Nina Lesikhina

Today the EBRD Annual Meeting kicks off in London!

Our Coalition members @uzbekforum.bsky.social @ceebankwatch.bsky.social @accountcounsel.bsky.social & many others will be there at #EBRDAM to demand:
✊ respect for human rights
🌻 a truly just energy transition
🔎 stronger accountability

#EBRDAM25

Joint statement: Urgent Call on the IFC and the EBRD for Remedy and Accountability at Indorama Agro, Uzbekistan | Uzbek Forum for Human Rights

Today, @ebrd.bsky.social will vote on another new loan to #Indorama while environmental & social safeguards at Indorama Agro #cotton project in #Uzbekistan are outstanding: destroyed livelihoods, unpaid wages & retaliations. We demand accountability, not rewards for non-compliance!
bit.ly/41WbjiX

EU Leaders, A fairer global financial system is possible. Seize this opportunity! #FfD4

Public finance can help achieve the #GlobalGoals, eradicate hunger & poverty, and fight for #GenderEquality & the #climate.
❓@ec.europa.eu, will you support reforms on
✅ Sovereign #debt
✅ #UNTaxConvention
✅ Development cooperation?
#FfD4
ow.ly/n0nx50VJyam

cc. @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu

Happy to share this piece ahead of the #EBRDam to join a conversation on impact measurement and reporting by @ebrd.bsky.social and other MDBs. Civic and citizen engagement must be part of it! #SDG16 #StandUpForHumanRights #Democracy

Can Uzbek Cotton Shake Off Its Forced Labor Problem? Between what labor groups say is the Uzbek government's continued interference and the loss of critical funding to fight human rights violations, what appeared like a new chapter for the Central Asian...

In April, 90 CSOs signed a joint statement calling on @ebrd.bsky.social & @ifcorg.bsky.social which financed #cotton producer Indorama Agro in #Uzbekistan to take urgent & concrete action to remedy severe harms inflicted on workers:
bit.ly/3Ygsn0R
🧵

International Union of Foodworkers: "These workers have struggled for years for the right to form their own independent #TradeUnion, but all attempts were stifled by #IndoramaAgro management, while @ifcorg.bsky.social & @ebrd.bsky.social continuously ignored #HumanRights violations."
bit.ly/42iuAtS

Nearly 90 civil society organizations from around the world, incl. @ceebankwatch.bsky.social, have expressed solidarity with Uzbek farmers and workers affected by dev. investments and joined the urgent call on the @ebrd.bsky.social and IFC to remedy the harm caused. These voices cannot be ignored!

Indorama Agro: Uzbekistan’s infamous cotton producer - Bankwatch Despite being Uzbekistan’s largest cotton producer and receiving millions in development loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and th...

You can learn more about the years of struggle, repeated corporate human rights abuses, and advocacy with development banks regarding Indorama Agro's cotton project in Uzbekistan here: bankwatch.org/project/indo...

As the EU-Central Asia Summit begins in #Uzbekistan today, we urge the #EBRD and its European shareholders to uphold human rights in the country and ensure remedy for harm caused by its investments.

Since 2019, we’ve worked with affected communities to push for stronger #HumanRights safeguards in #EBRD investments. Thanks to Bankwatch colleagues & civil society partners, EBRD’s new E&S policy makes progress, but gaps remain. We’ll keep advocating for real accountability & development impact!

✅ Citizen and civic engagement must be a core metric of public banks’ development impact. Systematic monitoring and public reporting is required! #PublicParticipation #HumanRights

I was pleased to contribute to this report by @forusinternational.bsky.social, sharing @ceebankwatch.bsky.social experience with @ebrd.bsky.social. We urge development banks at #FiCS2025 to enhance CSO & community engagement required to advance #SDGs.

www.forus-international.org/en/pdf-detai...

✅Citizen & civic engagement must be a core metric of sustainable development impact.

A crucial message to MDBs at #FiCS2025 from Reitumetse Nkoti Mabula: Development must be driven by community needs. People have the right to be consulted, to give or withhold consent for projects. The role of civil society is critical⚠️ #PublicParticipation #SDGs #HumanRights

CC: @adb.org, @ebrd.bsky.social , @eib.org, @ifcorg.bsky.social , @nadiacalvino.eib.org
@tomoyukikimura.bsky.social
@markbowman.bsky.social
@odilerenaudbasso.bsky.social

💡 Can finance be truly fair & accountable?

In this podcast, we talk with Accountability Counsel about key policy shifts needed to ensure finance serves people & the planet ahead of FfD4 & the G20.

🎧 Listen here: soundcloud.com/user-9751274...

#FinanceInCommon2025 #FICS2025

Just Transition & Social Invest. talk #FICS2025
✔️Education, employment & social inclusion are critical.
✔️PDBs & MDBs must invest in just transition projects.
✔️Rightsholders should be central & shape the transition.
✔️Strong public institutions, social policies, civil society engag. are required.

Civil society is calling on public development banks to better serve people and the 🌎! At #FinanceinCommon2025, 350+ groups demand meaningful civic engagement and integrated approach to human rights, development finance reform & the just transition.
📝: www.forus-international.org/en/pdf-detai...

Very timely call on PDBs and MDBs at #FICS2025 and G20 meeting in South Africa these days!

Great to discuss community-led dev. at #FICS2025, but making it real requires more: decentralized decision-making, meaningful & systematic engagement with CSOs & communities, integration of local interests & needs, investment in people & social services, Indigenous-led solutions, support for SMEs.

1/2 🚨 New report reveals how development banks fail to counter shrinking civic space. When repressive governments limit communities from participating in development projects, the banks‘ own development goals are obstructed.

Public banks increase investments, but change on the ground isn’t there: we are falling behind on #SDGs, climate action, and protecting human rights. It’s time to question the impact of public investments.

✅Citizen & civic engagement must be a core metric of sustainable development impact.

Key takeaways:
✔️Transparency, independent verification, and public disclosure are essential.
✔️ Better data, shared principles, and systemic impact evaluations must ensure investments truly serve #SDGs.
✔️Acknowledging both successes & failures to drive meaningful change.

Critical discussion at #FICS2025 underscored the need to asses real impact of public investments. @afd-france.bsky.social & @eib.org emphasized accountability and robust measurement system. ❌Civil society was absent from conversation. Community involvement and social metrics were barely mentioned.

As we approach #FICS2025, sign the #CSO declaration calling on public development banks to commit to transformative actions, placing human rights, community leadership, and environmental sustainability at the core of all financing decisions. lnkd.in/e94kMgcn #PDBs

Holding the EIB and EBRD accountable: Are their grievance mechanisms effective? - Bankwatch In this report, we examine the alignment of the EIB and EBRD grievance mechanisms with the effectiveness criteria for the design and assessment of non-judicial complaints mechanisms set out in the UN ...

Read also our analysis: ‘Holding the EIB and EBRD accountable: Are their grievance mechanisms effective?’ bankwatch.org/publication/...