Civil society groups have accused the International Finance Corporation of “defensiveness and disingenuousness” in its response to allegations that it ignored child sex abuse in one of its projects.
The World Bank’s private sector arm reportedly failed to carry out proper due diligence or adequate monitoring, even after being made aware of allegations that teachers had abused children at Bridge International Academies schools in Kenya, in which IFC invested $13.5 million between 2013 and 2022.
The allegations come from IFC’s internal accountability mechanism, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, or CAO, and are outlined in an investigation report sent to the World Bank’s board in early October, and seen by Devex.
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About the author
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
