About the campaign
As many reports have documented, worldwide the space for civic space is shrinking: governments and corporate actors are increasingly restricting fundamental freedoms and repressing any form of dissent. In the context of development projects, where often there are high interest at stake, community members and human rights defenders expressing concerns, voicing their opinion, or sharing information are often threatened, criminalized, attacked, and even murdered. Reprisals send a chilling message to the wider community, curtail the opportunities for participation and engagement, and end up jeopardizing the success of the project itself.
In 2018, members and partners of the Coalition for Human Rights in Development launched the Defenders in Development Campaign to ensure that communities and marginalized groups have the information, resources, protection and power to shape, participate in, or oppose development activities, and to hold development financiers, governments and companies accountable. To achieve these objectives, the campaign engages in collective advocacy, capacity-building activities, research and campaigning.
Who we are
The Campaign is made up of defenders and those who work with them on issues of development and human rights, such as: community organizations; human rights and environmental groups; defender security organizations; transparency, accountability and press freedom NGOs; and Indigenous Peoples and women’s networks.
Security Working Group
We support human rights defenders at risk through our Security Working Group, comprised of staff of international organizations that can offer different types of assistance (emergency grants, legal support, advocacy, security training, etc).
Are you facing risks because you are voicing concerns or sharing information about a project funded by a development bank?
- check out some useful resources for human rights defenders at risk in the list below, and the protection ecosystem map curated by Open Briefing; and
- get in touch to discuss together advocacy and protection support.
Campaign declaration
We seek a world in which individuals, communities, groups and peoples are able to exercise their fundamental human rights, determining and pursuing their own priorities about their lives, their futures, their lands and natural resources.
Key resources for human rights defenders
In the following pages, you can find other lists of useful resources for human rights defenders:
- the Coalition’s tools and guides directory
- Open Briefing | Protection ecosystem map and Resources directory
- Zero Tolerance Initiative | Resources on Collective Protection
- IFEX | Directory of opportunities and assistance for journalists
Reports
KfW: Irresponsible Banking
“KfW: Irresponsible banking” reveals the stark gap between KfW’s human rights commitments and the reality on the ground, and it shows how KfW is failing to take adequate steps to ensure people can freely and safely participate, express their opinions, or oppose its projects.
Financing Repression
Financing Repression reveals how development banks are financing multi-million projects in highly repressive contexts, where people cannot publicly voice their concerns and civil society groups are unable to operate freely.
Misplaced Trust
Misplaced Trust shows how development banks are putting human rights defenders at serious risk by relying on their clients to address reprisals.
Wearing Blinders
“Wearing Blinders” exposes how development banks are often failing to identify, assess, and mitigate reprisal risks.
Unhealthy Silence
“Unhealthy Silence” shows how development banks that funded pandemic-related projects failed to address the reprisals faced by those expressing concerns and raising questions on the COVID-19 response
Uncalculated Risks
Through 25 case studies, Uncalculated Risks explores the nature of the threats and attacks against human rights defenders in the context of development projects
Stories and updates
Azerbaijan: criminalization of anti-corruption activist Gubad Ibadoghlu
Criminalization of climate leaders in Vietnam
Reprisals against labour rights defenders in Uzbekistan
In Egypt, the EU and development banks keep financing the regime despite serious human rights violations
Joint Statement Urging World Bank Action on Cambodian Civil Society Reprisals
How should independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs) act on reprisals?
A Tale of a Defender in Development
Georgia: civil society groups urge financial institutions to express concerns on “foreign influence” bill
Advocacy
2024
- Comments and recommendations on reprisals for EBRD Policy Review (July 2024)
- Joint letter to the World Bank: Stakeholder engagement (ESS10) concerns around the Rogun dam (July 2024)
- Georgia: civil society groups urge financial institutions to express concerns on “foreign influence” bill (May 2024)
- Joint letter to development banks re: Kyrgyzstan “foreign representative” law (March 2024)
- Recommendations on reprisals for the updated ADB safeguards (January 2024)
2023
2022
- Open letter: international groups call for the respect of the right to protest and express solidarity with the Rios Vivos Movement (16 Nov 2022)
- Senegal: 26 people arrested for peacefully discussing how to demand fair compensation in the context of a train project (26 Oct 2022)
- Recommendations to ADB from Communities Facing Reprisals (16 Sept 2022)
- Over 130 CSOs sign joint open letter: stop reprisals against environmental defender Sukhgerel Dugersuren (17 Aug 2022)
2021
2020
2018
- Press Release: Defenders in Development Campaign Welcomes IFC Position Statement on Reprisals (2018)
- “Human rights defenders are a cornerstone of sustainable development” Letter to States and Development Banks (2018)