New research from p4ges project and the UK ecosystem services for poverty alleviation programme: Livelihood projects designed to compensate for the local costs of conservation may not be reaching the right people A team of researchers from the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar and Bangor University in the UK have found that REDD+ social safeguards do not …
The World Bank Group is currently rolling out their new Country Engagement Approach, moving towards engagement based on rigorous analysis and the inclusion of citizens as active stakeholders. As input to this process, civil society groups who work to monitor and engage with the World Bank recently presented recommendations to the Bank as it refines …
On January 21 and 22, BIC hosted a child rights expert meeting to discuss how to operationalize the World Bank’s proposed new requirement to assess risks to children in its investment loans. The Bank’s latest draft of the updated safeguards, now known as the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), was released in the summer of …
Report finds development banks fail people harmed by their projects: Civil society calls on banks to strengthen their complaint mechanisms to provide remedy A new report launched today by several BIC partners documents the hurdles communities and workers face in obtaining remedy from development banks whose projects cause them harm. Glass Half Full? The State …
On December 28 2015, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim announced the cancellation of funding to the deeply troubled Uganda Transport Sector Development Project (TSDP), a project BIC’s child rights program has long been raising concerns about. The project cancellation was due to concerns over labor issues, social and environmental concerns, poor project performance, …
[Valerie Plesch/Al Jazeera] BIC’s Nezir Sinani was quoted in an Al Jazeera article on Kosovo’s coal country by Valerie Plesch. The article finds that “residents living in the polluting shadows of two power plants may soon contend with a third.” Find the full article here.
Access Bangladesh Foundation which advocates and promotes equality for disabled, underprivileged and extremely poor people in all spheres of life, through education, health care, appropriate training, employment, communication, and barrier free environment released a video on the World Bank funded Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP) in Bangladesh. The video, a summary of the in-depth …
The World Bank Group is the largest source of multilateral finance for forests, and a standard setter for international finance broadly. However, the Bank invests significantly more each year in sectors demonstrated to be primary drivers of deforestation such as agriculture, energy and mining, and transportation; than what it invests in forests. The Bank Information …
Sixteen faith groups have sent a letter to World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, calling on the Bank to adopt a Zero Deforestation Policy: The Paris climate agreement is meant not only to begin a transformation of the world’s energy systems, but also to save the world’s forests. Dozens of countries put forests at the center …
During the 4th Annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva from November 16-19, 2015, BIC’s Maggie Federici participated in a panel entitled Development Finance Institutions: Human Rights Obligations and the Right to Remedy. Development finance institutions (DFIs) have a mandate to alleviate poverty and promote sustainable development. But, in many cases, projects funded by …