Joint letter to IAMnet regarding the World Bank Board’s invalidation of CAO investigation into IFC microfinance investments

Dear IAMnet, The recent decision by the World Bank Group Board of Directors to invalidate the IFC Compliance Advisor Ombudsman’s (CAO) investigation of IFC’s microfinance investments in Cambodia is unprecedented. As a result of the Board’s actions, CAO Director General Janine Ferretti resigned. Not only does the Board’s decision undermine trust in the World Bank […]

World Bank Board Denies Recourse to Millions of Victims of Predatory Lending, Sets a Dangerous Accountability Precedent

Last week, the World Bank Group’s Board of Directors overruled its own independent accountability mechanism – the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) – and allowed the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the institution’s private sector arm, to avoid accountability for the microfinance debt crisis it has contributed to in Cambodia. In response, CAO Director General Janine Ferretti […]

The IFC should require its clients to demonstrate community support for all high-risk projects

Inclusive Development International submitted additional comments to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) regarding its ongoing Sustainability Framework review, calling for a stronger approach to ensuring community support for high-risk projects.   Building on recommendations we jointly submitted earlier this year, alongside more than 30 other civil society organizations, our latest submission urges the IFC to incorporate a new client-focused Broad Sustainability Support requirement in the […]

Statement by Civil Society and Community Organizations on the Adoption of the First Remedy Framework at the World Bank Group

On April 3, responding to intense sustained advocacy efforts by project-affected communities and civil society organizations, the respective Boards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the private sector arms of the World Bank Group, approved their long-awaited Interim Remedial Action Framework (RAF) which has now been published. The […]

BREAKING: World Bank Group guilty of coal cash cover-up despite climate commitments

(MANILA, Philippines – January 21, 2025) – Communities and rights organizations involved in an ongoing complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector arm, accuse the multilateral development bank of covering up the harms caused by its support for the construction of 10 coal-fired power plants in the Philippines. This follows […]

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 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 […]