Blog

The International Finance Corporation published its third management progress report, developed to remediate children who survived child sexual abuse as students at Bridge International Academies at the time when IFC had invested in Bridge schools.

We welcome the publication of the follow-up report as it provides important reflections on dispute resolution practice. However, the report fails to reflect critical issues experienced by community members negatively impacted by the KIIDP-2 project.

Accountability Counsel’s new report offers the first comprehensive evaluation of the ways that independent accountability mechanisms deliver justice to communities harmed by development bank–financed projects.

Long Isun’s complaint against the East Kalimantan Project highlights environmental harms and a systemic failure to protect Indigenous rights. / Komplain oleh Long Isun terhadap Proyek di Kalimantan Timur menyorot kerugian lingkungan dan kegagalan sistem dalam melindungi hak-hak masyarakat adat.

Accountability Counsel, along with Both ENDS, Inclusive Development International and twelve other endorsing organizations, support much-needed improvements to the policy and shared structure of the mechanism.

On 19 September 2025, Accountability Counsel, UN Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT), and Give to Nature, co-organized a panel discussion at the United Nations Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum, Asia-Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand.

Filing a complaint with an Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM) can bring justice and remedy but it also puts communities and their allies at risk of harassment, violence, and repression.

Hundreds of impacted people are demanding respect for their fundamental rights after a massive water transfer project has brought harm to their homes, livelihoods, and environments.

Accountability Counsel condemns the U.S. Government’s decision to sanction three leading human rights groups in Palestine: Al-Haq, Al-Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).

The online panel discussion examined the impacts of renewable energy projects in Asia, stressing the importance of Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Indigenous Peoples’ self-determination in shaping just and sustainable energy transitions.

IFI investments in AI data centers are booming, but their heavy reliance on potable water for cooling is straining communities and the environment.

Dozens of international CSOs call on international financiers, including the International Finance Corporation and the Asian Development Bank, to reconsider financing this dangerous project.

Across IAMs, cultural heritage harm is often acknowledged but rarely repaired. This piece explores three cases, along with Console data, that illustrate this pattern — and what it will take to change it.

The recent Financing for Development conference in Sevilla, Spain – the first in 10 years – resulted in a call for multilateral development banks to triple their financing to meet the massive shortfall in development finance. If we really want sustainable development, any efforts to increase MDB activities should be met with an increased commitment to accountability and remedy to local communities.

How has a relatively robust review process resulted in such a disappointing outcome? We can only guess that the answer lies in what has been described by the MD-CEIU as a consensus building process between the PPM and AIIB management as directed by the Bank’s shareholders. Unfortunately, this process seemingly has favored management’s desire to limit the outcomes of the review.

Why do palm oil complaints yield more results than other agribusiness cases? This article traces a landmark struggle in Indonesia and examines the key role civil society support may play in turning accountability processes into real world outcomes.

The Global Reporting Initiative recently concluded its public comment period to develop sustainability reporting standards for financial service organizations that exist to channel and intermediate funds to support business activity and transfer risk. With an appreciation of the wide-ranging impacts that the financial services sector can have on the environment and people at local and global scales, Accountability Counsel contributed our perspective rooted in the challenges of securing engagement, response, and remedy for harm caused by internationally financed projects and programs.

Roads may seem like routine infrastructure, but they account for more accountability complaints than any other development investment. This article explores why road projects so often go wrong — and what must change.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is expanding into Sub-Saharan Africa and Iraq. Unless it ramps up its policies to prevent and remedy negative environmental and social impacts, it risks replicating harm that communities in the region are already experiencing.

Accountability Counsel and Lawyers Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples publish “A Community Guide to Demand Ingenious Peoples Rights in Hydropower Projects in Nepal” – a short and informative leaflet for affected Indigenous communities in Nepal to learn about and advocate for their human rights.