Our Mission
Every year, millions of people around the world are forcibly uprooted in the name of 'development' and 'progress.'
The International Accountability Project (IAP) challenges unjust displacement by exposing and demanding accountability for the human rights impacts of development-induced displacement. We exert strategic pressure on the international banks and corporations that finance projects causing displacement, while strengthening communities' power to hold their ground and defend their fundamental human rights.
The IAP works to bring an end to unjust displacement through hard-hitting campaigns, critical research and policy analysis, popular education resources, and creative use of media and arts. In solidarity with a global network of organizations and communities, we work toward a world in which human connection to land, vibrant communities, healthy ecosystems, and democratic decision-making are not bulldozed as 'obstacles' to development, but rather are defended as the foundation for just and sustainable life on Earth.
Our Goals
- To ensure that the voices and perspectives of those who are most affected by development decision-making are heard in the context of project and policy debates, and that affected people have an opportunity to seek redress for violations of their rights.
- To empower local affected people such that they are able to understand and assert their rights in international development decision-making.
- To facilitate a shift towards equitable and sustainable development, and in particular to call for greater respect for the rights of project-affected people who are threatened with forcible displacement by large-scale infrastructure projects.
- To address existing gaps in accountability systems, and promote effective remedial measures in cases where projects have violated the rights of local people and/or caused harm to the environment, with the goal of accomplishing real change that benefits people in the project area and that constructively addresses and resolves problems.
