Civil society groups are ramping up pressure on the International Finance Corporation — the World Bank’s private sector arm — to release the findings of an independent investigation into the institution’s handling of sexual abuse allegations at a Kenyan school chain it helped finance between 2013 and 2016.
International law firm Freshfields was commissioned in 2024 by World Bank President Ajay Banga to examine whether IFC interfered with an investigation by its own watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, or CAO, into allegations that more than 20 students were abused at a for-profit school chain, Bridge International Academies, where IFC held a minority stake.
A brief summary of the Freshfield’s findings was published in March and concluded there was “no evidence that IFC intentionally obstructed” the CAO’s probe. However, the full report remains confidential.