Gender mainstreaming in urban mobility investments
Publication | 29 May, 2024In many cities around the world, moving freely, safely and without constraint remains a daily challenge for vulnerable groups including women. In this paper, we identify shortcomings in the EBRD’s implementation of gender mainstreaming in the urban transport sector and make recommendations for improvement.
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Learning from multiple crises to build resilient agri-food systems
Publication | 29 May, 2024While the EBRD investments helped increase agricultural production in its countries of operation, there is an urgent need to address the regional and global challenges. This can be done through sustainable investment into small and medium farms, phasing out large-scale livestock production, investing in circularity and decarbonisation
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Suggestions for integrating considerations of land concentration impacts into the EBRD’s safeguards
Publication | 29 May, 2024Based on our experience with the EBRD’s investments in the agricultural sector, we have worked with the Land Matrix Initiative to formulate recommendations for the EBRD to integrate considerations of the impact of land concentration into its safeguards.
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Georgia’s democratic future at stake: Russian-style ‘foreign agents’ bill threatens civil society and independent media
Publication | 27 May, 2024On 3 April 2024, Georgia’s ruling party revived the controversial ‘Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence’, which labels independent media and civil society groups as foreign agents. The move, coming just over a year after initial proposals were dropped, has sparked widespread protests once again.
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Joint civil society letter to the EBRD President on Georgia’s draft law on Transparency of Foreign Influence
Publication | 27 May, 2024More than 30 international and national civil society organisations have joined the call to the President of the EBRD, Odile Renaud-Basso, to condemn the Foreign Agents Law, which is an attack on civil society and independent media and risks jeopardising their activities and the success of business operations in Georgia.
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Comments on the draft Environmental and Social Policy with a focus on human rights due diligence
Publication | 27 May, 2024The EBRD’s safeguards revisions show some progress, but the Bank needs to strengthen its own environmental and social due diligence, particularly in the area of human rights, to prevent human rights abuses through early risk identification and effective mitigation.
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Key trends and shortcomings in community engagement on high-risk EBRD projects
Publication | 24 May, 2024The EBRD sets out requirements for stakeholder engagement as part of project risk and impact assessments. This study reviews the stakeholder engagement practices of EBRD clients in all 34 high-risk projects disclosed between 2020 and 2024.
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CEE Bankwatch comments on the draft EBRD Access to Information Policy and Directive on Access to Information
Publication | 24 May, 2024CEE Bankwatch Network calls on the EBRD to commit to better disclosure of project-related environmental and social information. This will help enhance the Bank’s due diligence and ensure early identification of risks, effective impact mitigation, and compliance with the EBRD’s commitments.
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Civil society joint statement on the EBRD’s draft safeguards
Publication | 24 May, 2024Despite some improvements, the latest drafts of the EBRD’s updated good governance policies fall short of ensuring that human rights are respected and protected, especially in countries with significant democratic deficits. In a joint statement, 60 civil society organisations urge the EBRD to enhance its human rights due diligence.
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Civil society urges the EBRD to adopt responsible policies and reaffirm its commitment to promoting democracy
Press release | 14 May, 2024As the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) gathers for its 33rd Annual Meeting in Yerevan (1), civil society organisations have united to challenge the EBRD’s flawed policies. They highlight numerous cases where EBRD investments have had negative impacts on communities and the environment (2). CEE Bankwatch Network, a leading organisation in this effort, is also calling on the EBRD to take decisive action against the increasing repression of civil society in the countries where it operates.
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