"Human Rights Defenders Essential for Development", 14 Jul 2016

Development banks should respect human rights in their investments...and ensure their activities are not putting human rights and environmental defenders at risk, said SOMO in a joint petition signed by over 150 development, human rights, and environment groups...Major development banks have long touted the importance of public participation for effective development. But the space for safe and effective participation in development processes has been rapidly skrinking as governments criminalize activities by environmental and human rights activists, adopt restrictions on civil society groups, and allow intimidation and attacks by private businesses or security forces to go unpunished. The petition is directed to international financial institutions (IFIs), including the World Bank, African, Asian, European, and Inter-American Development Bank,... the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and BRICS New Development Bank.The joint petition details ways in which the institutions should “ensure that the activities they finance respect human rights and that there are spaces for people to participate in the development of IFI projects and hold IFIs to account without risking their security.”