In the News

Freshfields will look into whether IFC’s accountability arm, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, was “fully able to execute its compliance investigation mandate,” and whether IFC staff and management cooperated fully with its work.

Campaigners and residents near MHP’s flagship farm in central Ukraine say the company is hurting the environment and their quality of life, but continues to secure major loans without any oversight of such impacts.

As the EBRD looks to the year ahead, we urge the bank to take this opportunity to reframe its policies with human and environmental rights at their core.

In Oaxaca, Mexico, members of the Indigenous Chinanteco community used a dispute resolution process to prevent construction of a hydroelectric dam that would have cut off access to a culturally important spring.

Independent accountability mechanisms are a necessity in the field of international development finance where investments have far reaching consequences on the environmental, social, and human rights of already marginalized communities and domestic legal avenues to seek redress remain effectively shut.

Retaliation claims highlight human rights and environmental risks and tensions in an agency at the forefront of U.S.-China rivalry in Africa.

This investigation needs to be a priority for the bank. We cannot trust the IFC to be a responsible investor that deserves more money from donors until this investigation is complete and concrete recommendations are made to prevent something like this from occurring again.

After the Bridge sexual abuse scandal, advocates clamored for the International Finance Corporation to compensate victims. But some experts say it’s not that simple.

Representatives of around 30 environmental and human rights organizations and affected communities from Latin America participated in the Annual Meetings of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and IDB Invest.

A lawyer and a well-known figure in the field of accountability, Margaux Day became Accountability Counsel’s Executive Director in February 2024. She is now charting an ambitious course to fulfill Accountability Counsel’s aim to advocate for people harmed by internationally financed projects as they seek justice.

The inquiry comes after the International Finance Corporation’s internal watchdog investigation into reports of sexual abuse at Bridge schools found that the World Bank’s private sector arm had failed on multiple counts.

The Biden administration will take additional steps to encourage businesses to address negative impacts of their supply chain operations and footprints abroad, including those involving human and labor rights and the environment, according to a new plan published on Monday.

In an email to staff, the bank’s leader admitted failings at its private-sector arm, which invested in the schools, but stopped short of offering financial compensation to alleged victims of sex abuse.

The IFC proposed a remedial plan Thursday. Civil society groups have been quick to condemn the plan as inadequate.

As president, at a minimum, Calviño must commit to consulting people impacted by EIB projects as part of their design and either ensuring or providing remedies for negative environmental and social impacts of its investments.

An efficient mechanism for hearing complaints and redressing grievances is a powerful tool for governance and human rights due diligence.

Despite the perception of multilateral development banks as forces of good, the evidence shows that they do actually cause harm.

Civil society group Accountability Counsel, which works with Mongolian herders, told Reuters that some livestock became ill and died after mine operations began, which herders blame on worsening water quality.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is under pressure to improve protections for workers, citizens, and the environment when investing in countries with questionable human rights records.

This settlement comes at a time when IFC is adopting a new approach to remedial action which will govern what happens when something goes wrong with its investments.