Statement of International Civil Society Organizations in response to the abduction of Stephen Kwikiriza, community environmental defender in Uganda
This is a joint statement by over 115 international civil society organizations to call upon the Ugandan authorities to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Stephen Kwikiriza, who has been held incommunicado since his abduction by plain clothed officers in Kampala on June 4th 2024. On June 4th 2024, Stephen Kwikiriza, a member of […]
External Investigation Into Alleged IFC Cover-Up Must Be Robust and Transparent
On March 13, 2024, World Bank Group (WBG) President Ajay Banga announced an external investigation of allegations of interference in the IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) process as relates to IFC’s investments in Bridge International Academies. We welcome President Banga’s announcement. It represents a positive, albeit belated, response to a call made by 35 international […]
IFC Response to Child Sexual Abuse Investigation Fails Survivors; Evades Responsibility
Today the World Bank released a scandalous internal investigation of child sexual abuse allegations at private schools funded by its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Although World Bank President Ajay Banga has expressed contrition, the IFC’s official management response fails to offer meaningful remedy to the survivors of abuse that it turned […]
Demanding Accountability: Response to Reports of a Child Sexual Abuse Cover Up at the World Bank
*This statement was sent to World Bank president Ajay Banga and its board of directors. We received a response from IFC head Makhtar Diop, which is available here. Our response to that letter is available is here. The undersigned organizations are gravely concerned about the recent media report of child sexual abuse at Bridge International […]
Experts call on Supreme Court to reverse decision protecting IFC’s absolute immunity
(Washington, DC) – On Tuesday, nine NGOs and experts filed an amicus brief before the US Supreme Court in support of the Indian fishing communities and farmers who are challenging the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s claim to absolute immunity in Jam v. IFC. The amici call for the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s decision, […]
Major Breakthrough in Mediation Between Hoang Anh Gia Lai Company and Fourteen Indigenous Villages
(Siem Reap) – A major breakthrough was reached in the mediation between fourteen Cambodian indigenous communities and the Vietnamese rubber firm Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), during meetings held this week in Siem Reap, Cambodia. On 15-19 September 2015, community representatives of fourteen indigenous villages affected by HAGL’s land concessions in Ratanakiri province, company representatives of HAGL and its subsidiaries, and the communities’ advisors, including Inclusive […]
Time for a mind shift at ADB on displacing the poor
Every year, millions of people around the world are forcibly displaced from their lands, homes and livelihoods to make way for large-scale development projects. Most often those who are forced to sacrifice their place on Earth for both public and private interests are among the poorest and most vulnerable people in society, and thus the […]
Response Letter to World Bank President Jim Kim Regarding IFC Investment in the Financial Sector
This letter was written to respond to a World Bank reply on April 18 to a March civil society letter regarding the audit of the International Finance Corporation’s lending to the financial sector. IDI, along with the over 50 groups that signed on to the letter, believe that the IFC’s response is inadequate and […]
Propaganda mill at full tilt
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has posted a short video on its website about the resettlement impacts of the Cambodian railway rehabilitation project it is financing. Rattling off numerous improvements to people’s living conditions, the three-minute video portrays the resettlement process as a resounding success, benefiting poor Cambodian families who are now, or will be, […]
Promoting a human rights approach to development of Cambodia’s land sector
In May 2012, IDI partner Equitable Cambodia and the Heinrich Boll Foundation published A Discussion Paper on a Human Rights Approach to Development of Cambodia’s Land Sector, authored by IDI Associate Natalie Bugalski. The paper offers a rationale for adopting a human rights approach to development and recommends a ten-pronged framework for adopting the approach in the land […]