Civil society organizations to participate in IDB Annual Meeting in Asunción to demand accountability, respect for human rights, and participation of affected communities
Asunción, Paraguay — March 2026. Civil society organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean will participate this week in the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group Annual Meeting in Asunción (March 11–14) to express concerns about the direction of the Bank’s investments and to demand that its operations respect human rights, protect nature, and ensure that communities can decide whether projects are developed in their territories and, if so, participate effectively in decision-making from beginning to end.
The organizations, which are part of the IDB Working Group, will use the Assembly to hold meetings with Bank authorities, governments, and other stakeholders. Among the issues they aim to place on the agenda are growing restrictions on civic space in the region, the risks associated with the commodification of nature, the role of the IDB in the Amazon, the development of regional infrastructure corridors, and the challenges of advancing a truly just energy transition.
Participation agenda
During the week of the Assembly, the organizations will participate in a range of dialogue and coordination activities.
On March 9, a workshop will be held with Paraguayan organizations, in collaboration with local groups such as Henoi, Sunu, Axial, and Climate Reality, to analyze the impacts of IDB-financed projects in the country and strengthen regional civil society coordination.
On March 10, a full-day working session will take place with the Bank on its Civil Society Engagement Strategy and Action Plan. On March 11, Suhayla Bazbaz, Director of Community Cohesion and Social Innovation (Mexico) and a member of the IDB Working Group, will participate in the IDB–Civil Society/Stakeholders Forum in the panel “The Importance of Multilateral Engagement with Civil Society Organizations: Challenges and Perspectives,” focused on the challenges of ensuring informed and meaningful participation of civil society in the Bank’s decision-making.
A meeting with the Bank’s president, Ilan Goldfajn, is also scheduled for that day. These exchanges are part of an ongoing dialogue process that the working group has maintained with the IDB presidency in recent years. Dialogue sessions between the IDB and social organizations will also take place on the following topics: regional logistics corridors, the Amazonia Forever program, the new procurement policy, and restrictions on civic space.
Warnings about the South Connection program
In the context of the Assembly, organizations will also present observations regarding the South Connection Regional Program for South American Connectivity (Conexión Sur), an IDB initiative aimed at promoting regional corridors for transportation, logistics, energy, and digital connectivity across South America.
Organizations recognize the importance of improving regional connectivity. However, they warn that the program’s current design presents social, environmental, and governance risks if substantial changes are not introduced.
According to the organizations, the program prioritizes global competitiveness and integration into international value chains, with a strong emphasis on logistics corridors, ports, and energy transmission, while paying little attention to territorial impacts, local economies, and the needs of communities living in the areas where these infrastructures will be developed.
Without complementary strategies for local productive development, they warn, the new corridors could reinforce economic patterns based on the export of raw materials and extractive activities, without generating meaningful improvements in the quality of life of local populations.
In initiatives such as support for Amazonian logistics corridors and large-scale energy transition projects, the IDB risks repeating past mistakes and promoting false solutions that lead to serious socio-environmental consequences, largely due to the lack of effective spaces for dialogue with civil society organizations that place the needs and rights of local communities at the center of discussions.
Brent Millikan, GT Infraestrutura
IDB project in Paraguay
The Bioceanic Road Corridor, financed by the IDB with a $200 million loan to the Government of Paraguay, seeks to connect the port of Santos in Brazil with ports in northern Chile in order to facilitate international trade and improve access to markets in the country’s western region.
However, organizations and local communities have expressed concerns about the lack of adequate consultation with Indigenous peoples such as the Ayoreo, as well as the project’s potential impacts, which could include displacement, loss of livelihoods, risks of gender-based violence, pressure on Indigenous territories, and damage to biodiversity in one of the most fragile areas of the Paraguayan Chaco.
Participation and transparency
The working group also expresses concern about the limited participation of civil society, Indigenous peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant populations in the design of several of the Bank’s strategic initiatives, including Conexión Sur, the Amazonia Forever program, and the Natural Capital and Biodiversity Mainstreaming Action Plan.
According to the organizations, these processes have offered few opportunities for meaningful dialogue with the actors living in the territories where these initiatives will be implemented. In the case of the Biodiversity Plan, for example, organizations warn that despite references to inclusive approaches in the document, there were no substantive opportunities for engagement with these groups during its preparation.
The organizations emphasize that strengthening early participation, transparency, and accountability is key to improving the quality of the Bank’s policies and preventing socio-environmental conflicts.
In this context, part of the agenda will be dedicated to a dialogue with Bank teams to present an overview of current trends regarding restrictions on civic space. Organizations expect to share recommendations from civil society and learn about the concrete steps the Bank is taking to address these situations.
Just Energy Transition
Civil society organizations will also raise concerns about how the IDB is approaching the energy transition in the region. While they recognize the urgency of advancing toward low-carbon energy systems, they warn that the Bank’s current approach still reproduces “business as usual” dynamics.
Among the main criticisms are the continued support for fossil fuel infrastructure, including the promotion of gas as a transition fuel, as well as the expansion of mining and green hydrogen projects in the region without adequate processes for information, consultation, and impact assessment.
In response, organizations are calling on the IDB to prioritize social and environmental justice, strengthen the application of safeguards, ensure the effective participation of affected communities, and develop an energy plan aligned with the Paris Agreement and human rights.
“Through instruments such as the IDB Initiative on Minerals in Latin America and the Caribbean, through which it presents itself as a key multilateral partner in the region for the extraction of critical minerals, the IDB seeks to position itself as a leading financier of the energy transition. However, this strategy positions Latin America and the Caribbean as a sacrifice zone for ‘critical minerals’ for the global transition, with limited participation of communities and Indigenous peoples in decision-making and in the definition of policies and projects. We urge the IDB to prioritize social and environmental justice, ensuring the effective participation of affected communities and promoting a truly just transition.”
Gonzalo Roza, Fundeps (Argentina)
In a regional context marked by climate crisis, socio-environmental conflicts, and shrinking civic space, organizations emphasize that transparency, public participation, and accountability are fundamental conditions to ensure that investments in infrastructure and energy genuinely contribute to sustainable development and the well-being of communities.
Press Contact
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About the Working Group on IDB
The Working Group on IDB is a coalition of numerous civil society organizations from across the region and internationally, focused on advocacy toward the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Many of these organizations have over 30 years of experience monitoring Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), providing strategic value through their technical and institutional knowledge. The group operates in nearly every country in the region and addresses a wide range of intersecting issues, including human rights, gender, disability, Indigenous peoples, biodiversity, climate change, the Amazon, and watersheds. Its recommendations and actions are grounded in close monitoring of specific projects, working alongside communities affected by IDB-financed initiatives. Several member organizations also support claimants engaging with accountability mechanisms such as the IDB’s Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism
