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 […]

China Global Newsletter | Edition 10

 China Global Newsletter | Edition 10: January 2025  Is China a “last resort” for financing high-risk projects? As Chinese companies and banks expanded their global reach at the start of this century, a common narrative emerged that Chinese investors and financiers were willing to support projects that other investors saw as too risky. This narrative […]

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 […]

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 […]