News

World Bank Inspection Panel Confirms Violations of Social and Environmental Policies in Papua New Guinea - On December 19, 2011, the 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! Read more here.

Communities in Mexico Reject Cerro de Oro Hydroelectric Project - 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.

Interested in Working With Us? Applications for Summer 2012 student positions are now available. Please see the Jobs & Internships page for more information.

Papua New Guinea Case Nearing Board Vote - Accountability Counsel and CELCOR released a report, The World Bank's Duty in PNG and 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. More on PNG is found here.

Our Fall 2011 Newsletter is now available. Please click the image to your right to download.

Accountability Counsel Welcomes Sarah Singh! - We are pleased to welcome attorney Sarah Singh to our staff!

Accountability Counsel Comments on the World Bank’s Planned P4R Initiative - learn more about the risks to the Inspection Panel and read our September 30, 2011 comments here.

World Bank Inspection Panel Issues Investigation Report for Papua New Guinea case - Management must now respond with an action plan prepared in consultation with the requesters. More here.

IDB Advocacy - See our Inter-American Development Bank Advocacy page for news about our latest work to improve the IDB’s accountability mechanism.

Peruvian Government Commission Confirms Maple’s Contamination of Indigenous

Villages - 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 here. At their request, Accountability Counsel is providing support to the communities during these meetings. More about this case here.

Communities in Peru End Dialogue with Maple Energy - 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 here, and see our Peru page here. Ver en español.

Maple Energy Responsible for another spill in the Shipibo village of Nuevo Sucre. 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 here.

In Memoriam - 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.

Executive Director Natalie Bridgeman Fields’ Talk to the IFI Accountability Mechanisms - On June 23, 2011, Natalie presented a talk to the mechanisms in Washington, D.C. comparing 8 international financial institution accountability mechanisms. The presentation is available for viewing online here.

The U.S. State Department has failed to listen to overwhelming voices from civil society in the review of the U.S. OECD National Contact Point. The disappointing June 2011 results of the NCP review process and elements that must change for the NCP to be minimally useful are here.

Announcing the New OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - On May 25, 2011, the OECD adopted revised Guidelines. Please read more about our work to hold corporations accountable for these Guidelines here.

Accountability Counsel submitted comments to the Asian Development Bank endorsed by 13 other organizations re the Review of their Accountability Mechanism - Our March 31, 2011 comments ask that the mechanism be reformed so that it is more accessible and effective. See our ADB Advocacy page for details.

Release of Guiding Principles of the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights. Read Accountability C

ounsel’s comments on the draft and the final March 21, 2011 version here.

Construction on Cerro de Oro Project in Mexico Suspended & Historic Agreement Reached - 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 press release and agreement here: Press Statement (Spanish), Agreement (English).

World Bank Inspection Panel Attacked, But Defended. 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.

Executive Director Natalie Bridgeman Fields Named Top 20 Lawyer Under 40 in California by the Daily Journal! Read the Daily Journal Article here.

The Seventh Edition of our Accountability Resource Guide

is now available! 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 or download from the image here.

Our analysis of the results of the African Development Bank review of its accountability mechanism is now available here. We have made an impact but there is still room for improvement.

Accountability Counsel submitted comments to the State Department October 12 and authored Joint Civil Society Comments on November 5. Our comments ask for key reforms to the U.S. National Contact Point. Read more and see our comments here.

Panel Papua New Guinea Complaint Moves Forward - In September 2010, the World Bank Inspection Panel visited PNG to conduct a formal investigation of the complaint. Read more here.

Paper on Banking & Human Rights to UN Special Rep. for Business and Human Rights, John Ruggie - 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. Read the paper here.

Letter to World Bank President Zoellick - 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 the letter here.

Peruvian Indigenous Communities’ CAO Complaint re Maple Energy - On April 6, 2010, 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 here.

Article by Care2 Blogger - Thanks to Nancy Roberts for this wonderful post about Accountability Counsel on the Care2 blog! Read the blog post here.

International Award - Accountability Counsel’s Director Natalie Bridgeman Fields has been awarded a 2009 Echoing Green Fellowship to support our work! Read more here.

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