Bankwatch and Rivers without Boundaries have produced a Toolkit aimed primarily at civil society organizations working to challenge the construction of dams and other unsustainable water infrastructure. It focuses on Central Asia, a region where numerous highly problematic dam projects are still planned. As the region lacks an established culture of public consultation and participation in decision-making, concerned activists and members of civil society must reach out to as wide a range of stakeholders as possible, including international institutions, to ensure their voices are heard.
One route that has proven crucial in dam-related campaigns in various parts of the world is engaging with project financiers, particularly multilateral development banks. However, communicating with these institutions is far from intuitive due to their complex systems of standards, document types, procedures and endless acronyms. To ease the burden, this toolkit is designed to help civil society organizations engage with financiers or potential financiers of harmful infrastructure projects, particularly those with major impacts on rivers, such as hydropower projects.
The toolkit covers the following international financial institutions:
- The European Investment Bank (EIB)
- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
- The World Bank Group
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
- The Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank or CHEXIM)
- The China Development Bank (CDB)
In March 2024 the RwB and Bankwatch organized in Almaty a training workshop for activists on how to interact with development banks lending to hydropower projects, where the draft Toolkit was presented. After getting feedback and improving the text in line with responses received, the final Toolkit is made available to broad audiences.
Sources: CEEBankwatch and RwB