A decade of human rights abuses
Activities funded by development banks have been linked to scores of human rights violations.
Around the world, activists who oppose projects built without the consent of the local communities are being threatened, attacked and killed. The ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples are being pillaged. Rural communities are being forcibly evicted and they are losing their livelihoods. Yet, despite growing evidence, development banks keep turning a eye blind to these abuses.
In the list below, we have collected over 100 reports on human rights abuses connected to development finance, published in the last decade by Coalition members and allies around the world. If you wish to add further resources to this list, please write us at contact@rightsindevelopment.org
The interplay between the economic policies and safeguards of international financial institutions and good governance at the local level
Author: UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic
and equitable international order
Location: Global
Safeguarding Human Rights Defenders
Practical Guidance for Investors
Author: BHRRC
Location: Global
Undermining Mongolia
Corporate hold over development trajectory
Author: SOMO, OT Watch
Location: Mongolia
Digging Deeper
Can the IFC’s Green Equity Strategy Help End Indonesia’s Dirty Coal Mines?
Author: Inclusive Development International, Bank Information Center Europe, and Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM)
Location: Indonesia
Women Stand Their Ground Against BIG Coal
AfDB’s Sendou Plant Impacts On Women In A Time Of Climate Crisis
Author: Lumiére Synergie pour le Développement (LSD) in Senegal, WoMin African Alliance and Gender Action.
Location: Senegal
Review of the Design Changes Made for the Xayaburi Hydropower Project
Author: International Rivers
Location: Laos
Global Dialogue on Human Rights and Biodiversity Conservation
Author: Forest Peoples
Location: Global
Leadership by Local Communities in Nepal Paves the Path for Development that Respects Rights
Author: IAP
Location: Nepal
Broken Promises
The World Bank, International Investors and the Fight for Climate Justice in the Philippines
Author: IDI
Location: The Philippines
Reckless Development
The IFC’s Dodgy Deals in Southeast - Outsourcing Development: Lifting the Veil on the World Bank Group’s Lending Through Financial Intermediaries
Author: Inclusive Development International
Location: Global
Accaparement de terres et droits humains
Le rôle des acteurs européens à l’étranger
Author: FIAN
Location: Global
Perspectives
Putting People Back Into Infrastructure
Author: Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Location: Global
Bankrolling India’s Dirty
Outsourcing Development: Lifting the Veil on the World Bank Group’s Lending Through Financial Intermediaries
Author: Inclusive Development International, Bank Information Center, 11.11.11, Urgewald and Accountability Coun- sel in December 2016
Location: India
Sengwer Women's Experiences of Evictions and their involvement in the struggle for Sengwer land rights
Author: Forest Peoples
Location: Kenya
Land grabbing and human rights
The involvement of European corporate and financial entities in land grabbing outside the European Union
Author: International Institute for Social Studies (ISS), FIAN International and FIAN Germany
Location: Global
Asia-Pacific Roundtable Community
Led Research for Development We Want
Author: IAP, Chiang Mai University
Location: Global
Conga No Va
An Assessment of the Conga Mining Project in light of World Bank Standards
Author: Plataforma Interinstitucional Celendina; Rondas Unificadas de la Provincia de Celendín; Frente de Defensa de la Cuenca del Río Jadibamba; Frente de Defensa de los Distritos de Huasmín; Frente de Defensa del Centro Poblado de Jeréz; Frente de Defensa del Distrito de Sorochuco; and the Frente de Defensa de los Intereses de la Provincia de Hualgayoc - Bambamarca. With the research and technical support of the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic.
Location: Peru
A Dirty Investment
European Development Banks’ Link to Abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Palm Oil Industry
Author: Human Rights Watch
Location: DRC
"There Are No Investigations Here"
Impunity for Killings and Other Abuses in Bajo Aguán, Honduras
Author: Human Rights Watch
Location: Honduras
Hidden in Plain Sight
Environmental and Human Rights Violations in the Turkmen Section of the Caspian Sea
Author: Crude Accountability
Location: Caspian Sea
Land and Environmental Rights Defenders in Danger
an Overview of Recent Cases
Author: CIEL
Location: Global
Sufficient Recourse?
Controversial Oil and Gas Projects in the Former Soviet Union and Recommendations to Improve the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman Function of the World Bank Group
Author: Crude Accountability
Location: Global
Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project
The Real Cost of a Controversial Dam
Author: International Rivers
Location: Laos
Comply or Close 2020
How Western Balkan coal plants breach air pollution laws and what governments must do about it
Authors: Bank Watch
Location: Western Balkan
Will the Country Forest Note's strong analysis lead Vietnam to achieve the intended results?
Authors: BiC
Location: Vietnam
Enemies of the State?
How governments and business silence land and environmental defenders
Author: Global Witness
Location: Global
Guardianes del Mar
Cómo Pescadorxs Chilenxs Nos Intentan Proteger del Sacrifício Ambiental y Social
Authors: IAP
Location: Chile
Watered Down
Do big hydropower companies adhere to social and environmental policies and best practices?
Authors: International Rivers
Location: Global
Reckless Endangerment
Assessing Responsibility for the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy Dam Collapse
Author: International Rivers
Location: Laos
Unjust Enrichment
How the IFC Profits from Land Grabbing in Africa -Outsourcing Development: Lifting the Veil on the World Bank Group’s Lending Through Financial Intermediaries
Author: Inclusive Development International, Accountability Counsel, Bank Information Center, The Oakland Institute and Urgewald
Location: Africa
Agro-colonialism in the Congo
European and US development finance bankrolls a new round of agro-colonialism in the DRC
Author: RIAO-RDC & GRAIN
Location: DRC
Involuntary Resettlement for the Extension of a Gold Mine in Kintinian
Fact-Finding Mission Report
Author: CECIDE, MDT, Communities First, ACA
Location: Guinea
Aide publique de la Belgique pour l’agriculture (et la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle) : bilan
Author: Coalition contre la faim
Location: Belgium
Towards a protocol on fair compensation in cases of legitimate land tenure changes
Author: True Price, University of Groningen
Location: Haiti
Mining, the Aluminium Industry and Indigenous Peoples
Enhancing Corporate Respect for Indigenous Peoples' Rights
Author: Forest Peoples
Location: Global
"At Your Own Risk"
Reprisals against Critics of World Bank Group Projects
Author: Human Rights Watch
Location: India, Global
An Overview of the World Bank in Yemen and Civil Society's Role
Author: BiC
Location: Yemen
De wedloop om land
Belgische medeplichtigheid in de nieuwe wereldwijde Far West?
Author: CNCD-11.11.11, 11.11.11, AEFJN, Entraide et Fraternité, FIAN Belgium, Oxfam-Solidariteit, SOS Faim
Location: Global
The Republic of Chevron
20 Years of Pollution, Labor Disputes and Harm to Local Communities in Kazakhstan
Author: Crude Accountability
Location: Kazakhstan
“What Will Happen if Hunger Comes?”
Abuses against the Indigenous Peoples of Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley
Author: Human Rights Watch
Location: Ethiopia
Land and Power
The growing scandal surrounding the new wave of investments in land
Author: Oxfam
Location: Global
How does stakeholder engagement improve forest projects?
Author: Bank Information Centre
Location: Global
Unmet gender promises
Making IFI policies and projects deliver on gender equal rights
Author: Gender Action, NGO Forum on Adb, Recourse, Oxfam International
Location: Global
As the World Bank responds to COVID-19, how can we protect children?
Author: BiC
Location: Global
Rural community engagement
Identifying positive practices to empower communities affected by environmental degradation to develop sustainable livelihood opportunities and protect themselves from harmful developments
Author: Bank Watch
Location: Global
Rubber Barons
How Vietnamese companies and International Financiers are driving a land grabbing crisis in Cambodia and Laos
Author: Global Witness
Location: Laos, Cambodia
Information delayed is information denied
Fisherfolk Communities in Northern Sri Lanka Independently Investigate Impacts of Proposed Harbor Project
Author: IAP
Location: Sri Lanka
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
A Multilateral Bank Where China Sets the Rules
Author: Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Location: Global
Uncalculated Risks
Threats and Attacks Against Human Rights Defenders and the Role of Development Financiers
Authors: CHRD, CIEL
Location: Global
LE MYTHE DE L’HUILE DE PALME 100% DURABLE
Les limites des initiatives volontaires: le cas de la RSPO et de l’Alliance belge pour une huile de palme durable
Authors: FIAN Belgium, AEFJN, 11.11.11, CNCD-11.11.11, Oxfam, Justice & Paix, BNNR-BRBN
Location: Global
“What Do We Get Out of It?”
The Human Rights Impact of Bauxite Mining in Guinea
Authors: HRW
Location: Guinea
MONITORING REPORT
On the operations of Addax/Sunbird Bioenergy Mabilafu Project, Sierra Leone
Authors: SiLNoRF, Bfa
Location: Sierra Leone
The rights of Baka communities in the REDD+ Ngoyla-Mintom project in Cameroon
Authors: Forest Peoples
Location: Cameroon
La coopération belge en matière d' africulture et de sécurité alimentaire
Bilan et perspectives. Vers une approche basée sur les droits humains?
Authors: FIAN Belgium
Location: Belgium
Going Abroad
A critique of the European Investment Bank’s External Lending Mandate
Authors: CEE Bankwatch Network - Counter Balance
Location: Global
Driven Out for Development
Forced Evictions in Mombasa
Authors: Amnesty International
Location: Kenya
Going Abroad
A critique of the European Investment Bank’s External Lending Mandate
Authors: CEE Bankwatch Network - Counter Balance
Location: Global
Agribusiness-Expansion, Land Grabbing und die Rolle europäischer privater und öffentlicher Gelder in Sambia
Eine Bewertung basierend auf dem Recht auf Nahrung
Authors: FIAN Deutschland
Location: Zambia
The Great Enablers
How Investments by International Financial Institutions Threaten the Fragile Caspian Sea Ecosystem
Authors: Crude Accountability
Location: Caspian Sea
The New Forests Company and its Uganda plantations
Oxfam Case Study
Authors: Oxfam
Location: Uganda
The Impact of the World Bank funded Kamwenge
Kabarole Road Construction Project on Children
Authors: BiC
Location: Uganda
The EBRD and EIB’s Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure Investments in the Western Balkans and Eastern Neighbourhood
Author: Bank Watch
Location: Global
The Relocation of Hamdallaye Village in the Midst of Covid-19
How CBG is Failing to Meet the IFC Performance Standards
Authors: Inclusive Development International
Location: Guinea
Time to Raise the Bar
Reflecting on Four Years of AIIB Projects
Authors: Inclusive Development International
Location: Global
Defending the Philippines
How broken promises are leaving land and environmental defenders at the mercy of business at all costs
Authors: Global Witness
Location: The Philippines
Doing more harm than good
Why CDC must reform for people and planet
Authors: Global Justice Now
Location: Global
Earlier access to information will make development better
Here’s why
Authors: IAP
Location: Global
Environmental and Social Impacts of World Bank Funded Projects in Jordan
Authors: BiC
Location: Jordan
World Bank Group Forest-Sector Impacts
Impacts: Has the Forest Action Plan Made a Difference at the Country Level?
Authors: BiC
Location: Global
Development in the Caucasus and Central Asia
Open for Business, Closed to Civil Society
Authors: IAP
Location: Caucasus, Central Asia
The Other Infrastructure Gap
Sustainability
Authors: Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Location: Global
The Kashagan Oil Bubble
The case of an offshore field development in Kazakhstan
Authors: Crude Accountability
Location: Kazakhstan
“We Can’t Refuse to Pick Cotton”
Forced and Child Labor Linked to World Bank Group Investments in Uzbekistan
Authors: HRW
Location: Uzbekistan
The Weakest Should not Bear the Risk
Holding the Development Finance Institutions responsible when private sector projects fail. The case of Addax Bioethanol in Sierra Leone.
Author: Brot für die Welt/Germany and Bread for All/Switzerland
Location: Sierra Leone
Financing Forced Labor
The Legal and Policy Implications of World Bank Loans to the Government of Uzbekistan
Author: International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF)
Location: Uzbekistan
Still Banking on Land Grabs
Australia’s big four banks and Land Grabs
Author: OXFAM Australia
Location: Australia
The suffering of others
The human cost of the International Finance Corporation’s lending through financial intermediaries.
Author: Oxfam International
Location: Global
Human Rights Risk Assessment
World Bank Thaton Power Plant, Mon State, Myanmar
Author: NomoGaia
Location: Myanmar
Bittersweet Harvest
A Human Rights Impact Assessment of the EU's Everything But Arms Initiative in Cambodia
Author: IDI
Location: Cambodia
Cut and Run Update on the impacts of Buchanan Renewables’ operations and Vattenfall’s divestment
Author: Swedwatch, SOMO, Green Advocates
Location: Global
Indigenous Peoples and the Green Climate Fund
A technical briefing for Indigenous Peoples, policymakers and support groups
Author: Forest Peoples
Location: Global
Risky Business
Intermediary Lending and Development Finance
Author: OXFAM
Location: Global
A Roadmap for Integrating Human Rights Into the World Bank Group
Author: World Resources Institute
Location: Global
The CGPL Power Plant 'Tata Mundra'
An Explorative Study of the Impact on Children
Author: BiC
Location: India
Gone with the flow, a case study of biodiversity loss caused by Ilovac Hydropower plant
Author: Bank Watch
Location: Croatia
In Practice: Information Disclosure at DFC International Accountability Project
Author: IAP
Location: Global
Realizing the Right to an Effective Remedy within the IFC/MIGA Accountability Framework
Author: BiC, IDI, Accountability Counsel, CIEL, Arab Watch Coalition
Location: Global
Accaparement made in Belgium
Le financement de Feronia par la coopération belge
Author: CNCD-11.11.11
Location: Global
Land Grabbing for Palm Oil in Sierra Leone
Analysis of the SOCFIN Case from a Human Rights Perspective
Author: FIAN Belgium
Location: Sierra Leone
In Practice
Information Disclosure at the New Development Bank
Author: IAP
Location: Global
Thar Coal Project and Local Community
Documenting Views and Experiences of Stakeholders
Author: Heinrich Böll Stiftung
Location: Pakistan
Human rights impacts of the exit of Swedish investors from Buchanan Renewables Fuel in Liberia
An update
Author: Swedwatch
Location: Liberia
Communities in Kenya Demand Better Engagement on Geothermal Power Plant Project
Author: IAP
Location: Kenya
The World Bank and Colombia's Territorial Development Policy Financing: Whose land is it, anyway?
Author: BiC
Location: Colombia
No Business, No Rights
Human rights impacts when land investments fail to include responsible exit strategies. The case of Addax Bioenergy in Sierra Leone
Author: Swedwatch, ACT Church of Sweden
Location: Sierra Leone
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Author: UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Location: Global
Time to Come Clean
How the World Bank Group and International Investors Can Stop the World's Most Dangerous Coal Plant
Author: Inclusive Development International
Location: Bangladesh
Disaster for us and the planet
How the IFC is quietly funding a coal bomb
Authors: Inclusive Development International, Bank Information Center, 11.11.11, Urgewald and Accountability Counsel
Location: Global
Time to Come Clean
How the World Bank Group and International Investors Can Stop the World's Most Dangerous Coal Plant
Author: Inclusive Development International
Location: Bangladesh
Glass Half Full
The State of Accountability in Development Finance
Authors: Accountability Counsel; Both ENDS; CIEL; Bankwatch; Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University School of Law; SOMO; Counter Balance; FUNDEPS; Inclusive Development International; Natural Justice; Program on International & Comparative Environmental Law, American University Washington College of Law.
Location: Global
A Case Study on Lima's 'Metropolitano'
Five years fighting for accessibility
Authors: BiC
Location: Lima
No Consent to Proceed
Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Violations at the Proposed Baram Dam in Sarawak
Authors: Forest Peoples
Location: Malaysia
Conflict or Consent?
The oil palm sector at a crossroads
Authors: Forest Peoples
Location: Global
Toxic Toil
Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines
Authors: Human Rights Watch
Location: Tanzania
The Need for Child Impact Assessments
Case Study of IDA Funded Uzbekistan Rural Enterprise Support
Authors: BiCHuman Rights Watch
Location: Uzbekistan
Toxic Toil
Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines
Authors: Human Rights Watch
Location: Tanzania
Evictions and Resistance in Cambodia
Five women tell their stories
Authors: Amnesty International
Location: Cambodia
The Impact of Involuntary Resettlement on Children
A Case Study of the International Development Association Funded Bujagali Hydro-Power Dam
Authors: BiC
Location: Uganda