Civil society engagement with the AIIB Annual Meetings has remained limited, fragmented, and largely symbolic—despite the bank’s public commitment to transparency and inclusive dialogue. While AIIB has opened some space for civil society to attend side events and submit questions, these forums often lack genuine responsiveness or avenues for influence. NGO Forum on ADB network have mobilized parallel events and issued joint statements to challenge AIIB’s financing of fossil fuel infrastructure, waste-to-energy incinerators, and large hydropower projects that frequently ignore the rights and voices of affected communities.

 

The AIIB Annual Meetings are often criticized for prioritizing image management over accountability, with little space for grassroots concerns to shape policy or project design. Civil society continues to call for institutional reforms that would allow for more meaningful engagement, better access to project data, and stronger mechanisms for communities to be heard. Without these changes, AIIB’s Annual Meetings risk becoming performative exercises that fail to reflect the realities on the ground.

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1. Civil society engagement and issues of concern regarding meaningful participation at the AIIB Annual Meeting 2024

2. Boycott of AIIB Annual Meeting 2024 due to lack of meaningful civil society engagement

3. Critical Concerns on the Occasion of AIIB's Annual Meeting 2023

4. Raising Critical Concerns on the Occasion of AIIB’s Annual Meeting 2022

5. Key issues regarding the AIIB Annual Meeting 2021 Letter

6. Civil society reflections on AIIB's 5th annual meeting (virtual), 2020

7. CSO's request for a meaningful dialogue in the Annual Meeting 2019

8. NGO Forum on ADB Statement to the AIIB President and management 2017

9. Press Statement of NGO Forum on ADB on the First AIIB Annual Meeting 2016​​​