Accountability Counsel

White text on teal background: "International financial institutions must move from procedural risk management to survivor-centred, rights based remedy." Next to a photo of four women in saris wading through water carrying bunch of plants in their arms. Logos for Accountability Counsel and Recourse along the bottom.

International financial institutions must move from procedural risk management to survivor-centred, rights based remedy.

“IFIs cannot treat gender harm as incidental," says Teresa Mutua @accountcounsel.bsky.social

More on their feminist advocacy: re-course.org/newsupdates/iwd2026/ #IWD2026

2026 could reshape accountability in public finance

🔎 Several international financial institutions are reviewing their accountability mechanisms & safeguard policies. Decisions made this year will shape access to remedy & standards for years to come.

New analysis 🔗 www.linkedin.com/pulse/2026-c...

As the #BoardOfPeace meets in #DC this month, we call on the #WorldBank to END its involvement on the #BoardOfPeace and instead support a transparent + rights respecting reconstruction in Gaza, led by Palestinians.

The #WorldBank has long perfected its rhetoric of “non-interference in political matters” – yet now, its decision to legitimize + facilitate the #BoardOfPeace is a deeply political act that calls into question its stated poverty alleviation mandate.

AC New Site

📢 We join 15 orgs to raise the alarm over the #WorldBank role on Trump’s #BoardOfPeace – an illegitimate + neocolonial body. Its plans for #Gaza reconstruction are plainly intended for profit while completely excluding Palestinian voices.

Are you a worker, environmental & human rights defender, or campaigner searching for the right path to prevent & remedy harm to people and the planet?

Join our practical online workshop to learn about 3 key complaint systems and the strategies and resources to use them effectively. Register now 👇

The test of new rules is whether cases are successful. “If in a year there are still no eligible cases, as community advocates, it will be hard for us to recommend to affected communities that AIIB offers a meaningful mechanism for redress or that its accountability channel is worth engaging with.”

AIIB updates grievance rules, winning cautious civil society optimism While the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s updated grievance policy introduces new time limits and limited oversight powers, civil society argues the mechanism remains the most restrictive among...

The rules for communities to hold the AIIB accountable for its projects that harm people and the planet have changed. Our policy associate Radhika Goyal spoke to @devex.com about those changes-- why they matter and ways they fall short. www.devex.com/news/aiib-up...

Ini bukan penolakan terhadap aksi iklim, tetapi seruan untuk keadilan. Pembiayaan iklim tidak boleh berjalan dengan mengorbankan hak masyarakat adat, keberlangsungan budaya, dan persetujuan yang benar-benar bebas dan tanpa paksaan.

Masyarakat Adat Long Isun secara resmi menolak proyek karbon hutan yang didanai Bank Dunia, dengan alasan adanya sengketa batas wilayah yang tidak pernah terselesaikan selama puluhan tahun, perlindungan yang tidak memadai, serta praktik diskriminatif terhadap masyarakat adat yang terus berulang.

This is not anti-climate action, it’s pro-justice. The world must see that climate finance cannot come at the expense of Indigenous rights, cultural survival, and real consent.

Tolak Proyek Karbon, Masyarakat Long Isun Surati Bank Dunia Masyarakat adat Long Isun di Kaltim menyurati Bank Dunia untuk menolak proyek karbon karena dinilai merugikan.

The Long Isun Indigenous community has formally rejected a World Bank-backed forest carbon project, citing decades of land disputes, inadequate protections, and systemic exclusion.
mongabay.co.id/2025/12/04/t...

A Global Report reveals that Development Banks’ Accountability Systems are failing communities. By Witness Radio team. For decades, development projects have been funded to address some of the World’s most pressing problems, including poverty, wildlife conservation, and climate change. However, ...

A Global Report reveals that Development Banks’ Accountability Systems are failing communities...
@stopcorpabuse.bsky.social @amnestyuk.bsky.social @accountcounsel.bsky.social
Read more: witnessradio.org/a-global-rep...

Response by Advisers of Project Affected Peoples to the DRS Follow-Up Report on the Uganda KIIDP-2 Case | Accountability Counsel

Last week, we issued a joint statement with #WitnessRadio on a recent report concerning the #KIIDP-2 project in Uganda. It overlooks key concerns from affected communities, like intimidation and suppressed participation.

📄 Read the full statement: bit.ly/4pKpzEB

Close the remedy gap ⚠️

Independent Accountability Mechanisms are often the only route communities have to seek remedy when they have suffered harm from MDB projects. Yet their chances of getting justice are very low.

A new report by @accountcounsel.bsky.social reveals more 🧵

Human rights and environmental defenders show extraordinary persistence as they address the most critical crises of our time, but often face retaliation and delay instead of redress. Read more about this justice gap, & pathways for reform, in our comprehensive new research: bit.ly/Accountabili...

Investor-level accountability mechanisms can facilitate remedy—from compensation, to improved labor practices, community health programs, and environmental protection—but such successes are the exception rather than the norm. Read about this justice gap in our new report: bit.ly/Accountabili...

Indonesia: East Kalimantan Project for Emission Reductions Results | Accountability Counsel

A community’s lands are still included in a #WorldBank carbon project, even AFTER they opted out.

#FPIC only counts if denied consent is respected. Their complaint challenges a system that rewards commercial exploitation over Indigenous stewardship.

Read: accountabilitycounsel.org/client-case/...

“Our forest is our life. If it’s taken, we lose everything.”

For the Long Isun community, conservation should mean respect, not exclusion. They’re calling on the #WorldBank to fix a broken system that profits from their forests w/o consent.

Their story: accountabilitycounsel.org/client-case/...

Long Isun Community Pushes for Mediation in Formal Complaint Against World Bank Carbon Project in Indonesia / Masyarakat Long Isun Mendorong untuk Diadakannya Mediasi dalam Komplain Resmi terhadap Pro...

The Indigenous Long Isun community in #Borneo is breaking barriers. 🌿

After years of exclusion and harm under a #WorldBank funded carbon project, they filed a formal complaint this week demanding justice, recognition + respect for their forest stewardship.

Read more: bit.ly/LongIsunCamp...

Lesotho: Lesotho Highlands Water Project | Accountability Counsel

UPDATE: A Lesotho community's complaint to the @afdbgroup.bsky.social #IndependentRecourseMechanism has been REGISTERED!

This means the IRM has now informed Bank Management, the Board + the President of the community's concerns. Management must respond within 21 days. 📆

Read more: bit.ly/4qFsS19

“For an ambitious One World Bank Group, you need a state-of-the-art accountability mechanism to underpin it,” said Margaux Day, executive director at the Accountability Counsel ...
“There’s potential for improvement, but efficiency can’t become a weapon to limit effectiveness,” she added.

Yesterday at the #WBGMeetings AC’s Margaux Day highlighted the risks and opportunities of a potential integration of the World Bank Group accountability mechanisms. Any future plans must place communities at the center & deliver true accountability & remedy @re-course.org @inclusivedevt.bsky.social

EBRD's accountability office is finalizing an investigation into past loans to MHP. If @ebrd.bsky.social cares about sustainable investment + support for #Ukraine, why not postpone approval a few months to incorporate findings in new loan decisions?

W/ @ecodiya.bsky.social @ceebankwatch.bsky.social

EBRD claims lending to MHP supports Ukraine in time of war.

But does reinvesting again and again in one agri giant really support sustainable food systems, or is the war being used to justify the same old corporate #DealMaking at the expense of local ppl and environment?

We are shocked to learn @ebrd.bsky.social has financed factory farming corporation MHP yet again, while villagers who raised complaints to #IPAM and #CAO about MHP's pollution and damage to homes are still waiting for remedy!

Read the letter: accountabilitycounsel.org/wp-content/u...

Communities do not oppose this project. They are opposed to suffering harm when the project goes against their rights. We join them in calling on the African Development Bank @afdbgroup.bsky.social and other funders to uphold their own social and environmental safeguards.

Lesotho villagers complain of damage from water project backed by African Development Bank About 1,600 people file complaint to AfDB demanding transparency over forced relocations and compensation

Respect for local communities’ rights is not a courtesy, it’s a requirement. So why has the Lesotho Highlands Water Project failed to answer communities’ concerns? Villagers have been displaced, their homes damaged, and water sources polluted, without adequate remedy. Read more: bit.ly/46IUg6c

This is a critical opportunity for investors, developers, and institutions to show that development and climate adaptation do not have to come at the cost of human rights.

Communities in Lesotho File Complaint to the African Development Bank Raising the Alarm Over an Unjust Climate Adaptation Project | Accountability Counsel

Celebrating community power in Lesotho! Hundreds speak out to defend their rights after years of harm from Africa's largest cross-border water transfer project, financed by the African Development Bank
@afdbgroup.bsky.social

www.accountabilitycounsel.org/2025/09/comm...