The undersigned group of civil society organizations greet you as you begin your term as President of the Inter-American Development Bank. We extend to you our best wishes as you assume this task of great responsibility for the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.
We take this opportunity to introduce ourselves and express our willingness to continue contributing to the Bank's actions pursuing the region's development. Since 2017, our organizations have been monitoring and making recommendations on the IDB policies and projects, in partnership with local communities and populations. In particular, we promote the Bank’s establishment of better social and environmental policies and practices, as well as adequate and transparent spaces for participation that allow improving the IDB's link and interaction with civil society. To mention just a few examples, we highlight our contributions to the Environmental and Social Policy Framework (ESPF), to the updates of the MICI policy and in the accompaniment of specific cases, and in the revision process of the Access to Information Policy and in the dialogues on the IDB-Amazon Initiative.
In conjunction, we are permanently monitoring the Bank's policies and investments throughout the region, including in projects involved in the response to and recovery from the Covid pandemic and many others.
We consider it essential that the Bank strengthen its practices and operations, facilitating the promotion and respect for human rights, with special attention paid to the needs of communities and indigenous peoples who are at the forefront in the defense of nature, as well as the protection of key ecosystems in the fight against climate change.
Given the relevance of public participation in promoting full development, we reiterate our request to the Bank to generate constructive and lasting participation mechanisms. In particular, we request that the space for dialogue with civil society be reopened in the framework of the next IDB Annual Meetings. This space was a traditional practice that was interrupted in 2014 and has not been resumed to date.
We understand that a space for IDB articulation with civil society (social organizations and movements, Indigenous groups, and others who are affected) is not only a good practice that other multilateral agencies are already implementing, but would also contribute to advance the objectives of your administration. As stated in your inaugural speech last January, you stressed your desire to "seize all opportunities for dialogue" and collaborate with different actors to address the most pressing problems of our region.
Thus, your administration has an historic opportunity to generate greater openness towards civil society organizations and communities potentially affected by Bank-financed operations. We believe that this demand can no longer be postponed, and that this long-standing claim must be addressed in order to strengthen the work together with the peoples of the region.
We remain at your disposal to discuss the points raised in this letter and other matters of common interest at your convenience.
Kind regards,
Accountability Counsel
AMATE El Salvador
Articulación Salvadoreña de Sociedad Salvadoreña de Sociedad Civil para la Incidencia en las Instituciones Financieras Internacionales (ASIFI)
Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad (Environment and Society Association)
Interamerican Association for the Defense of the Environment (AIDA)
International Accountability Project
Bank Information Center
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Coalition for Human Rights In Development
Cohesión Comunitaria e Innovación Social A.C. (Mexico)
Conectas Direitos Humanos
Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR, Perú)
Ecoa - Ecology and Action
Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps)
CAUCE Foundation: Environmental Culture - Causa Ecologista (Argentina)
Gender Action
International Rivers
Mesa de Discapacidad y Derechos (Perú)
International Platform against Impunity
Protection International Mesoamerica
Sociedad y Discapacidad - SODIS (Perú)
Sustentarse (Chile)
Wetlands International / Fundacion Humedales (Argentina)
