Karen communities in Myanmar file complaint with Thai Human Rights Commission: Stop harmful coal mine
Representatives of indigenous Karen communities in Myanmar this week filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand alleging human rights violations resulting from the activities of Thai companies operating an open-pit coal mine. The Ban Chaung mine has polluted the air and water, harmed the livelihoods of local people, and led to […]
New tools: Empowering communities to defend their rights in private sector investments
Inclusive Development International is pleased to announce the publication of two new action resources for communities impacted by private sector investments. The Community Guide to the International Finance Corporation is a resource for people affected by IFC-funded projects. The guide is designed to help communities understand their rights and entitlements vis-a-vis IFC projects and to decide […]
World Bank implicated in violent evictions for Guinea gold mine, victims file complaint with accountability office
A group of displaced people in northeastern Guinea has filed a formal complaint with the World Bank’s private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), for its role in supporting a mining company that grabbed their land and left them destitute. The complainants are artisanal gold miners, merchants and smallholder farmers, whose ancestors have lived in […]
TIAA tied to deforestation and displacement of farmers, environmentalists claim in new report
(Washington, DC) – According to a report released today by leading environmental and social justice advocates, the investment management firm TIAA is leading a trend of speculating in land markets, which drives up farmland prices and displaces family farmers. TIAA also has significant holdings in Southeast Asian palm oil companies known for ravaging tropical forests, […]
World Bank fuels land grabs in Africa through shadowy financial sector investments
The World Bank Group has indirectly financed some of Africa’s most notorious land grabs, according to a new report by Inclusive Development International and other watchdogs. The World Bank’s private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), is enabling and profiting from these projects by outsourcing its development funds to the financial sector. The report, Unjust […]
Europe’s ‘blood sugar’ – POLITICO
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — In 2006, the Cambodian sugar industry was so negligible as to be non-existent. A decade on, it has grown into a multi-million dollar commercial enterprise — largely thanks to a European policy known as “Everything But Arms” (EBA), which provides tariff-free access to the common market for exporters from the world’s […]
IFC still failing to track impact of investments on local communities, reports say | Devex
Two new reports, one of which is by the IFC’s own watchdog, have criticized the World Bank’s private sector lending arm for negating its duty to make sure the high risk investments it makes to intermediaries are not causing environmental and social damage to communities further down the financing line. READ FULL ARTICLE ▶
Out of control: The World Bank’s reckless private sector investments in Southeast Asia exposed
Dozens of harmful and high-risk projects in Southeast Asia have received hidden funding from the World Bank Group, an ongoing investigation by Inclusive Development International has revealed. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm, is surreptitiously channeling money to these projects through for-profit financial intermediaries, such as commercial banks and private equity […]
Safeguarding communities and the environment in Chinese investments: New resources from Inclusive Development International
Inclusive Development International is pleased to announce the publication of a new set of action resources for advocates on Chinese outbound investment and infrastructure finance. Safeguarding People and the Environment in Chinese Investments: A Guide for Community Advocates, which IDI released today, is a practical guide to the policies, standards and guidelines that apply to Chinese […]
BankTrack – Leading banks under fire for misrepresenting human rights responsibilities
A group of eleven major banks has met with a wave of criticism from civil society, academics, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (“the UN Working Group”) and Prof. John Ruggie, the architect of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (“the UNGPs”), after publishing a paper on the human […]