Accountability Counsel

???Accountability Counsel's Policy Associate Leo Lou will be attending the #UNForumBHR in Geneva next week! Do reach out to connect if you will be there. We look forward to connecting with civil society partners, human rights defenders, development finance institutions, and private sector actors to discuss non-judicial grievance mechanisms, accountability in development finance, human rights and environment risks in transition mineral value chains, CSDDD and more. UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights #JustTransition #UNForumBHR #BizHumanRights #BHR #UNBHR

Since incorporating climate action into its mission, The World Bank faces new challenges balancing climate goals with human rights and accountability. In this month’s newsletter, Avalon Bauman examines how the Bank is implementing its new mission and look at recent complaints to its accountability mechanisms,?revealing emerging risks facing climate projects: adaptation projects can inadvertently increase community vulnerability, the shift toward Development Policy Financing (DPF) may weaken accountability, and greenwashing concerns are rising.

Since 2017, Accountability Counsel has been working alongside a community of displaced Haitian farmers who were stripped of their livelihoods in the wake of the Inter-American Development Bank and USAID-supported Caracol Industrial Park. After years of effort, the community has finally received some tangible remedy. But the fight isn't over yet. Yesterday, Haitian community organizer castin milostene and AC team members Megumi T., Samer Araabi, and Megan Pearson participated in a discussion centering on lessons from this groundbreaking case. Achieving remedy through independent accountability mechanisms is possible, but it is a long, hard road. As long as the community is willing to keep fighting for the redress they deserve, we will continue to fight alongside them.

BIC and Accountability Counsel welcome the introduction of Chairwoman Maxine Waters' and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty’s International Financial Institution Improvements Act of 2024. If passed, this legislation would have a significant impact on U.S. priorities at the international financial institutions, particularly around improving accountability and preventing sexual exploitation and assault (SEA). Read our thoughts on the Act: https://lnkd.in/gWTGfsCF

This week, Sutharee and I attended the European Investment Bank (EIB)'s annual dialogue with civil society in Luxembourg, along with the wonderful Lawyers' Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP) and other civil society partners. We also met with Management, Board members and its Complaints Mechanism team to advocate for critical and overdue reforms to its environmental and social governance structure and accountability mechanism. In particular, Accountability Counsel calls on EIB, as the largest Multilateral Development Bank, to: ?? Initiate a formal review of the EIB Complaint Mechanism's policy in 2025 to address areas where it significantly lags behind the independent accountability mechanisms at its MDB peer institutions, namely (1) its lack of independence from EIB Group Management, (2) its weak mandate to monitor the implementation of corrective actions by EIB Group services, and (3) its inadequate safeguards to prevent reprisals against human rights defenders and ensure grievance redress channels are accessible. ?? Urgently address the lack of transparency around project-related environmental and social information and improve the quality, quantity, and timeliness of data published, to catch up with the EU Transparency Standards and common practice at peer MDBs. See a briefing letter by our partners Counter Balance and CEE Bankwatch Network here: https://lnkd.in/gTgEy-Vm ?? Urgently close gaps in its HRDD standards and stakeholder engagement requirements (including the Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous communities) before resuming its investments in critical raw materials extraction and processing projects, which it plans to do in support of the EU Critical Raw Minerals Act. While critical mineral extraction is integral to the Just Transition towards Net Zero, it must not come at the expense of the health and livelihood of communities or the environment. See a joint civil society letter to EIB issued this week here: https://lnkd.in/gyH_Rxft ?? Thoroughly review and overhaul its financing portfolio (including indirect investments via financial intermediaries), identify financing and investments in settlement construction, security operations, or resource exploitation in the OPT, and urgently implement a comprehensive divestment policy to align EIB investments with international law and standards. See my colleague Lama Almoayed's exhaustive analysis here: https://lnkd.in/gqVm3CcK

Accountability Counsel will be at the #COP16 biodiversity conference this month and expects to hear a lot about accelerating capital for biodiversity protection and too little about how to make sure that financing is accountable to people and the planet. Any investor claiming to engage in climate finance needs to have an accountability channel in place to hear from local communities--who are experts on their local environments--and must redress the issues raised. Without accountability, climate finance will continue to harm frontline communities and local environments in the name of saving the planet generally, which is a tradeoff we refuse to accept. Read more about our position here:

In 2018, a collective of displaced Haitian farmers negotiated a groundbreaking remedy agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank. How did they do it? And how has the agreement been implemented over some of the most challenging years Haiti has ever experienced? Join us October 28 at American University Washington College of Law to learn more about this remarkable case and the lessons it holds for communities, accountability advocates, and development actors worldwide. Register here: bit.ly/3YbPx96

Are you passionate about justice, human rights, and environmental protection? We're looking for a dedicated advocate to join our Communities program and help ensure that communities impacted by human rights and environmental violations can access justice through accountability offices tied to international finance. ?? The Role ?? As a Communities Associate, you'll play a key role in empowering communities and supporting their access to justice by: *Conducting trainings, meetings, and workshops with communities and advocates on tracing financing and using accountability offices *Assisting with filing formal complaints on human rights and environmental abuses *Supporting communities through the complaint process and dispute resolution *Advocating for systemic and case-specific outcomes with international finance institutions and other authorities *Contributing to written materials such as blogs, letters, and memos *Engaging in capacity building and contributing to the development of an accountability ecosystem *Managing interns and fellows In early 2025, you’ll also help provide short-term sabbatical coverage for our Communities Program team in Africa, with an exciting opportunity to travel to Nairobi. If you're ready to make an impact and be part of a dynamic team advocating for accountability and justice, we want to hear from you! ?? Learn more and apply https://lnkd.in/gJ8U8c6Y hashtag #Hiring #CommunitiesAssociate #Accountability #HumanRights #EnvironmentalJustice #Advocacy #JobOpportunity

Our new publication with the Accountability Research Center, featuring AC authors Lani Inverarity and Megan Pearson, tells the remarkable story of a displaced Haitian community's fight for remedy. In 2011, over 400 families in Northern Haiti were displaced from their farmland to make way for the Caracol Industrial Park. Against all odds, they organized, connected to international partners, and negotiated a groundbreaking agreement to restore their livelihoods through the MICI of the Inter-American Development Bank. Worldwide, it is one of the very few cases where a displaced community has been able to use the accountability mechanism of an international financial institution to negotiate for replacement land. Their struggle, both in getting a signed remedy agreement and in the years-long battle for implementation that has followed, holds important lessons for accountability advocates and development actors around the world. Read "After the Agreement: Implementing Remedy in Northern Haiti" in English, Spanish, or Kreyòl via the links in the comments. ?

In our newest Accountability Console newsletter, Senior Policy Associate Gregory Berry and Policy Associate Leo Lou?explore the practice of Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs) at Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) initiating compliance investigations without a complaint filed by an impacted person,?to shed light on the need for broader adoption of this mandate. Such proactive investigations can be powerful to (a) prevent and mitigate harm to the environment and other global public goods, (b) proactively address the chilling effect of actual or feared reprisals aimed at silencing the dissent of rights defenders, and (c) hold financial intermediary lending accountable. At least the following five IAMs are either currently undergoing policy review or expected to commence review in the near future. The Boards of Directors of these DFIs must entrust the power to self-initiate complaints to the IAMs so that harms to the environment and project-affected communities can be promptly and adequately addressed and so that their money truly meets its mark. The Project-Affected Peoples’ Mechanism of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) The Accountability Mechanism of Asian Development Bank (ADB) The Office of Accountability of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation The Complaints Mechanism of the European Investment Bank (EIB) The Independent Complaints Mechanism of Proparco, DEG and FMO - Dutch entrepreneurial development bank