By César Guerrero and Antonieta Valenzuela

The executive director of Terra Peninsular, César Guerrero, participated in the Accountability Mechanisms and Civil Society Workshop on June 8, 2016 in Mexico City; the event was attended by important civil society organizations in our country.

The purpose of the workshop was to explain how the independent accountability mechanisms (IAMs) operate and provide the necessary tools so that organizations can have access to information about projects in Mexico funded by the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, among others, that could cause environmental or social impacts.

Also, during the workshop it was explained that any person, organization or institution may file a complaint through the IAMs and request an analysis of any project. When making a complaint, the organization opens an investigation and a review is carried out in the field to analyze the situation. Claims or complaints are not anonymous, but people can apply for identity protection.

The executive director stated that although these independent accountability mechanisms don’t have the authority to cancel projects, they have achieved to positively influence on the implementation of funded projects, and causing as little impact as possible.

The event was organized by Fundar Center for Analysis and Research, the Center for Civic Collaboration (CCC) and the Regional Group on Finance and Infrastructure (GREFI, in Spanish); in collaboration with the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (ICIM) of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the Inspection Panel (IP), Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group, Complaints Mechanism of the European Investment Bank (CMEIB) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Terra Peninsular have printed material for consultation, interested people can visit the Department of Development and Communications, from Monday through Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 18:00 hours. Or write a mail to info@terrapeninsular.org

For more information on the accountability mechanisms, general trends and user experiences, you can read the final report of the workshop in Spanish here.

Then the list of independent organizations dedicated to accountability:

Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism (ICIM) of the Inter-American Development Bank Group: accountability office that receives complaints from communities that have been affected by operations financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).

Inspection Panel (IP): is an independent mechanism for receiving complaints for those who believe they have been harmed by a project financed by the World Bank.

Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group: independent accountability mechanism of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) regarding environmental and social issues.

Complaints Mechanism of the European Investment Bank (CMEIB): its aim is to ensure that the agents of the European Investment Bank exercise their right to complain and that they are include for resolution, consulting and monitoring.

Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC): is a problem solving office that helps address the conflicts over the social and environmental effects of projects financed by OPIC.