May 23, 2023 by CHRD

Joint statement: AfDB should open spaces for civil society and communities, during the Annual Meetings and beyond.

Over 45 African and international organizations call on the AfDB to open spaces for civil society and communities during the Annual Meetings and beyond.

Feb 20, 2023 by CHRD

Open Letter From Civil Society Organizations to IDB President Ilan Goldfajn

More than twenty organizations from Latin America and the United States addressed a letter to the president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Ilan Goldfajn. They ask that the Bank strengthens its work by ensuring respect for human rights and the protection of the environment and by cre

Sep 09, 2022 by CHRD

The power of collective struggles – newsletter september 2022

Welcome to the first edition of the Coalition's quarterly newsletter!

Jun 08, 2022 by CHRD

CSOs response to the World Bank consultation on the proposal for a Financial Intermediary Fund for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response

Thirty-three organisations from around the world have signed a statement arguing that the World Bank has not learnt crucial lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic and broader health financing evidence. Download the statement here In May, the World Bank (WB), in collaboration with the World Health O

Jan 31, 2022 by CHRD

COVID-19: You can’t have a recovery using the same bad medicine

We are beginning 2022 with the world reeling under rising Omicron cases. It has been two years since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. And we still have pressing questions around how we shepherd ourselves out of the pande

Jan 30, 2022 by CHRD

Missing receipts: what happened to the billions of dollars provided by international finance institutions for the COVID-19 response?

PRESS RELEASE 31 January, 2022 – International Financial Institutions (IFIs) have designated billions of dollars to respond to the pandemic and related social and economic crises. Yet, there is a concerning lack of transparency on how these funds were spent and serious doubts on whether t

Jan 25, 2022 by CHRD

#Dev4Africa: a new campaign to demand AfDB more transparency and respect human rights

#Dev4Africa is a campaign launched by grassroots groups, Indigenous Peoples, civil society organizations, communities, workers, women, and other right-holders and allies who share the common belief that fair and sustainable development in Africa is possible. The campaign supporters want t

Nov 22, 2021 by CHRD

Nov 22, 2021 by members

More than 70 CSOs raise their concerns about the review process of AfDB’s Integrated Safeguard System

On November 19, more than 70 civil society organizations from across the African continent and international supporters addressed a letter to the African Development Bank (AfDB), to raise their concerns about the review process of its Integrated Safeguard System (ISS).

Nov 09, 2021 by members

Recommendations to strengthen IDB Group’s engagement with Civil Society and Project Affected Communities

On November 8, 2021, 30 civil society organizations - including many Coalition members - addressed a letter to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), expressing their concerns in regard to the process to review the second IDB Group-Civil Society Action Plan (2022-2024).

Oct 18, 2021 by members

Development banks have no business financing agribusiness

On October 18, ahead of the second edition of the Finance in Common (FIC) summit, over 280 civil society organizations and grassroots groups – including many members and allies of the Coalition for Human Rights in Development – have signed a letter calling on public development banks

Nov 30, 2020 by CHRD

Global Summit of Development Banks Fails to Learn from Destructive Past

In November, 450 public development banks from around the world met for the Finance in Common Summit at the Paris Peace Forum. They gathered to discuss how they can direct their combined investments of over USD 2 trillion – 10% of total investments in the world – “to support the transformation or the

Nov 18, 2020 by CHRD

Coalition members and partners submit new recommendations for the AIIB ESF Review

On November 9, the Coalition for Human Right in Development members and partners (Accountability Counsel; Arabwatch Coalition; Buliisa Initiative for Rural Development Organization; Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; Center for Financial Accountability; Earthrights Internation

Jun 26, 2020 by CHRD

The Pandemic’s Hidden Casualty: Human Rights

The lush forests of the Sierra Madre mountain range, on the Philippine island of Luzon, have been home to the Dumagat-Remontados indigenous peoples for centuries. But their ancestral lands are now under threat. In this area, the Philippine government is planning to build the Kaliwa Dam, despite

Mar 20, 2020 by CHRD

Coalition Members and Partners Engage AIIB ESF Review

The Coalition for Human Right in Development members and partners submitted a position paper to the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) Review team in line with the on-going review.  The AIIB requested submissions from civil society organi

Jan 29, 2020 by members

New Report: Frontline Defenders Global Analysis 2019

Coalition member Frontline Defenders released its Global Analysis 2019,  a report reviewing the state of the world for human rights defenders in 2019.  The report details the physical assaults, defamation campaigns, digital security threats, judicial harassment, and gendered attacks faced

Jun 04, 2019 by CHRD

PRESS RELEASE: New Report Reveals Uncalculated Risks to Defenders in Development

From Colombia to Kenya, 25 cases of threats and attacks against human rights defenders reveal how development financiers can fuel abuses or help fight them JUNE 4, 2019 – A new report from the Coalition for Human Rights in Development and the Defenders in Development Campaign reveals the ala

Jun 04, 2019 by CHRD

“Uncalculated Risks” exposes threats and attacks against defenders in development

Together with the Defenders in Development Campaign, we launched today the new report “Uncalculated Risks: Threats and attacks against human rights defenders and the role of development financiers.” With 25 case studies from around the world, the report exposes the risks of megap

Sep 06, 2018 by CHRD

Join the Defenders in Development Campaign!

Around the world, as megaprojects and investments are imposed on communities without their consent or consultation, those working to protect their lands and resources, fight corruption, and defend human rights are under increasing attack.   For this reason, the Coalition for Human Rights in

Sep 02,2018

UN Report on Criminalization of IPs

UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli Corpuz  just released a hard-hitting report on “the drastic increase in attacks and acts of violence against, criminalization of and threats aimed at indigenous peoples, particularly those arising in the context of large-scale projects involving extrac

May 22, 2018 by CHRD

Press Release: CSOs Urge AfDB to Promote the Interests of Ordinary Africans over Mega Investors at its Annual Meetings

As the African Development Bank (AfDB) meets in Busan, South Korea from May 21-25 to discuss Industrialising Africa, Civil society Organisations (CSOs) from across the continent red flagged the Bank’s steer towards mega investments without a clear action plan for human centred inclusive development.

Jan 22, 2018 by members

Indigenous Sengwer herder killed in connection with EU-funded project

On January 16, two Sengwer herders were shot by Kenya Forest Service guards implementing an EU-funded development project – the Water Towers Protection and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (WaTER) Project. What UN experts have called “repeated attacks and forced evictions by ag

Dec 11, 2017 by CHRD

A Dangerous Enterprise: Development Finance and the Fight for Human Rights

[This article was originally published online in July in Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales’ 2017 Environmental Report. It is being reposted here in honor of Human Rights Day]   Across Latin America and the world, governments and investors are pushing for a dramatic increase in

Jul 10,2017

FMO and Finnfund officially withdraw from Agua Zarca project

Two of the primary backers of the Agua Zarca hydropower dam project in Honduras have officially announced their exit from the project following years of campaigning by local indigenous groups and criticism from international civil society organizations. In a press release issued on July 6, the D

Feb 14, 2017 by CHRD

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)

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 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

Nov 16, 2016 by CHRD

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

Jun 23,2016

World Bank Allows Tanzania To Sidestep Rule Protecting Indigenous Groups

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists recently reported that the World Bank has chosen to waive their policy protections for indigenous peoples in a Tanzania investment project, despite serious impacts on indigenous peoples in the project area. The Southern Agricultura

Jun 01,2016

Honduran Social Movements Urge World Bank to Stop Fueling Human Rights Violations

Honduran social movements and indigenous peoples organizations this week called on the World Bank to in light of persistent attacks on human rights defenders, suspend financing in Honduras “until there are minimally just and realistic conditions for indigenous and small farming

May 22,2016

UN Indigenous Peoples Experts Challenge World Bank

May 20, 2016 – The UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other top UN indigenous peoples experts sent a letter Friday to World Bank President Jim Kim and the Bank’s executive directors, challenging a proposal that would weaken protections for indigenou

May 11, 2016 by members

Securing Forest Peoples Rights in DRC

Coalition member Forest Peoples Programme has released a report on the impacts of deforestation and forest degradation on indigenous and local communities in the DRC, highlighting the human rights violations and socio-environmental impacts often caused by these activities. The report also c

May 04, 2016 by members

Indigenous Peoples in Crosshairs of Development

Peter Bosshard, interim ED of Coalition member International Rivers, explains how indigenous communities are particularly at risk of landgrabbing and face increasing repression, even death when standing up for their rights. Read the article here.

Apr 12, 2016 by members

Civil society groups express great concern over BRICS Bank

As government ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gather in Washington, DC for the third board of governors meeting of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) April 13 and 14, civil society groups in BRICS countries appealed to their governments and NDB management to operate

Apr 04,2016

Central American Bank pulls out of Honduran dam

In a victory for indigenous and human rights activists, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) announced Friday the suspension of its financing of the Agua Zarca Dam. The Honduras dam project has been a focal point for international attention following the killing of h

Mar 09, 2016 by CHRD

Tell Deadly Dam Builders that Enough is Enough!

Follow this action alert to tell FMO, Finnfund, CABEI, Voith and Siemens to immediately pull out of the Agua Zarca Dam and to not get involved in any other projects on the land of the indigenous Lenca people. intlrv.rs/StopAguaZarca.

Mar 05, 2016 by CHRD

Statement on Assassination of Indigenous Defender Berta Cáceres

The Coalition for Human Rights in Development expresses our deep sadness and outrage at the assassination this week of indigenous leader and environmental activist Berta Cáceres. Berta was the coordinator and co-founder of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras, COPINH. She fought to d

Feb 15,2016

Civil Society calls for human rights protections in World Bank activities

The World Bank consultation on proposed new social and environmental new safeguards will end one month from today. The Bretton Woods Observer reports how civil society organizations around the world have been calling on the Bank to adopt a strong framework for the protection of human rights.

Jan 29, 2016 by members

AIIB shows significant gaps in Human Rights, says Amnesty International

Amnesty International argues that the recently launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), led by China, should draw on the experience of other development banks and implement strong human rights standards. The group raises concerns that the Bank’s development of an Envir

Dec 17, 2015 by members

Nigerian Groups Demand Human Rights at World Bank

December 17, 2015 – Nigerian civil society organizations met in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria as the World Bank consults with the Nigerian government regarding a large-scale revision of the Bank’s social and environmental safeguard policies. The groups called on the Bank to adopt strong req

Dec 08, 2015 by members

Latin American Civil Society Presses Governments on Human Rights at World Bank

Over 180 civil society organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean call on their governments to prevent a weakening of human rights and development standards at the World Bank. The World Bank is presently holding consultations with its member State governments on a proposed revision of it

Jun 05, 2015 by CHRD

Civil society groups to World Bank: Ensure meaningful consultation on new policies

Civil society groups around the globe call on the World Bank to hold robust in-country consultations on its proposed new safeguard policies. Read the letter here.

Mar 02,2015

UN Forum on Indigenous Issues Raises Concerns on Draft World Bank Safeguards

In a letter addressed to World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues notes that “important aspects of the Environmental and Social Policy in general and the associated Environmental and Social Standard on indigenous peoples in particula

Jan 31,2015

An Open Letter from Anuak Ethiopian Refugees to the World Bank President

Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank January 30, 2015 Dear Mr. President, We are the Requesters, Anuak refugees and asylum seekers based in Kenya (Dadaab, Kakuma and Nairobi) and South Sudan (Gorom), who submitted a complaint to the World Bank Inspection Panel in September 2012. We have written