About

What if development were designed and lived by the same people?

International Accountability Project (IAP), an international advocacy organization, wins policy change, boosts local advocacy efforts & supports local activists and communities to access & exchange information on development that affects them. By opening space at influential decision-making spaces, IAP seeks to advance development principles and projects that prioritize human and environmental rights. IAP is recognized for its nimble, thoughtful & inclusive work that fights for community-led expertise & experience to be the center of how development is designed, funded and implemented. At our core, IAP leverages community-level expertise & experience to increase community-led participation & reinforce campaigns supporting community-led development. Read IAP’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025

IAP reinforces how communities participate as central figures in the development process.  IAP identifies the development financial institutions and standard-setting processes with the greatest impact on people’s ability to shape their own development and provide remedies when rights are violated.

  • To influence the policy and practice of development and as a mobilization tool, IAP assists communities to gather their own community-led research on their development priorities, their experience in the development process and the potential impacts of development projects.
  • When assisting specific campaigns, IAP supports the community-led priorities and recommendations directed towards the financial institutions, governments and project proponents connected to the project. IAP reinforces community-led campaigns to change how development is designed, funded and implemented.
  • IAP creates technology platforms and training tools to support communities and civil society to monitor and respond to development projects likely to cause human rights and environmental abuses.  IAP exchanges expert advice, training, and materials to communities likely to be affected and the civil society groups supporting them.

Vision

IAP works for a world in which communities lead development where they live, work and play. In contrast to current practice, IAP advocates for a development process in which people claim and uphold their rights, the environment is respected, and all are able to live with dignity and thrive on the land they love.

Mission

IAP works in solidarity with communities, civil society and social movements to inform and amplify their campaigns, broaden access to information, and create spaces within and outside dominant power systems for communities to lead the development decisions that affect their lives and environment.

Issues

Access to Information

Climate Justice

Corporate Accountability

Corporate and Factory Farming

Community-led Development

Community-led Research

Community Mobilization

Data and Tech

Human Rights Defenders

Indigenous and Traditional Peoples

Just Transition and Energy

Negotiation and Legal Support

Policy Change

Transparency and Corruption

Women, Children and Marginalized People

Women Human Rights Defenders

United Nations

Training Materials

People and communities should play a leadership role in determining their own development. Their firsthand knowledge equips them with experiences and expertise to create campaigns and policy solutions that truly work.

IAP produces Community Action Guides with local activists and partners. Used by community organizers to start or strengthen local campaigns, IAP’s materials and tools are interactive and accessible. The Community Action Guides demystify the development process, introduce the actors involved, and offer strategies for community-led solutions to development. These are reinforced with collective exercises and accessible case examples about how other communities around the world have responded to development challenges. Check out all versions of Community Action Guides.

 

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