In the News

In this article, the Assam Tribune covers our case in Assam highlighting the CAO monitoring report which found that the International Finance Corporation and Tata Group plantations have failed to deliver on commitments to address serious health and safety concerns facing the 155,000 people that live and work on tea plantations it owns in India’s North East.

In this CNN article, Swati Gupta covers the gendered impacts of serious health and safety issues rampant on tea plantations in Assam, some of which are owned by IFC and Tata Global.

Bönder får rätt i marktvist på Haiti, miljontals träd har planterats i Myanmar och entreprenörskap i Ghana tar itu med plastskräpet. Det är några av januaris hoppfulla nyheter.

In this article, Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava highlights the findings of the World Bank’s official investigator in which the IFC had failed to address the health and safety concerns of thousands of workers and their families living in Tata group’s tea plantations in India’s Northeast. Accountability Counsel will continue to support and advocate for tea workers in Assam.

In this article, Janine Mendes-Franco tells the story of a recent victory in Haiti involving a collective of farmers, who were adversely impacted by a bank-financed industrial park, and won a settlement with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Haitian government. Accountability Counsel supported the Haitian farmers throughout the negotiation process and will continue to support the implementation phase.

AC’s Founder & Executive Director Natalie Bridgeman Fields is featured as a guest in the latest episode of The Impossible Network podcast.

In this BHRRC article, AC’s Lani Inverarity reflects on the historic agreement reached by a group of Haitian farmers last month, and how the 2010 earthquake anniversary now holds the possibility of transformation and renewal.

In this article, Teresa Welsh highlights the recent victory in Haiti where a group of farmers, who were adversely impacted by a bank-financed industrial park, won a settlement with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Haitian government. Accountability Counsel supported the Haitian farmers throughout the negotiation process and will continue to support the implementation phase.

The President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, announced he is stepping down from his position this February 1, 2019 to take a position with Global Infrastructure Partners, a private investment firm that did extensive business with the Bank during Kim’s tenure.

In this article, as a former Pathways Intern, Sydney Speizman reflects on her experience working at Accountability Counsel as the Executive Coordinator.

Sinds het associatieakkoord met de EU groeit de export van de Oekraïense plofkippengigant MHP ongekend. Omwonenden klagen over vervuiling, dierenrechtenorganisaties constateren een totaal gebrek aan controle, en Nederlandse boeren vrezen oneerlijke concurrentie. “Verdere verduurzaming van de Europese kippensector wordt zo volledig lamgelegd.”

Haitian farmers we supported and their recent victory is featured as this week’s upside in The Guardian’s Upside Weekly Report, 14 December 2018.

In this SSIR article, Gayle Peterson discusses three community feedback tools for impact investors. Accountability Counsel’s Liberia case is highlighted in this article.

In this article, Policy Associate Stephanie Amoako reflects on the 2018 African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA) General Assembly which took place in Nairobi, Kenya. This year’s General Assembly focused on Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), where participants charted a way forward for empowering communities whose lives will be affected by projects in Africa.

In this article, Asia Director Anirudha Nagar discusses the grim reality facing workers on tea estates in Assam and the role of British tea companies in ensuring protection of workers’ rights. Accountability Counsel, CORE Coalition and other civil society organizations are urging major British tea brands and retailers that source tea from Assam to help break the cycle of poverty wages.

In this article, Bretton Woods Project highlights last month’s meeting of the Independent Accountability Mechanisms Network (IAMnet) in Washington, D.C. The article underscores civil society organisations’ call for the World Bank Group to use its Inspection Panel (IPN) and Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) reviews to address existing accountability gaps.

Our Asia Communities Consultant Siddharth Akali and partner Shankar Limbu of LAHURNIP call on the European Union to ensure that communities in Nepal are made whole on the loss they suffer as a result of its transmission lines and associated hydropower sector development.

Our Policy Associate, Stephanie Amoako’s, recent article, “Pillars for the Future of Development Finance in Asia,” is featured in the October 2018 issue of NGO Forum on ADB’s Bankwatch publication. In the article, Amoako calls on the Asian Development Bank to prioritize community engagement and access to effective remedy at the forefront as it looks to the future of development finance in Asia. Read the full article here.

In this Thomson Reuters Foundation article, British tea brand Clipper is reported to have released a list of its Indian suppliers on Thursday, joining a growing campaign to improve worker conditions in the state of Assam and rid the industry of widespread abuse. Our Asia Director, Anirudha Nagar, is quoted in this article saying “The publishing of supplier lists by some UK brands is a step forward in the struggle for better living and working conditions for Assam tea workers”.

In this article in The Diplomat, Peter Gill discusses the 220 kV Marsyangdi Corridor Transmission Line and its potential impact on the local Nepali community within the broader context of development finance. Accountability Counsel supported FPIC & Rights Forum in their recent submission to the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Complaints Mechanism on October 8, 2018. The article also highlights the challenges surrounding accountability within development finance in the Asia-Pacific region, which is traditionally dominated by Western-aligned multilateral development banks, vis-a-vis the expansion of Chinese lending.