Feb 27,2017 by Coalition
Demystifying Development Banks – Tools for Environmental and Human Rights Defenders
Human rights and environmental defenders around the world are fighting against infrastructure, energy and agriculture developments that fail to consult communities or respect their rights. One critical tool in this fight is knowing how to leverage the public banks which finance these develop
Feb 14,2017 by Coalition
Organizations call on the World Bank to Protect Indigenous Rights
This week 32 organizations called on the World Bank Board of Directors to urge them to ensure that the Bank takes all measures necessary to remedy harm caused to four Maasai villages displaced to make way for the Olkaria IV geothermal project in Kenya. The Kenya Electricity Expansion Project (KEEP)
Feb 08,2017
US Appeals Court Hears Arguments on World Bank Immunity
The Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Monday in Budha Ismail Jam v. International Finance Corporation, on whether the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) should have “absolute immunity” from lawsuits in the United States. Plai
Feb 02,2017
Global Witness Report Chronicles Dangers for Human Rights Defenders in Honduras
A new report released by Global Witness identifies Honduras as “the deadliest country in the world for environmental activism.” The report calls attention to international financial institution funding for projects that result in human rights violations for local communities a
Jan 24,2017
Frontline Defenders Report Highlights Risk to Human Rights Defenders in 2016
According to a report released this month by Frontline Defenders, more than 1000 human rights defenders were killed, harassed, detained, or subjected to smear campaigns and other violations in 2016. As Frontline Defenders highlights, many of these violations, including notably the murder in H
Jan 24,2017 by members
Concerns Raised Over the Tanahu Hydropower Project’s Impact on Local Communities
Communities affected by the Tanahu Hydropower Project, which includes damming the Seti river in Nepal, recently submitted a 26-point memorandum to Nepal’s Energy Minister, stressing concerns regarding the project’s impacts on their traditional lands and livelihoods and failure to co
Jan 23,2017
Groups call for EBRD to reject an oil and gas project in Turkmenistan
Crude Accountability and civil society groups around the world are calling on the Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to reject financing for an oil and gas project in Turkmenistan. The $30 million loan to Circle Maritime Invest (CMI) for the CMI Offshore proj
Jan 19,2017 by members
River Defender Activist Murdered in Guatemala
Another anti-dam activist has been murdered in Latin America. On Tuesday, January 17, protestors led a peaceful demonstration against a hydroelectric plant in Guatemala. But the event ended in death after paramilitaries shot and killed 72-year-old activist Sebastian Alonso. The march had ori
Jan 18,2017 by members
New Oxfam Report: “An Economy for the 99%”
A new report by Coalition member Oxfam shows that the distribution of global wealth is far more unequal than previously thought. Eight men control the same amount of money as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world’s population. Inequality is on the rise and history shows tha
Dec 08,2016 by Coalition
Time for Development Financiers to #Standup4HumanRights
Global groups call for action to protect human rights in development Ahead of Human Rights Day, December 10th, the Coalition for Human Rights in Development joins with over 50 civil society groups around the world to call on financial institutions, governments and businesses to stand up for human
Dec 02,2016 by members
Groups call on OPIC to strengthen human rights due diligence
This month, 18 human rights and environmental organizations called on the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the United States’ development finance institution, to strengthen its human rights due diligence. OPIC is presently revising its social and environmental polic
Nov 16,2016 by Coalition
Coalition Urges Dutch Development Bank to Strengthen Human Rights Protections
The Coalition for Human Rights in Development this week called on the Dutch Development Bank FMO to strengthen its commitment to human rights and to enact strong due diligence requirements to ensure that human rights are respected within FMO-financed activities. FMO is presently revising its Su
Nov 10,2016
Assam workers demand action from World Bank and Tata
An investigation on Tata’s tea plantations in Assam, India vindicates the claims of Indian NGOs documenting the failure of the World Bank and Tata to uphold the fundamental rights of workers and their families. The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) which holds the World Bank’s pr
Oct 27,2016
UN Special Rapporteur released a new report on the state of environmental HRDs
This week Michel Forst, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, issued a shocking new report on environmental human rights defenders: “They spoke truth to power and were murdered in cold blood”. The report details the growing attacks on individuals and
Aug 23,2016 by members
World Bank covers up human rights abuses in Nepal
In a recent blog titled “World Bank Covers Up Human Rights Abuses in Nepal: Silencing Community Voices“, the Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP) together with Coalition member Accountability Counsel calls out the World Bank for ignori