"Complaint Against UNDP’s SDG Project Found Eligible for Review", 24 May 2024

The internal compliance unit of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has found a complaint filed by LICADHO eligible for an environmental and social compliance review…

The complaint, …, alleges that UNDP failed to conduct due diligence and adhere to its environmental and social policies during the creation of the “SDG Investor Map for Cambodia”. The complaint details how UNDP selected private-sector actors and categorized them as “partners” for the project, lending reputational support to companies with documented involvement in coerced land sales, forced evictions, deforestation of protection areas and Indigenous lands, child labour, trafficking in persons, and other harms.

LICADHO argued that through UNDP’s selection of “partners” on the SDG Investor Platform, the agency failed to comply with standards meant to safeguard “Community Health, Safety and Security”; “Displacement and Resettlement”; and “Indigenous Peoples”…

The Social and Environmental Compliance Unit (SECU) found the complaint eligible …, publishing its decision in both here English and Khmer. It found that the complaint relates to a UNDP-supported project or program; that it raised actual or potential issues related to compliance with UNDP policies; and that as a result of noncompliance, complainants may be or have been harmed. The SECU said it will move forward with an investigation of the allegations made in the complaint.

“The acceptance of this complaint is an important step toward ensuring that UNDP’s activities in Cambodia follow the agency’s own policies. Private-sector investment cannot come at the cost of human rights,” said Naly Pilorge, Outreach Director of LICADHO…