Leveraging the Money: Enforcing human rights by influencing financial institutions (English)

8/9/2019 Leveraging the Money: Enforcing human rights by influencing financial institutions (English)

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by Ulrich Muelleredited by Liam Mahony

Leveraging the MoneyEnforcing human rights by influencing financial institutions

A Tactical Notebook published bythe New Tactics Project

of the Center for Vict ims of Tort ure



Published byThe Center for Vict ims of Tort ure

New Tact ics in Human Right s Project717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455 USAwww.cvt.org, www.newt act ics.org

Notebook Series Edit orLiam Mahony

CopyeditingSarah Gilbert and Tricia Cornell

LayoutTricia Cornel l

The Danish Institute for Human Rights and The Center for Victims of Torture wish to acknowledge thefo llow ing insti tu ti ons that provided support fo r t he New Tacti cs in Human Right s West Group regionaltr aining w orkshop, of w hich this and other tacti cal notebooks are a product:

· The Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation,

· The United States Department of State,

· The United States Institut e of Peace,

· The European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratization

· Donors who wish to remain anonymous.We are also greatly indebt ed to t he work o f numerous int erns and volunt eers who have cont ribut ed their

time and experti se to t he advancement of the project and of human righ ts.

The New Tacti cs project has also benefi ted fr om more than 2000 hours of w ork fr om in dividual volunteersand int erns as well as donat ions of in-kind suppor t. Some of the insti tu ti onal sponsors of th is work includeMacalester College, the Universit y of Mi nnesota, the Higher Education Consort ium fo r Urban A ff airs, t heMinnesot a Just ice Foundat ion and t he pub lic relat ions f irm of Padill a Speer Beardsley.

The opi nions, fi ndings and conclusions or recommendat ions expressed on t his sit e are tho se of the New Tact ics pro ject and do no t necessarily refl ect t he views of our funders For a f ull list of pro ject sponsors see www.newtactics.org.

The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the New Tactics in Human RightsProject . The project does not advocate specif ic tacti cs or poli cies.

© 2004 Center f or Victims of TortureThis publ icat ion may be freely reproduced in print and in elect ronic form as longas this copyright not ice appears on al l copies.



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65

4Author biography

Letter from the New Tactics project manager

Introduction

Investigation and launching the campaign

11Why the tactic works: Finding the leverage points

The Center for Vict ims of Tort ureNew Tact ics in Human Right s Project

717 East River Road

Minneapolis, MN 55455 USAwww.cvt.org, www.newtact ics.org

17Appendix: Further resources

13How the tact ic works

15 Limits and challenges

16Transferring the tactic



Food First Info rm atio n andAct ion Netw orkThe FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN)

is the international human rights organization for the

right to food. Our vision is the full realization of the

human right to food. We assist national and international

struggles to realize the human right to adequate food

through specific actions. FIAN documents and publicizes

violations of the right to feed oneself and works towards

ending those violations through international interven-

tions, campaigns, lobbying activities and human rights

education.

FIAN is a grassroots organization with members in some

60 countries and sections (established offshoots) and co-

ordinations (informal networks) in 19 countries in Africa,

Asia, Europe and Latin America. FIAN Germany has about

1,200 members and runs campaigns on issues like agrar-

ian reform, human rights standards in the flower industry

and on human rights violations in the gold mining indus-

try.

Ulrich M uellerUlrich Mueller, 32, has been a campaigner with FIAN

Germany, the German section of the FoodFirst Informa-

tion and Action Network, since 2001. He works on gold

mining and trade issues.

Before joining FIAN, he worked at the Max Planck Insti-

tute for Social Studies and contributed as a freelancer to

the Working Group on Trade of the German NGO Fo-rum on Environment and Development. Mr. Mueller

holds a master’s degree in political science.

Cont act Inf orm at ionFIAN International e.V.

Willy-Brandt-Platz 5

69115 H eidelberg

Germany

Tel. + 49 6221 65300 30

Fax + 49 6221 830 545

[email protected]

www.fian.org

FIAN-Deutschland

Overwegstr. 31

D-44625 Herne, Deutschland

Tel. +49 2323 49 00 99

Fax +49 2323 49 00 18

[email protected]



September 2004

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the New Tactics in Human Rights Tactical Notebook Series. In each notebook a human

rights practitioner describes an innovative tactic that was used successfully in advancing human rights.

The authors are part of the broad and diverse human rights movement, including nongovernment and

government perspectives, educators, law enforcement personnel, truth and reconciliation processes,

women’s rights and mental health advocates. They have both adapted and pioneered tactics that have

contributed to human rights in their home countries. In addition, they have used tactics that, when

adapted, can be applied in other countries and other situations to address a variety of issues.

Each notebook contains detailed information on how the author and his or her organization achieved

what they did. We want to inspire other human rights practitioners to think tactically — and tobroaden the realm of tactics considered to effectively advance human rights.

In this notebook Ulrich Mueller describes a strategy of the FoodFirst Information and Action Network

to influence large mining operations that were causing various human rights abuses, by putting pressure

on banks and other financial institutions that invest in those mines. The notebook provides a thorough

analysis of the kinds of research and pressure tactics that can provide an important new source of

leverage for communities that are trying to counter the damage that can be caused by huge corporate

projects on or near their land. This tactic can be extended to cover a broad range of issues in which

there is a need to pressure corporations, as it takes into account their crucial dependence on the

globalized financial community to invest in their operations, and the growing sensitivity of that

financial community to sociopolitical pressure.

The entire series of Tactical Notebooks is available online at www.newtactics.org. Additional notebooks

are already available and others will continue to be added over time. On our web site you will also find

other tools, including a searchable database of tactics, a discussion forum for human rights practitioners

and information about our workshops and symposium. To subscribe to the New Tactics newsletter,

please send an e-mail to [email protected].

The New Tactics in Human Rights Project is an international initiative led by a diverse group of

organizations and practitioners from around the world. The project is coordinated by the Center for

Victims of Torture and grew out of our experiences as a creator of new tactics and as a treatment center

that also advocates for the protection of human rights from a unique position — one of healing and

reclaiming civic leadership.

We hope that you will find these notebooks informational and thought-provoking.

Sincerely,

Kate Kelsch

New Tactics Project Manager



6

Introduct ionThis not ebook explains how the FoodFirst Inf orma-tion and Action Netw ork inf luenced financial instit u-tions to promote better protections for human rightsor to prevent projects that would lead to human rightsviolat ions. FIAN Germany used this tactic mainly in a

campaign against violations of the right-to-foodcaused by large surf ace gold mines. The campaign co-

operates closely wit h aff ected communit ies and localorganizations. Together w ith t hese partners, FIAN in-vestigates the human rights problems of specificmines. We then use a number of instrument s to bringthe f indings to t he attention of investors and the pub-

lic: fact-f inding mission report s, calls for urgent actionamong members, involving human rights bodies atthe national and international level, media work,speaker t ours, conferences and lobbying. This combi-nation provides new leverage to inf luence fi nancialinstit uti ons and mining companies. And t his in t urn

helps aff ected communit ies to claim their rights un-der dif f icult circumstances.

We start ed to support min ing-aff ected communit iesin 1995. The f irst cont acts we had w ere wit h commu-nit ies in Peru and Turkey. In some of these cases, Ger-

man investors were involved in f inancing the mines.This gave us an opportunity to l ink human rights viola-

ti ons in other count ries to actors in Germany. And italso proved to be an eff ective tool t o put pressure onthe mining companies. From that start ing point , FIANbegan using investor pressure as a primary tact ic in it sgold mining campaign.

The tactic of d irecting campaigns toward financial in-

stit ut ions is not limited to mining. As financial instit u-tions are, more and more, a powerfu l economic force

worldw ide, this tactic could be used in a variety ofways in o ther cases of corporate abuse:

Industry-wide campaigns are pressing fi nancial insti-tu tions like banks or pension f unds to wi thdraw sup-port from specific industrial sectors or to pressurecompanies in t hat secto r to adopt new standards orpractices.

Campaigns might also focus on an individual companyor a specif ically harmful project (like large inf rastruc-

ture projects, dams, mines, etc.). In t hese cases, inves-tors might be urged to withdraw their support from aspecific project or to pressure the company to changetheir behavior.

Addi tionally, campaigns might focus on f inancial mar-ket practices themselves and demand new investment

rules and practices like ethical investment .

This not ebook focuses on project-level campaigning,using the example of a gold-mining project in Ghana.

It will start w ith background information on the hu-man rights impacts of surf ace gold m ining. The ele-ments of t he tactic will be explained and illustrat edthrough t he example. The second part will discuss what

questions are important when using the t actic andhow the tactic could be transferred.

Backgro und : A new gol d rushIn the 1980s there was a new gold rush in many coun-tr ies, especially in developing countries. It was mainlyfueled by the deregulation of the mining industry, the

privatization of mining companies and the spread ofnew, cheap technologies—in part icular cyanide leach-

ing for large surface mines. This technology uses highlytoxic cyanide to d issolve the gold contained in the ore.It makes it prof itable to mine ore with as lit tle as 1 or2 grams of gold per ton. As a consequence, many newsurface gold mines were built or planned.

COMM UNITIES BEAR THE BURDEN

The mines severely aff ect the livelihoods of communi-ties near the mine and cause human right s violationsand environmental destruction. Without going int otoo many det ails, the most common problems are:

Land conf licts. The mines use large pieces of land . A

single mining concession might cover about 150 to 300square ki lomet ers. Companies and stat e authorit ies

evict people from that land or take parts of their farm-land. For example, in Ghana, about 30,000 peoplewere displaced by go ld m ining operations between1990 and 1998. In most cases, compensation w as nil ,or far too low t o sustain t he livelihoods of the peopledisplaced.

Water and soil pollut ion. The mines often pollute wells,st reams and soil i n t he region . The pol lut ion stems

from accidents like cyanide spills or leaks as well asfrom the regular operation of t he mine. The water is

polluted mainly by heavy metals from the crushed ore,cyanide or acid. Cyanide is a highly t oxic chemical that

Tailings dam in Ghana.



Leveraging th e Mo ney 7

even in small quant it ies can ki ll animals and humans.The wat er pollut ion creates health problems and alsodest roys or diminishes f ish resources that are a foodsource for t he communi t ies.

Harassment and repression . Communi t ies experience

a lot of harassment from security personnel. Also, stateauthorit ies of ten react w ith pressure and repression

against people who claim their r ights or t ry to resistthe companies. “ Our people have suf fered beatings,imprisonment and murder for standing up for ourcommunity rights against mult inational mining com-panies,” says Daniel Owusu-Korant eng, a mining ac-t ivist from the Tarkw a district of Ghana. In some cases,the gold mines also f uel regional conf licts and foster

militarization.

Other possible problems include health impacts, of-ten related t o w ater but also dust; t he disposal of

tailings (residues created dur ing ore processing) intorivers or t he sea; unclear rules for mine closure; andothers. Communit ies normally don’ t have a chance toparticipate in t he planning o f new mines. (For more

on a t actic that brings together indigenous communi-ties and large corporations in fair negotiations seeRecipe for Dialogue, by Jo Render, available atwww.newtactics.org.) Normally, states have ful l con-trol over the land once gold is found. Even if communi-ties fear or know that t he mines will have negativeimpacts on t heir livelihood , it is dif ficult f or t hem to

make their voices heard.

A new t act i c t o support af f ect edcommunit iesMining also provides dif fi cult polit ical challenges fo rthe communit ies:

• Min ing companies enter the scene like a new, largeactor t hat seems out of reach.

• Min ing companies oft en don’t seem to care muchabout the communit ies.

• In many cases, the mining and environmental regu-lations are weak—often purposefull y so, to att ractmining companies and foreign investments.

• Mining companies tend t o have close relationshipswith government authorities, not only wit h the min-ist ries responsible f or economic aff airs and min ing,but also wi th environmental departments and localauthorities.

As a result , the communit ies are in a very weak posi-tion to claim their right s and stand up against t he

mining companies (see figure 1). The mining companyoperates on a favorable terrain due to good relation-ships with state authorities, weak regulation andweak law enforcement. The communit ies, then, findthemselves largely wi thout inf luence. Figure 1 refersto an already exist ing mine; in most cases, the sit ua-tion w ould be very similar during the process of devel-

oping the mining project.

CHANGING THE TERRAIN: BRINGING FINA NCIAL

INSTITUTIONS INTO THE PICTURE

In th is diff icult situation, conf ronting investors in goldmines wit h t he human impacts of their investment scan be ef fective. The min ing companies depend onexternal capit al for their operations. Large-scale sur-

face mining is capital-intensive, and f inancial instit u-tions have played and continue to p lay a major ro le inthe growth of the gold mining industry. Confront ingthem w ith the human rights violations of projects orcompanies they invest in provides new leverage forthe communi t ies (see figure 2).

Investors have inf luence over companies. For manylarge p rojects, like mines and dams, companies need

large sums of external capital. Even when a p rojecthas already been financed, financial instit ut ions havesome sort of oversigh t over the companies. Their ac-tual day-to-day oversight usually is very weak but theyhave the pot ential f or much greater pow er. And it isexactly t hat gap betw een power and weak routineoversight that can be the starti ng poin t f or f inancial

advocacy.

Investment institut ions tend to be more responsive

than t he mining companies. They don’t want t o beassociated w ith human right s violat ions because itthreat ens their image. Because they have more rela-

FIGURE 1: COMM UNITIES ARE OFTEN IN A

WEAK POSITION AGAINST M INING COM PANIES.FIGURE 2: CHANGING THE TERRAIN BY BRING-

ING IN INVESTORS

Environ.Dept.

MiningDept.

Localauthority

Miningcompany

Weak regulation/ enforcement Communities

Environ.Dept.

MiningDept.

Localauthority

Int’l HRbodies

HR framework

Nat’l HRbodies

Miningcompany

Weak regulation/ enforcement

HR as a yardstick Investors

C o m m u n i t i e

s

FIAN



8

ti ons to consumers, they tend to be more sensit ivethan a gold mining company. They might also comeunder po lit ical p ressure—th is is especially t rue f orpublic banks. For t hem, mining is just one of manysectors they invest in, not their core business.

Investment relationships provide an opport unit y toconnect human right s violations in other count ries to

actors in our ow n count ries, like Germany. So, w e canraise awareness and public pressure. This is import antbecause gold mining companies don’t enter t he con-sumer market, making them less suscept ible t o publicpressure than diamond or oil companies (DeBeers, BP,Exxon, Shell and are all consumer brands).

Bring ing in t he human righ ts discourse expands the

too ls available to t he communit ies. The issues thesecommunit ies are conf ront ing are of ten viewed as ques-ti ons of economic development or perhaps as envi-

ronmental concerns. By placing these questions withinthe context of “ human rights,” the communities haveaccess to addit ional tools to def end t hemselves.

It allows them t o engage national human right s com-missions, courts or the human right bodies of theUnited Nations. Courts and human right s commissionssometimes are more independent f rom t he miningcompanies than other stat e authorit ies.

International human right s law can provide a more

rigorous yardstick for judging impact on communit ies,especially if national law is weak. For example, in

Ghana the law allows land t o be used for mining bycompanies in exchange f or compensation to farmersonly for the plants growing on their land, not f or theland it self. This clearly violates the farmers’ right tofood, so within a cont ext of economic and social hu-man right s it can be argued that national law cannotbe the only guiding criteria.

Defining the issue in terms of human rights is alsoempowering t o t he community. They become right s-holders instead of victims. This gives them a more con-fident attitude towards the mine, investors andauthorities.

The tactic requires close cooperation w ith af fected

communit ies. This cooperation is one of FIAN’s guid-ing principles, but it is also necessary f rom a tact icalpoint of view: Close ties to affected people informsthe research and helps monitor ongoing development son the ground. The partners engage in local activitiesto bui ld up the pressure. It’s a two-way approach: pres-suring mining companies in their local cont exts as well

as through t heir international, financial ties.

In short , the tactic conf ronts financial insti tu tions wi ththe human right s impacts of the projects in which they

invest . The investors provide new leverage point s andopport unit ies to circumvent existing roadblocks fo rthe communit ies or mechanisms of exclusion. This ap-proach changes the terrain of the struggle by engag-ing new actors (financial insti tu tions as well as humanright s organizations) and by using a dif ferent perspec-

ti ve and yardstick t o inf luence the debate.

THE GOALS AND THE TACTIC IN CONTEXT

We used th is tactic in the go ld min ing campaign inorder t o stop or p revent human right s violations bygold min ing companies. The specifi c goals vary fromcase to case, from t he prevention of a new mine t othe mit igation of human right s violations and envi-ronmental problems at existi ng mines. To set these

goals, FIAN relies on t he posit ions and goals of theaffected communit ies. Additionally, the work done onsingle gold mines should serve as precedents andthereby contribute to the development of stricter rules

for mining and a bett er handling of human rights is-sues by investors overall. The tactic is part of a largercampaign on gold min ing t hat uses other tacti cs aswell, li ke legislat ive proposals or cour t cases.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The tactic brought good result s in specific cases: Inves-to rs changed t heir investment decisions or adoptedaddit ional measures to m it igate or solve the humanrigh ts problems. We have so far only made lim itedprogress in incorporating human rights into the gen-

eral policy of investo rs. FIAN cont ributed t o t he gen-eral pressure on banks and lenders to acknow ledge

and meet their own responsibili ties brought by a widerange of campaigns all over the world.

THE IDUA PRIEM EXA M PLE

Ghana has seen a new gold rush since the 1980s. Inthe Wassa West District in the Western Region ofGhana, many people and communit ies suf fer because

of the number of open surface mines near them. Thecit y of Tarkw a is surrounded by go ld mines. A localorganization, the Wassa Association of Communit iesAf fected by Min ing (WACAM), organizes the commu-nit ies and fi ghts fo r t heir right s. WACAM works inabout 55 communit ies wit h a to tal estimated popula-

tion of about 150,000 people.

One of t he mines near Tarkwa is the Iduapriem mine,owned by Ghana Australian Goldf ields (GAG). One ofthe lenders for GAG is the German Investment andDevelopment Company (DEG, for DeutscheInvestit ions - und Entwicklungsgesellschaf t). DEG gavea loan to GAG early in the 1990s in cooperation w iththe International Financial Corporat ion (IFC, part of

the World Bank Group). IFC holds 20 percent of theshares of GAG.




Invest igat io n and launching t hecampaignIn autumn 1999, FIAN did it s fi rst fact-f inding missionin the region, in cooperation w ith WACAM. Duringthat visit, FIAN investigated the impact of theIduapriem mine: People had been for cibly resett led

wi thout proper compensation and had lost access totheir f ormer land. Water pollut ion and its health ef-

fects were also a major problem. There were report sof harassment by security forces, as well as other prob-lems.

In October 2000, we presented our f indings to t hepubl ic during a conference in Berlin on cyanide-basedgold min ing and it s eff ects on sustainable develop-

ment.

The conference focused especially on DEG becauseDEG was involved in several mines we were work ing

on at that t ime, including those in Peru and PapuaNew Guinea. The clear focus on the lender DEG alsoemphasized the connecti on t o German peop le andcorporations. During t hat conf erence, a representa-

ti ve of DEG denied the charges. But aft er the confer-ence, the company took us more seriously as anorganizat ion. DEG also informed its part ner IFC aboutour claims. While we are targeting bot h lenders, wefirst f ocused on DEG, later shif ting more attent ion t oIFC, which w as the main lender and shareholder.

In December 2000, we sent a w ritt en report of thehuman right s violations at t he mine to DEG, including

eight recommendati ons fo r immediate acti on. DEGpromised to examine our claims. In April 2001, wereceived an aggressive rejoinder t o our report f romthe mine. We investigated the allegations again in2001 in a second fact-finding mission and prepared ashort second report conf irming its find ings.

M ULTIPLE PRESSURE STRATEGIES

FIAN had f urt her meetings wit h DEG and IFC in 2001and 2002. The meetings weren’t particularly fru it fu l.On the one hand, DEG said that it would need neutral,objective evidence of t he human rights violati ons to

do more. On the other hand, DEG claimed to alreadybe pressuring the company t o produce a communit y

development plan during a process to restructure theloan. But there was no visible progress on t he groundand no invest igat ion underway by DEG or IFC them-selves. DEG always asked for objective inf ormat ion or“ proof” of human rights violations before they couldtake up t he issue. We argued that it was their duty toinvest igat e the issues at stake.

While t hat exchange was going on, FIAN tried to bui ld

up pressure in other w ays. The Ghanaian Commissionfor Human Rights and Administ rat ive Just ice startedits own research on t he problems caused by gold min-ing af ter receiving our reports. Their own preliminaryreport conf irmed our results and spoke of “ gross vio-lations of human rights” by gold mining operations inthe Wassa region.1

We also included the violations at t he mine in a paral-lel report to the United Nations Commit tee on Eco-nomic, Social and Cultural Rights. Along w ith two otherNGOs, we argued that the case show ed how the Ger-

Acrony m s of Key PlayersGAG Ghana Australian Goldfields

DEG Deutsche Investitions - und

Entwicklungsgesellschaft (German Invest

ment and Development Company)

IFC International Financial Corporation

WACAM Wassa Association of Communities Against

Mining

FIAN FoodFirst Information and Action Network

Representatives from lenders and NGOs on a field visit to Adisakrom, adjacent

to the Iduapriem mine, 2002. On left: Daniel Owusu-Koranteng from

WACAM.

Blasting in the active pit of the Iduapriem mine, 2002.

1The commission has also been involved in successful efforts to use

the influence of community leaders to end the traditional practice of

sexual slavery known as trokosi. To learn more, see Powerful

Persuasion: Combating traditional practices that violate human rights,

by Emile Short, available at www.newtactics.org.



10

man government didn’t comply with internationalobligations under t he Internat ional Covenant on Eco-nomic, Social and Cult ural Rights. The concluding ob-servations of the commi tt ee encouraged the Germangovernment t o do all it can as a member of int erna-tional financial instit utions to ensure that t he policies

and decisions of those organizat ions are in conf or-mit y wit h it s human right s obligati ons. The UN com-

mitt ee didn’t mention the lenders, but neverthelessthe NGO report w as know n in t he government andadded t o t he pressure on DEG f rom t he German de-velopment ministry.

In early 2002, the German parliament adopt ed a reso-lut ion t hat criti cized cyanide-based gold mining and

stated that a heap-leaching mine (like the mine inGhana) could never get permission to operate if itwere in Germany. The catalyst fo r t he resolut ion wasthe cyanide disaster in t he Romanian mine Baia Mare

in 2000. We supported the resolut ion and used it laterin let ters and press work. The resolution did not men-ti on DEG explicit ly, nor did it bring up t he issue of fi -nancial support to gold mines by publ ic lenders, but

DEG felt the implied pressure. While t hey didn’ t re-spond of f icially, it became clear in some discussions

that they were not happy with the resolut ion. Simul-taneously, there were developments on other issuesrelated to gold min ing in Ghana that helped keep thetopic alive.

In 2002, FIAN organized another conference that fo -

cused on a better way to deal with gold. The Iduapriemmine served as one example for t he problems of sur-

face gold mining. We invited the execut ive director ofWassa Association of Communit ies Against M ining t othe conf erence and organized a speaking t our thatincluded a meet ing wi th DEG representat ives and avisit to the German development ministry, which isthe supervising ministry f or DEG. We thought it wouldbe good for t he representat ives of DEG and t he min-

istr y to hear the sto ries from local representatives.During that visit , DEG made some vague comment sabout an ongoing restructuring of the loan to the mine.They mentioned t hat the cont racts should be signed

very soon and t hat t here should be a field visit aft er-wards.

At that point , we decided that more pressure was

needed to move things forward. We sent a harsh let -ter t o DEG and t he development ministry in form ingthem about the “ vague comments” made by DEG.The lett er emphasized that this way of moving aheadwas unacceptable and t hat the human ri ghts viola-tions must be investigated prior t o any new contract.The lett er was addressed to t he top level of DEG and

the min ister herself. Before that t ime, most of thecontacts had been on the working level. We and

WACAM also sent letters to DEG’s partner IFC andasked international partners to do the same. Addi-tionally, we organized some press work. Althoughthere was not much press coverage, one art icle in aleading newspaper show ed that t here was media in-terest in t he sto ry, a potent ial th reat to the lenders.

THE JOINT FIELD VISIT AND ACTION PLAN

This combinat ion of pressure f inally yielded result s,when the lenders agreed to do a joint field visit t o-gether with WACAM and FIAN. This joint field visit setin mot ion a much more action-oriented negotiation.WACAM and FIAN managed t o ensure that the lend-

ers on t he trip took enough time t o visit the aff ectedcommuni ties. Normally the mining company would

have show n them showcase areas and only t alked t opeople who supported or profit ed from the mine. Wenegotiat ed a terms-of-reference paper befo re thefield visit, w hich included a list of communit ies thelenders were committed to visit. The village ofNkwantakrom, one of t he worst aff ected communi-ties, was on t hat list. It w ould otherwise not have been

visit ed, as it is t reated as an illegal set tl ement by themine. In t he field, our main approach w as to let t he

people in the communit ies tell their stories themselvesand make sure that t he lenders would l isten. In addi-

tion to the meetings in t he villages, we had meetings

Act i on plan sum maryThe action plan agreed to by the mine, the lenders and the NGOs

includes important steps for the communities:

Water: New boreholes for two villages; independent water analysisand regular information on water quality; construction of appropriate

sanitation facilities.

Compensation:Reexamination of past compensation and appropri-

ate remedial measures to restore or replace livelihood; better access to

land; agricultural survey (looking into reduced yields); and capacity

building.

Health:Health survey; support for communities in access to medical

assistance.

Employment:More and more transparent employment processes.

Education:Commitment to set up new educational facilities, scholar-

ships for students and sponsorship for schools.

Better consultation with the communities.

Other issues linked to transportation, infrastructure and blasting, as

well as to specific communities.

Additionally, a community development plan was set up to support

communities in developing new sources of livelihood.

Some issues remained unresolved, including reparations for people

affected by the cyanide spill in 1996.




inside the mine, where we would once again bring upthe issues of the communit ies.

In one of t he meetings at the end of t he trip , FIAN andWACAM proposed a list of issues that needed to beaddressed. This list f ormed t he start ing point for the

mine, the lenders and t he NGOs to negot iate an ac-tion plan in t he months follow ing the f ield trip. This

negotiat ion w as done mainly by e-mail or phone onthe basis of the list presented in Ghana. After thefield t rip, IFC was the leading agency among the lend-ers, so t he focus of our cont act shift ed f rom DEG toIFC. During th is process, we w ere wi lling t o compro-mise to keep things moving and in some cases weagreed to disagree. In other cases the action plan even-

tually listed init ial steps, like studies, instead of f ull -fledged solutions, in our view. Nevertheless, thereseemed to be a willingness to try to mitigate theabuses. The fact that GAG needed t o rest ructure its

loans may also have helped. The acti on plan was in-cluded in the restructur ing negotiations.

The action plan included provisions on w ater, land and

compensation, health, education and more (see sum-mary p.10). This action plan doesn’t solve all problems,but it is a posit ive step f orw ard. It also lays out rulesfor ongoing monitoring. The process of implementa-ti on is st ill ongo ing and problemat ic on some issues.Our main relationship now is with IFC, as DEG del-egated the implementat ion t o t hem. But we also stay

in touch wi th DEG. A second joint f ield visit o f lendersand NGOs in 2004 show ed that there is sti ll a lot to do.

FIAN and WACAM are sti ll monit oring t he process andpointing out problems and unresolved issues.

Why th e tact ic w orks: Find ing t heleverage point sThe foundation of the t actic is that financial instit u-tions are strong and vulnerable at the same time.

They have enormous economic and poli t ical clout. Buttheir publi c image is important to them and pol itical

pressure w ill inf luence them. They are oft en in a d is-advantaged position in t erms of information, depen-dent on the assurances and reports of their clientsthat their behavior is in line wi th legal and moral stan-

dards. Therefore, human rights organizations canmake a diff erence. To f ind t he right leverage point s

and constituencies, let’s take a closer look at t he rangeof financial instit uti ons and the features of projectfinance.

BACKGROUND: FINA NCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND

PROJECT FINANCE

There is a wide variety of insti tu tions providing capi-

tal for companies: commercial and investment banks,government-owned instit ut ions, mult ilateral develop-

ment banks, pension funds, mut ual f unds, insurancecompanies and more. They all perf orm t hree impor -

tant f inancial services:

Credit extension: providing debt f inancing by makingloans to companies

Equity: providing equity by buying stock in companies

Underwriting:helping companies handle r isk by agree-

ing to buy a guaranteed amount of new stocks, bondsor opt ions from a company that w ill be resold t o the

public w ith a certain price diff erence or i ssuing insur-ance for a certain pro ject.

These services are provided by pri vate enterpr ises aswell as by public inst itut ions such as bilateral develop-ment banks or mul ti lateral banks, like the Wor ld BankGroup. To finance a large project like a gold mine,

normally all three types of financial services would becombined. For example, IFC might provide a loan to -gether w ith other publi c banks like DEG and buy alimited amount of equity. Additional loans would come

from commercial banks. They migh t also be stake-holders of the mining companies. Any large extrac-tive industr ies project would also need risk guaranteesthat might come from insurance companies, export

credit agencies, the M ult ilateral Investment Guaran-tee Agency of t he World Bank Group and other mult i-lateral banks.

The loans might run for 10 to 15 years or even longer.The amount involved is rarely less than $10 millionand up t o several hundred million dollars. Oft en banks

work t ogether in providing such loans. The primarysource of repayment i s the cash f low generated by

the pro ject it self. The liability of the corporate bor -rowers is usually limi ted: They don’t need to put extramoney int o t he project if the project f ails. The conse-quences of th is limit ed liabilit y are:

• Lenders have high interest in t he profitability ofthe specif ic project.

• Project risks are of specif ic interest f or t he lenders.

Thus, risk assessment is crucial to f inancial inst itut ions.Risk can be f inancial or operat ional, but also polit ical.Perceived risks related to human rights, social or envi-ronment al concerns include:

• possibilit y of a lawsuit o r legal complications over

these controversial issues;• costly delays in construction o r permitt ing and sit-

ing;• polit ical unrest or local opposition;• fut ure clean-up and mitigation costs or fines;• regulatory or market changes, which may reduce

returns;

• labor issues, including w ork stoppage or liabilitiesfor injuries;

• negative publicity.

Lenders try to identify the risk associated with aproject in a process know n as “ due diligence.” A credit



12

off icer or analyst looks into all the information rel-evant to meeting regulatory or other disclosure guide-lines. This process is important for the financial

instit ut ions because of possible lit igat ion t hreats. Foractivists, it ’s an important entry point . They could ar-gue that t he human ri ght s issues migh t lead to ri sksand that by not t aking t hese concerns int o account

the lender doesn’t fulf ill it s “ due diligence.” This kindof risk-exposure approach is also know n as bot tom-line leverage—one of many types of leverage in fi-nancial advocacy.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF LEVERAGE OVER FINA N-

CIAL INSTITUTIONS

Below is an overview of four basic types of leveragefor convincing financial instit uti ons it’s in t heir best

int erest to support human rights. The categories areadapted f rom Leverage for the Environment: A Guide

to t he Private Financial Services Indust ry, World Re-sources Instit ute 1998, by John Ganzi, Frances Seymourand Sandy Buf fett .

Bot tom-line leverage demonstrates to f inancial inst i-

tut ions that t aking human righ ts and communit y is-sues into account wi l l improve the f inancialperformance—or, in contrast, t hat no t taking themint o account will lead to increased f inancial risks. Touse th is approach you must tr anslate your concernsinto a language of risks (and opport unit ies, if any).

Targets for contact could be the credit officers orproject managers responsible f or t he specific project ,

technical experts and counselors involved in analyz-ing, clearing and monitoring the project as well as se-nior management and external analysts or ratingagencies.

Policy leverage exploits the sensitivity of financialdecision-makers to changes in regu lation o r t o t axa-

tion consequences or the more direct influence ofpol icymakers in t he case of public financial insti tutions.

Policy leverage might t arget senior management aswell as regulators and po licymakers. Depending on

the specif ic target , there might be a whole list of dif -

ferent instruments to use, ranging from lett ers andmeetings to publicity act ions.

Reputat ional leverage uses the (potent ial) impact ofhuman right s issues on the financial inst itut ion’s pub-lic image. It requi res acti ons to generat e posit ive or

negative media attent ion, like public actions and me-dia work. It might also include encouraging pressure

from clients and customers or shareholders.

Values-based leverage exploits the wi llingness of in-dividual and insti tutional investors to promot e humanrights even at the possible expense of financial value.It requires that t he f inancial insti tu tions have at leastsome demonstrated belief in those values (for ex-

ample, they may be eth ical investment f unds or cer-tain pension funds linked to unions).

IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT LEVERAGE POINTS

The value of each leverage point wi ll vary in a part icu-lar campaign depending on the financial insti tu tionsinvolved and t he specif ic situation. In project financingthere is an import ant dif ference between commer-

cial financial inst it ut ions and public lenders like theWorld Bank Group or other bilateral and multilateralbanks. Commercial banks are the largest provider ofcredit worldw ide, but publ ic lenders play a special rolein p roject finance. They provide polit ical backing toprojects and can open t he door t o ot her capital f orthe borrowers. They have a self -image of being more

responsible than p rivate investo rs, w hich increasestheir tendency to address problems and to stay in-

volved in a project. In cont rast, commercial banks some-times divest quickly if t he investment i s marginal forthem.

These dif ferences also have tactical implicat ions. Bot -tom-line leverage could be used wi th both kinds offinancial insti tut ions. Public lenders might open some

new oppor tunit ies for po licy leverage, whereas com-mercial banks, which are brand sensit ive, might re-spond better to reputational leverage. In a caseinvolving a commercial bank, we used a morereputational approach with actions and press workaround t heir shareholder meeti ng. In the Iduapriem

case, we exploit ed the fact t hat DEG is linked to t heGerman development ministry. Wit h the Social Demo-

crats and Greens in t he German government at t hattime, that opened opportunities for policy leverage.Addit ionally, the DEG case involved reput ational andvalue-based elements.

A second aspect to consider is that pro ject f inanceinvolves dif ferent people, departments and i nstit u-

tions throughout the process. Usually, the corporateclient w ould contact the f inancial insti tut ion via an

account of f icer. Then t he deal w ould be discussedwithin the financial insti tution by credit of ficers, credit

commit tees or even t he bank’s board. Senior man-agement would set criteria and off er guidance for

Cyanide leaching in Peru.




th is process. Internal and external counsel and thetechnical service department s would review the pro-posed deal. Af ter approval, the responsible accountof ficer or project manager would handle the project.

These dif ferent people have dif ferent responsibilit ies

and migh t be targeted dif ferently. For t echnical ser-vices and credit of fi cers, a bot tom-line approach usu-

ally would be the best. Senior managers might notlook int o all of t he details, but are likely to be moreaware of the overall picture. Therefore, they mightreact more strongly t o policy, reputat ional or value-based pressure. It shou ld be noted that t hese peoplewill come from dif ferent backgrounds and might beindividually more sympathetic or host ile to your cam-

paign.

It is also important t o ascertain t he stage of the lend-ing process. Are the financial cont racts already signed

or are loans st ill being negot iated? Has the projectalready been running for a while or is it st ill in a phaseof preparation and construction? During a first as-sessment of a new project proposal, f inancial instit u-

tions would be more open to new inf ormation onpossible risks.

How t he tact ic w orksKEY PHASES OF THE TACTIC

The fo llowing scheme tr ies to out line some key phasesof the tactic. It’s an ideal model; in reality, phases tend

to get mixed and the events might jump back andforth.

These steps presume t hat a human right s problemhas already been identi fied and t hat a relationshiphas been established with the af fected communit ies.It proceeds from t he stage w here financial instit u-tions are brought into t he process.

Phase 1: Planning and researching fi nancial inst it u-tions.

What f inancial insti tutions are involved? What kind ofnew leverage might they provide? Is this leveragepromising enough to attempt t o use this tactic?

Phase 2: Publ icizing the human right s violat ions.

You may choose to bring t he violations to the att en-tion of investo rs and the general pub lic via writ tenreport s, media releases, etc., whi le inf orming t he fi -nancial insti tu tions of your act ions.

Phase 3: Convincing the investo rs to reconsider their

position.

This decisive period might be a longer phase. Depend-ing on the investor, you may need to use a number of

instruments. These might include meeting w ith theinvestors, working w ith the media, taking legislative

steps, sending report s to human r ight bodies and oth-ers.

Phase 4: Influencing how t he investors want to solvethe problem (up to negotiat ions).

Once the investors decide to act, it is important toinf luence the proposed solut ions.

Phase 5: Follow-up: monitoring the implementat ion.

Phase 6: Possible extension: pressuring t he investor t ochange it s pol icies.

The timing and emphasis will depend on t he specif ics

of the cases and the available opport uni t ies. Let’s lookin detail at t he key phases:

PHASE 1: DIA GNOSIS AND PLANNING

Is th is the appropriate tactic in t he situation?

Before approaching f inancial insti tu tions you need toanalyze the situation and think about the specifi c op-

por tuni ty structures in your case. First , of course, youneed to know what investors are involved in a specif icproject or company.

Helpful sources of information fo r t his purpose (fordetails, see appendix):

The companies’ annual reports and t he investor-rela-tions part of their Web sites. Here you should find a

list of major shareholders of the company. Somet imesyou might also f ind new s about major f inancial con-tracts and f inancial relations, which are also helpf ulfor collecting some basic information about the com-pany.

Specialized and sometimes cost ly dat abases wit h in-

formation on p roject f inance and ot her financial in-fo rmat ion are available. If these are too expensive,you might access these databases by eit her asking f ora (t ime-limited) trial version or by seeking out a friendlyanalyst or ethical investment company that mighthelp—or even a good library. Addit ionally, there are a

number of specialized Web sit es on companies andproject f inance. The Campaigners’ Guide to Financial

Markets lists many good sources of information.

A number of NGOs or net works monit or or pressuref inancial instit ut ions (e.g. BankTrack, the Bank Infor-mati on Center for t he Wor ld Bank, IFIwatch or CEEBankw atch). Ask t hem or search t heir Web sit es forinf ormation. They migh t also have access to some of

the commercial databases.

General Web searching might be helpf ul, too. You canfind out whether other organizations work on the

project or wit h the company and locate helpfu l newsart icles or presentations.



14

unit or a board member w ith a special responsibil it yon these issues?

Have they signed the Equator Principles or other codesof conduct?2

To w hat extent do t hey provide a chance to b ring atopic to t he attention of the public? Does this investor’s

involvement help make the story more newsworthy?

Based on t hat in formation, strat egize about pot en-tial leverage point s and try t o judge beforehand towhat extent you could build momentum from w ithinthe f inancial instit utions and what external momen-tum you would need. This is a crucial question because

financial instit ut ions wil l probably initi ally discountyour claims, delay any action or t ry to satisfy you withvague commitments. Some questions that might helpin analyzing t hat aspect include:

• How could you build momentum to act from wit hinthe f inancial instit ution? What kind of external sup-port or pressure would you need t o succeed?

• What kind of leverage do you think would be mosteff ective wi th each relevant actor?

• Who else might support your case and might influ-ence the investors?

• Can you work w ith o thers, such as human right sbodies or organizat ions that also have an interestin your issue area?

You should also t hink about what kind and level of

public attent ion you need. Public att ention, or t heth reat t o seek publicity, is helpf ul, but the campaigndoesn’t need to make it to the f ront page in everycase. This also depends on type of leverage you areusing. Reputat ional leverage w ill need more pub licattention than bot tom-line leverage. You should alsothink about what audiences you w ould address fo r

various leverage point s. For f inancial insti tu t ions, dif -ferent papers or journals might be more relevant thanin your normal p ress work.

If you are not sure how you might create the neces-sary momentum, think of ot her ways of campaigning.

Financial inst it ut ions are unlikely to respond unlessthere is external or int ernal pressure for change.

Affected communities protesting against mining, Ghana 2002.

2 The Equator Principles are a voluntary set of guidelines developed

by commercial banks for managing social and environmental issues

related to the financing of development projects. Ten banks adopted

them initially in 2003. By 2004, 24 banks had adopted them.

NGOs initially welcomed the principles. After one year, criticisms

emerged that despite the principles, controversial projects were

going ahead virtually unaltered. Nevertheless, the Equator

Principles might provide a useful entry point. More information

can be found at the official Web site, www.equator-principles.com,

or at the NGO Web site BankTrack, www.banktrack.org/

index.php?id=47.

Once you know the investors that are involved, youneed to find out as much as possible about them, theirspecific involvement in t hat project and their positionon human rights.

What is the economic situati on of the companies in-

volved? How dependent are they on the investo rs?On whom do the investo rs themselves depend?

What i s the general positi on of the investors on hu-

man r ight s and social issues? Is there a po licy on t heenvironment, social issues or human rights? Is there a




PHASES 2 AND 3: ENGAGING WITH THE FINA N-

CIAL INSTITUTIONS

Engaging financial insti tut ions involves holding ordi-nary lobbying meetings and presenti ng case studiesand arguments. But there are some special consider-ations that might be helpful, regarding when and

whom t o contact and how to present t he case.

It may be diff icult to identif y the people involved in acertain project. You can try to learn about themthrough conversations with a know n investo r in t heproject. Brochures for project finance conferencesmigh t be also help ful, as well as some di recto ries ofproject fi nance or pro ject fi nance Web sit es (see theappendix). When you get t o know more people and

organizations involved, try to identify w ho might bepotential allies.

Think about who needs to know about your concerns

most. Where you have a strong case on f inancial risks,take it d irectly t o t he project f inance people. If t hecampaign centers on the bank’s reput ation or poorpractice, then senior management should be targeted.

A last aspect is the quest ion of t iming. As a generalrule: Get in early, before many (f inancial) arrange-ments are already drawn up, which people f rom t hefinancial institut ions won’t want to see collapse. De-pending on your strat egy, it might be better t o con-tact the financial insti tu tions before going public. This

is especially true if you are using a bot tom-line ap-proach that t ries to convey certain facts or risks to the

financial instit uti ons. If you attack f irst, your argu-ments might bounce against a strong w all of defenseearly on.

PRESENTING YOUR CASE

How you present your case wi ll be shaped by t he le-verage point s chosen. If you w ant t o use a bot tom-

line approach, you should translate human rightsconcerns int o t erms of risk. If you primarily use pol icy,reputational or values-based leverage, your mightdecide to stick w ith human rights language, especiallyif that seems more helpfu l in public campaigning orfeels more comfort able and easier to handle for you.

If possible, you should tailor your presentation to dif -ferent audiences in your campaign.

The suggestions below are for a bottom-line ap-proach. This approach represents the greatest depar-ture from the sort of work most NGOs are used todoing.

General recommendat ions:

• Keep it short. Present inf ormation in summary

sheets.• St ress that as an NGO, you receive valuable in fo r-

mation f rom the f ield, particularly in regard to t hepolitical situation.

• Firsthand experience and direct contact w ith t heaffected communities can persuade investors tochange their view s and actions as they get t o knowthe affected people as individuals and hear theirstories directly.

Recommendations for achieving bot tom-line lever-age:

• Keep it factual and nonemotional.• Try to translate your concerns into f inancial risk.

Quant ify risks when possible.• Use financial concepts and buzzwords. For example,

ment ion t hat not considering these issues would be“ poor management practice” or might not fulf ill

their obligations for “ due diligence.”• Briefly explain who you are and why you are occu-

pying yourself w ith the project. Don’t create an anti-development image and don’t t hreaten a corporate

smear campaign.• If possible, let a fr iendly financial professional look

over your materials before sending it to t hem.

And a last poin t : Be persistent. Somet imes lendersmight not react quickly, especially if you are workingon a project t hat is already running . It might be diff i-cult to j udge if and w hat kind of progress you reallyare making. In th is case, try t o t ake it step by step andset incremental goals. For example, in the Iduapr iemcase the f irst f act -finding mission report included a

set of eight recommendat ions that out lined f irst steps.But the main goal at t hat t ime was to get t he lenders

to do a real investigation of the mine’s impact. If youdon’t see any progress, think about dif ferent accesspoint s or consider escalati ng the argument . A lot ofthe specifi c campaigning w ork w ill depend on the re-actions of the f inancial instit ut ions. What are theirarguments and lines of defense? What measuresmight you use to overcome t hose? In many cases you

wil l need to maintain long-term engagement. If sucha commi tment isn’t possible consider using anothertactic altogether.

Lim it s and challengesThe tactical approach described here leaves the exist-

ing power of financial institutions mainly unchal-lenged. Considering some of the negative global

impacts of that power, th is is arguably a serious limi-tat ion. Achievements are limited unless at a certainpoint governments or int ernational bodies take onthe issues and lay down new rules.

Financial market campaigns of ten generate pressureto engage wi th companies, which can be cont rover-

sial. To have a persuasive impact , you need t o f rameyour concerns in a w ay that financial institut ions can

understand, especially if you use a bot tom-line ap-proach. This kind o f engagement m ight lead to t en-

sions with other more confront ational t actics by yourorganization or t ensions with your partners. Local com-



16

munities might be especially opposed to dialogue.These potentially conflicting agendas need to beopenly discussed before using th is tactic. If there is nocommon ground or agreement on a joint strategy,then f inancial advocacy might not be the best choiceof tactic.

When talking w ith company representat ives, you must

be careful not to slow ly become co-opted or f ooled.Companies might of fer meetings and discussions with-out an actual w ill f or change. They might try t o usesuch meetings to learn about your plans, to steer awayfrom public debate, to use you as an example of theirengagement w ith civil society in their public relationswork or to create division among their critics. You need

to t hink about dif ferent motives in such a dialoguecarefully and evaluate the process every now and thenso that you will recognize such problems.3

An impor tant challenge is to maintain a long-termengagement and ensure that t he people who are ac-tually aff ected keep the init iative. Strong and trust-ing relations wit h aff ected groups are important f or

th is tactic.

Transf err ing t he t act icClearly the tactic doesn’t need to be rest ricted to ex-tractive industries, nor t o t he right to food. This tactichas been used by various issue-oriented movements.It can be applied in many other situations where hu-

man right s violat ions are caused by investors or largecompanies relying on fi nancial inst it ut ions. Financial

insti tu tions have inf luence in a who le range of prob-lematic sectors. These investments and global eco-nomic processes are often relevant for economic, socialand cultural r ights—and in some cases, civil and pol it i-cal rights as well. Generally, leverage is greater in sec-tors that are capital-int ensive.

A second important condit ion is that t here must beways to inf luence the financial insti tu tions. Investo rs

must care about human right s, their image, polit icalpressure or other risks that might result from ignor-ing the problems or concerns. Normally, investors arevery sensit ive to image t hreats—more so w hen t heyhave stronger relations to consumers than to a min-ing company or ot her project companies.4

• When corporations and industries value their public

image, similar kinds of financial advocacy campaignsmight be effective.

• Campaigns might also focus on a financial market’spractices themselves and demand new investmentrules and pract ices like ethical investment .

• Industry-wide campaigns could urge people to w ith-draw support from specif ic industr ial secto rs or t o

adopt new standards or practices.• Investments and financial instit utions might also play

a role in broader campaigns about human righ tsviolat ions in specif ic count ries, like t he campaigns

on d ivestment f rom Sout h Af rica in the 1970s and’80s.

One might also go a step furt her and use a simil ar

tactic in relation to impor tant suppliers of companiesviolat ing human right s. For example, the Ghanaianorganization WACAM prepared a report in 2003 onhuman rights violati ons in the Obuasi mine that wassent to Swedish companies supplying t he mine w ithmachinery.

The main point is that even pow erfu l companies de-pend on ot her actors, like investors, suppliers and buy-

ers. They may think t hey can ignore communi ti es orcrit ics at t he local level, but they do have to satisfyinvestors or other part ners and become vulnerable atthat po int . So, the main question f or t he tactic is: Arethere new leverage points when dealing wit h a com-pany that shows no commitment to stop violatinghuman right s? And in many cases, financial insti tu -

tions open just such opportunit ies.

3 For discussion related to this concern see also Richter 1998. Also,

read Recipe for Dialogue, by Jo Render, available at

www.newtactics.org.

4 For more on external and internal monitoring of business

practices, see also Human Rights and the Corporate Actor, by Reed

Addis, available at www.newtactics.org.




App endix: Furt her resour cesPUBLICATIONS

Bank Inf ormat ion Center: Bank Informat ion Center’s Toolk it s for Activists: A User’s Guide to the Mult ilateralDevelopment Banks. 2001.Available in several languages at http://ww w.bicusa.org/bicusa/issues/misc_resources/292.php

Chan-Fishel, Michelle. Anatomy of A Deal: A Handbook on Internat ional Project Finance.Washington, D.C.:Friends of the Earth. 1996.

Everyone’s Guide to Achieving Change: A Step-by-Step Approach t o Dialogue w ith Decision-Makers. Thirdedit ion. Oxford Research Group. 2002.Available at ht tp ://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk/publications/books/achievingchange.pdf

Ganzi, John, Seymour, Frances, and Buffett, Sandy. Leverage fo r the Environment : A Guide to t he Private

Financial Services Industry. World Resources Inst it ut e 1998.

Looks int o commercial banks, investment banks, mut ual funds, pension funds, property and casualt y insur-ance, lif e insurance, ventu re capit al and f oundat ions and di scusses dif ferent leverage point s for each ofthem. Available at ht tp ://ww w.pubs.wri.org/pubs_descript ion.cfm?PubID=2929

Hildyard, Nicholas, and Mansley, Mark . The Campaigners’ Guide to Financial Markets.Eff ective Lobbying ofCompanies and Financial Inst it ut ions. 2001.Comprehensive guide with many case studies and how-to-do information. Available at http:// www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/pdf/document/camguide.pdf

Hildyard, Nicholas, and Mansley, Mark. Financial M arket Lobbying: A New Poli t ical Space for Activists. CornerHouse Briefing No.25. 2002.Available at htt p://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/briefing/25finmkt.html

Richter, Judit h. Engineering of Consent : Uncovering Corporate PR Strategies. Corner House Briefing No.6.1998.Available at http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/briefing/06pr.html

WEB SITES AND ORGANIZATIONSBank Information Center

www.bicusa.orgAn independent, nonprof it organization based in Washington, D.C., that provides informat ion and strategicsuppor t to NGOs and social movements throughout the world on the projects, policies and practices of theMulti lateral Development Banks.

BankTrack

www.banktrack.orgNetw ork of activists and organizations working on commercial f inancial insti tut ions.

CEE Bankw atch Netw ork

www.bankwatch.org

Internat ional NGO with 12 member organizations moni toring the activities of International Financial Insti tu-t ions in Cent ral and Eastern Europe.

IFIwatchnet

www.ifiwatchnet.orgIFIwatchnet connects organizations worldwide that are monitoring international f inancial instit utions suchas the World Bank the IMF, and regional development banks.

ECAw atch

www.eca-watch.orgWeb site of the international campaign to reform export credit, f inance and insurance agencies.

The Business & Human Right s Resource Cent re

www.business-humanrights.orgInformation on business and human rights, including human rights news and reports on specific companies orsectors.



18

Danish Instit ut e for Human Rights—Business and Human Rights Project

www.humanrightsbusiness.orgTools fo r internal monit oring of human rights standards within a business, research and advisory services.

Note: There are more organizations and netw orks that f ocus on di ff erent mult ilateral banks (like the AsianDevelopment Bank) or export credit agencies. They normally can be found by follow ing t he links on the Web

sites listed above or by using a search engine.

PROJECT FINANCE ON THE INTERNET

Project Finance Portal

www.hbs.edu/projfinportalThe sit e cont ains more t han 900 links to related sit es, which cont ain data as well as inf ormat ion about

companies and part icular projects .

Internat ional Finance Corporation

www.ifc.orgIncludes a database of p rojects being backed by the IFC, the private sector arm of the Wor ld Bank.

Project Finance

www.projectfinancemagazine.comIn addit ion t o providing a searchable database of projects, the site also gives details of companies and projectf inanciers. Free trial period.

Project Finance International

deals.thomsonib.comPFI is a bimonthly publication repor ting on global project finance deals from inception t o complet ion w ithnews, feature art icles and deal dat a (includ ing league tables). For a fee.

World Bank Project Search

www.worldbank.org/projects

Cont ains informat ion on more than 9,500 World Bank projects, from 1947 to the present.

Note: Further sources of information on companies, financial insti tut ions and project finance can be f ound inThe Campaigners’ Guide to Financial M arkets (see above).




NOTES



The Center for Vict ims of Tort ureNew Tact ics in Human Right s Project

717 East River RoadMinneapolis, MN 55455

www.cvt.org / [email protected] ics.org / newtact [email protected]

To pr int or dow nload t his and other publicat ions in t he Tact ical Notebook Series,go t o w w w.new tactics.org.

Online you w il l also f ind a searchable dat abase of tact ics andforums for discussion w ith other human rights pract it ioners.

Documents

Leveraging the Money: Enforcing human rights by influencing financial institutions (English)