About CIEL's International Financial Insititutions Program

CIEL leads efforts to strengthen the social, environmental, and disclosure standards of international financial institutions and export credit agencies, critiquing these standards, often coordinating the civil society response to proposed standards, and helping to secure political support for strong standards. 

CIEL recently helped lead efforts to strengthen environmental and social standards at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Additionally, CIEL is one of the leading organizations dedicated to obtaining and strengthening independent mechanisms through which communities can hold financial institutions accountable for the adverse impacts of their activities. These mechanism exist at most of the international financial institutions such as the:

• Inspection Panel at the World Bank
• Compliance Advisor Ombudsman at the International Finance Corporation
• Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism at the Inter-American Development Bank
• Independent Review Mechansim at the African Development Bank
• Accountability and advisory mechanism at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation

CIEL recently worked with civil society colleagues to secure strengthening of the accountability mechanism at the InterAmerican Development Bank.   

Complementing efforts at the institutional level to ensure the creation and efficacy of these mechanisms, CIEL works to inform local communities of the existence of these accountability functions and community rights. 

CIEL also provides advice and advocacy assistance to people who are adversely affected by development finance projects, and helps communities articulate their concerns and obtain solutions.  

Most recently, CIEL has assisted communities in Nicaragua and Bolivia in their efforts to hold financial institutions accountable for adverse impacts and to secure community-specific development outcomes.   

Learn more about International Financial Institutions such as:

• What is an International Financial Institution?
• What is The World Bank?
• What are the social and environmental policies of international financial institutions?