One year on: No remedy or accountability for survivors of sexual abuse at World Bank Group funded schools in Kenya
Joint Statement by Inclusive Development International and Accountability Counsel (March 13, 2025) – One year ago today, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga apologized to survivors of child sexual abuse at Bridge International Academies, acknowledging “the trauma they experienced” at the World Bank Group-funded schools and committed to supporting them. A March 2024 report from […]
Joint Statement on Bridge 4 Management Action Plan Implementation Expressing Civil Society and Survivor Concerns
Between 2013 and 2022, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) invested $13.5 million in Bridge International Academies, a for-profit school chain in Kenya, to support affordable education for low-income children. In 2020, allegations of child sexual abuse within Bridge schools surfaced and the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) initiated an investigation, and published its report in early […]
Joint Statement Urging World Bank Action on Cambodian Civil Society Reprisals
We, the undersigned organizations, call upon World Bank President Ajay Banga to condemn the Cambodian government’s assault on human rights groups, including reprisals against World Bank project stakeholders. In recent months, there has been a worrying escalation in the Cambodian government’s repression of critical voices. This has included attacks on two prominent human rights groups, […]
AngloGold Ashanti accepte un règlement financier avec la communauté « Area One » déplacée par sa mine en Guinée
Plus de 360 familles qui ont été déplacées de force pour permettre l’expansion de la mine d’AngloGold Ashanti à Siguiri, en Guinée, seront indemnisées par l’entreprise. Cet accord est l’aboutissement d’un processus de médiation de six ans sous les auspices du bureau du conseiller médiateur du Groupe de la Banque mondiale.
AngloGold Ashanti agrees to financial settlement with “Area One” community displaced by its Guinea mine
More than 360 families who were forcibly relocated to make way for the expansion of AngloGold Ashanti’s mine in Siguiri, Guinea will be compensated by the company. The agreement concludes a six-year mediation process facilitated by the World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman.
Joint Civil Society Statement Ahead of IFC Remedy and Responsible Exit Framework Decision
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2024–Tomorrow, the Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) of the World Bank Board of Executive Directors will discuss the IFC’s draft Remedy and Responsible Exit Framework, which is intended to outline how the institution will deliver remedy to communities harmed by projects it finances. This would be the first policy to focus specifically on […]
Policy gaps allow World Bank Group to indirectly finance captive coal
Laborers in the nickel industry in Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (PT. IMIP), by Esa Setiawan/ Trend Asia. A new analysis, published today by Recourse, Trend Asia and Inclusive Development International, demonstrates that publicly-funded Multilateral Development Banks are at risk of funding a wave of ‘captive’ coal expansion in climate-vulnerable countries, despite commitments to shift funds […]
Joint Statement on World Bank Probe into Alleged Bridge Academies Child Sexual Abuse Cover-up
On May 16, 2024 the World Bank announced that it is hiring an outside firm to “explore the circumstances surrounding the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman’s (CAO) investigation of IFC’s investment in Bridge International Academies.” We commend the World Bank’s Board for taking the lead on this issue. Together with U.S. lawmakers and other stakeholders, civil society […]
Open letter to President Ajay Banga of the World Bank Group calling for extreme caution and due diligence for transition mineral mining
Ahead of the World Bank Spring meetings in Washington DC, a coalition of 40 civil society organizations, some of whom are in mineral-rich countries and work with mining affected communities, has written to Ajay Banga calling on the World Bank Group (WBG) to take extreme caution as it looks to extend its investments in transition […]
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 […]