Human Rights Defenders

International Accountability Project (IAP) works with and supports Human Right Defenders (HRDs) to hold powerful institutions accountable and ensure development serves the needs of the frontline communities. Our works with HRDs often represent communities most affected by unjust development practices to give voice to marginalized people who are disproportionately affected by development. By amplifying their concerns, we ensure development plans address the needs of the most vulnerable.

Around the world, communities defending land, environment, and human rights face growing risks from large-scale investments, infrastructure projects, and extractive industries. Many face harassment, violence, or criminalization simply for protecting their homes and livelihoods. Yet in most cases, the investments that trigger these risks are publicly announced months, and while disclosures are often incomplete or inaccessible to communities, they create a window that, with the right tools and networks, can be used for early warning and preventative action. This is why our work focuses on Defenders Alerts. This initiative aims to help communities and HRDs identify risks early, access timely information, and take proactive action before harm occurs.

Defender Alerts

Defender Alerts analyzes and forecasts risks from proposed and newly approved investments by major development finance institutions, identifies the actors involved, and shares this information with communities and defenders most likely to be impacted. By combining data from the Early Warning System, which tracks over 34,000 projects financed by 15 largest and most influential development banks alongside the roles of more than 10,000 private actors, with intelligence from civil society partners around the world, we produce timely, accessible alerts. The goal is to spark preventative action and protect people before harm occurs.

When a new investment is proposed, IAP and its partners analyze the potential risks across key dimensions: How financiers assess investment risk, what sector the project belongs to, how open the civic space is, what the company's human rights track record is, what commitments it has made, and what institutional safeguards are in place. Projects that raise concerns are turned into clear, accessible Defender Alerts and shared through secure channels. Alerts are not just information; they are the starting point for community-led action, including protection planning, early advocacy, and engagement with decision-makers.

We work alongside a Core Group of organizations with deep experience in defender protection, corporate accountability, climate justice, and community-led advocacy. Together, we aim to shift from reactive protection to proactive, community-centered strategies, so that defenders can speak out without fear.