AIIB updates grievance rules, winning cautious civil society optimism
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, has rolled out a revised version of its accountability and grievance mechanism, introducing modest changes that civil society groups say mark progress — but still fall short of ensuring communities harmed by projects can meaningfully access restitution.
The update, which took effect on Jan. 1, amends the rules governing how people impacted by AIIB initiatives can bring complaints to the bank’s project-affected people’s mechanism, or PPM. The reform follows years of criticism that the system is largely inaccessible: Since AIIB began operations in 2016, not a single complaint has been found eligible by the mechanism.
“The review process reflects AIIB’s deep commitment to being a listening and learning organization,” Hwee Tin Kng, the acting managing director of the Complaints-resolution, Evaluation and Integrity Unit at AIIB, told Devex. “And the revised Policy is a demonstrable outcome of its belief in accountability being integral to sustainable development.”
About the author
Jesse Chase-Lubitz
Jesse Chase-Lubitz covers climate change and multilateral development banks for Devex. She previously worked at Nature Magazine, where she received a Pulitzer grant for an investigation into land reclamation. She has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and The Japan Times, among others. Jesse holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.
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