Human Rights and Multilateral Development Banks

Indigenous communities, lands and environments often are affected adversely by projects financed by multilateral development banks (MDBs), such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. This is particularly true for Indian peoples in Mexico and Central and South America.

The Indian Law Resource Center is working to influence and create awareness among MDBs about their obligations to respect international law and human rights when funding development projects.

That’s why we continue to distribute our paper, Principles of International Law for Multilateral Development Banks: the Obligation to Respect Human Rights, composed in 2009. The paper calls for the creation of binding legal rules to compel MDBs to respect and promote human rights. The paper has been presented in several arenas, as well as directly to multilateral development bank officials.

We have encouraged engagement on this issue from all sectors——including civil society, states, and indigenous peoples’ organizations—in order to create constructive dialogue about the human rights obligations of MDBs. We hope this discourse will create further dialogue, strengthen grassroots communities’ struggles against unsustainable development practices and provide a seed from which a larger movement can grow around issues of MDB accountability, transparency and responsibility under the law.

We continue to provide legal assistance and training to Indian communities and organizations so they can protect their environments and communities from harmful MDB-funded projects.