Affected-Communities demand Accountability from NDB for Harms Linked to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II

On June 19, 2026, Seinoli Legal Centre and Accountability Counsel—the civil society organizations (CSOs) supporting communities affected by the negative impacts of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II (LHWP II) project, which is co-financed by the New Development Bank (NDB)—wrote to NDB President Dilma Rousseff and the Bank’s Board on behalf of communities affected by LHWP II. We asked NDB to meet directly with affected communities, engage with the related ongoing African Development Bank’s Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM) complaint process, support remedies emerging from that process, and publish its long-promised draft independent accountability mechanism policy for meaningful public consultation. The letter further states that repeated engagement with NDB since August 2024 has not produced a meaningful response.

NDB's Environmental and Social Framework makes the Bank responsible for monitoring and supervising the borrower's compliance throughout implementation, regardless of co-financing arrangements or reliance on country systems. This responsibility requires NDB to engage meaningfully with affected communities, assess current compliance gaps, and coordinate with other financiers on interim protection and remedy.

It has been more than two months and NDB has still not responded. We urge NDB to establish dialogue with affected communities and their advisors to identify solutions and remedy the documented harms from the project, using supervisory and contractual tools available to it. We also call on the NDB to release a draft Independent Accountability Mechanism policy for meaningly public  consultation, as committed to in its 2022 - 2026 General Strategy. 

Read the June 19, 2026 civil-society letter to NDB's President and Board of Directors

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