand remedy for the harm they experienced. -
7 June 2021
Analyzing Environmental Impacts Across Development Sectors
An analysis of complaints filed to all IAMs shows how even well-designed projects intending to alleviate poverty can lead to adverse impacts on the environment, biodiversity, access to water, and increased pollution. A critical way to understand and address unintended environmental harms is to hear from communities living near and working at project sites. -
3 May 2021
Evaluation of MICI Effectiveness Published
The Inter-American Development Bank’s Office of Evaluation recently published its evaluation report of the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism, the bank’s independent accountability mechanism. -
1 May 2021
Understanding Community Harm Part 1: Consultation, Disclosure, and Due Diligence
Part 1 of a series exploring the issues raised in community-driven complaints to Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs) as captured on the Console, with analysis of how to understand, interpret, and compare the data. -
22 April 2021
Nepal Indigenous communities vindicated in rare European human rights victory
KATHMANDU, 23 April 2021 – Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Nepal are celebrating a hard-fought victory following a landmark investigation published yesterday, which found that the European Investment Bank (EIB) must take urgent steps to uphold their right to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in its funding of… -
12 April 2021
Accountability Counsel Contributes to UN Thematic Report on Climate Investment and the Right to Development
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development (UNSR), Mr. Saad Alfarargi, is currently preparing his 2021 report to the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council on the theme of Climate change-related policies and projects from a right to development perspective. Accountability Counsel has contributed to this forthcoming report by submitting a comment letter that highlights the important nexus between climate investment, accountability, and the right to development, and discusses how to ensure that projects aimed at fighting the climate crisis do not negatively impact vulnerable communities. -
5 April 2021
Uncovering and Evaluating Accountability “Dark Spots”
Why are investment flows in the Middle East and North Africa not being matched with commensurate community complaints? And what does this tell us about communities’ ability to access remedy in these “dark spots”? -
5 April 2021
How to Compare IAM Policies with the Benchmark Reports Feature
Understanding how policies and operating procedures vary at different IAMs is a critical component of accessing the mechanisms for communities, and of informing advocacy for best practices at IAMs. The IAM Benchmark Report feature allows users to view and compare policies across mechanisms, and provides insights into how particular policies influence complaint outcomes. -
26 March 2021
Standing With Asian American / Pacific Islander (AAPI) Communities Against Hate
At Accountability Counsel, we stand with our allies in community-driven movements for justice. Today, Accountability Counsel joined a statement from our allies at Asian Americans Advancing Justice articulating a vision for a Community-Centered Response to Violence Against Asian American Communities.