In the News
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24 February 2022
As Haiti’s Caracol park grows, residents demand housing, roads, health care
Local residents and their advocates say infrastructure improvements in the surrounding region should also take place along with growth inside the industrial park, which largely contains textile factory jobs. -
23 February 2022
How an IDB land deal for Haiti’s farmers went wrong
Three years ago, a community in northeast Haiti was jubilant: They had reached a deal with the Haitian government and the Inter-American Development Bank to compensate for harms they suffered as a result of an IDB-financed industrial park that had seized their land for construction. But more than three years later, many families who were supposed to be compensated are still waiting. -
23 February 2022
3 years on, Haitians displaced by IDB project await land compensation
Three years after the IDB and the Haitian government signed the binding agreement, many families still await compensation for the seizure of their land — even as the bank in November approved an additional $65 million for the park’s expansion. -
22 December 2021
These MDB investments got our attention in 2021
The World Bank is entering into a dispute resolution process over a major urban project — with a total expected cost of some $183 million — in Kampala, Uganda, that faced strong pushback from the local community. -
20 December 2021
Op-Ed: African Development Bank Restructures Its Accountability Office: What Does this Mean for African Communities?
The African Development Bank recently updated its accountability office, the Independent Recourse Mechanism. What do these changes mean for communities seeking justice for harm stemming from the AfDB’s projects? -
16 December 2021
Using Founder Sabbaticals as Organizational Reset
Founder sabbaticals are as important for the organization as for the well-being of the founder. But for a founder’s sabbatical to build organizational resilience, examine internal power dynamics, and prepare for the founder’s eventual (and inevitable) departure, organizations must plan for, resource, and require them. -
30 September 2021
Promoting Access to Justice Through Community-led Approaches
There are about 5 billion people globally whose justice needs are unmet, including those who cannot obtain justice for everyday problems, those who are excluded from opportunities the law provides, and those who live in extreme conditions of injustice. This article summarizes key takeaways from MCLD’s recent discussion on access to justice, featuring AC’s Stephanie Amoako. -
24 September 2021
African Development Bank adopts new policy to strengthen accountability and support people affected by its operations
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) have approved a new policy framework for the Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM) aimed at strengthening accountability and providing more effective recourse to people affected by Bank-financed operations. -
22 September 2021
World Bank’s new Accountability Mechanism: One step forward…?
While civil society has welcomed the creation of a dispute resolution mechanism, it has voiced concerns that the Accountability Mechanism’s structure may undermine the Inspection Panel’s independence, and lamented the lack of a mechanism for provision of remedy to affected communities. -
17 August 2021
How can the IDB and MICI effectively address the findings of OVE’s report?
BIC, Accountability Counsel, and several other partners provided the IDB with recommendations on how to effectively implement the Office of Evaluations and Oversight’s (OVE) Evaluation of the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (MICI). The IDB must strengthen MICI’s independence, capacity, and corrective action practices to enhance the mechanism’s legitimacy and ability to provide remedy to project-affected communities. -
6 August 2021
Ugandan community files complaint to World Bank amid forced evictions
During the first phase, in 2014, authorities constructed a channel diversion which Accountability Counsel — an international civil society organization that advocates for communities harmed by projects like this — said ran through the land of many local residents in Kawaala, as well as cut others off from easy access to schools and basic services. -
14 July 2021
We need fair compensation! Kawaala residents run to World Bank over KCCA’s forced eviction
The 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. The eviction is aimed at paving way for the Lubigi drainage channel expansion. -
13 July 2021
Civil society calls for IFC and MIGA to build upon CAO reform
On 1 July, the board of directors of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the World Bank’s political risk insurance arm, announced that it had finalised the development of a new policy for the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism of IFC and MIGA. -
9 July 2021
Kawaala residents protest expansion of Lubigi channel, want fair compensation
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.The eviction is intended to make way for the expansion of the Lubigi drainage channel, a project funded by the World Bank. -
2 July 2021
Activists cautiously optimistic about new IFC accountability policy
The International Finance Corporation’s new accountability policy came into effect Thursday, the culmination of a yearslong process that included a landmark case the institution lost before the U.S. Supreme Court. -
23 June 2021
EU Energy Project in Nepal Sets Landmark Precedent on Indigenous Consent
Indigenous rights are at a critical crossroads after communities in Nepal have succeeded in holding the European Union’s investment bank accountable for its role in forcibly constructing a hydropower project on Indigenous land. -
2 June 2021
Everything in its place: From stolen art to endangered monkeys
In a win for local Indigenous groups, the European Investment Bank (EIB) vowed to address gaps in the implementation of a hydropower project in central Nepal. -
2 June 2021
Agency in Hot Water for Financing Fracking in the Dark
Stephanie Amoako is a senior policy associate with the Accountability Counsel, which advocates for people harmed by the kinds of projects supported by OPIC and the DFC. “The DFC should welcome any opportunity to increase transparency and accountability to the public,” Amoako said in a phone call, “particularly those most affected by the projects.” -
12 May 2021
How JPMorgan’s DFI invested and defined its impact in its first year
J.P. Morgan recently released its first annual report on its year-old development finance institution. Accountability Counsel’s policy director, Margaux Day, discusses the need for J.P. Morgan’s development finance institution to develop an accountability mechanism to ensure it can effectively manage unintended risks and impacts. -
4 May 2021
Report criticizes EIB over Nepal energy project
In its report released last month, the European Investment Bank’s Complaints Mechanism found a series of problems, including environmental assessment shortcomings, no stakeholder engagement plan, poor outreach to local Indigenous people, and no evidence of that community’s endorsement for the project.