A new report launched today documents the hurdles communities and workers face in obtaining remedy from development banks whose projects cause them harm.  The 11 civil society organizations that authored the report…call on development…to strengthen their systems for providing remedy to those harmed by the activities financed by the banks…[M]any development banks have established independent accountability mechanisms…[T]hey can offer to convene the complainants and the borrower…to resolve the conflict, conduct an investigation to determine if the bank’s…policies have been violated…[T]he report finds…that even though complainants are undoubtedly better off than they would be in the absence of any complaint procedure, the outcome rarely provides adequate remedy…The banks impede the accessibility and effectiveness of the complaint mechanisms from the very beginning by failing to require their borrowers to tell project-affected people about their existence.  Even more critically, the banks have limited the mandates of the mechanisms so that they cannot issue binding decisions…The report includes a number of best practice recommendations that should be adopted at all development banks…A new accountability system must be established as a matter of urgency, with complaint mechanisms empowered to make binding decisions on banks and their borrowers, and an end to immunity for development banks…