17 September 2024
Mr. Jin Liqun
President
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Dear Pres. Jin,
We have reviewed your response to our letter requesting formal civil society panel sessions (sent August 30) and concluded that the program remains unchanged per your website's schedule. Therefore, we regretfully decline this year’s participation at the AIIB Annual Meeting in Uzbekistan and are calling for a boycott of the event by our network. However, we acknowledge that some members may attend the meeting in person while supporting the Forum network's boycott and its principles.
The decision to boycott should be seen as a symbolic response to the AIIB's refusal to recognize meaningful civil society engagement within the Annual Meeting format. The decision to boycott the AIIB Annual Meeting 2024 is based on the following reasons:
Lack of Meaningful Civil Society Consultations: The AIIB continues to approve policies and strategies—such as the Gender Action Plan, Corporate Strategy, Climate Action Plan, and Accountability Framework—without consulting civil society. This ongoing exclusion reflects a broader pattern that undermines transparency and the principles of inclusive dialogue.
Exclusion of Diverse Perspectives: To date, in contrast to standard MDB practice, the AIIB has refused to host civil society-led panel discussions at its Annual Meetings, overlooking the value of diverse perspectives and stakeholder input. Furthermore, CSO experts and impacted communities have not been invited to speak on bank-organized panels, including issues such as financial intermediaries and gender, where civil society has deep experience, limiting the range of presented views and debates. In today’s global context, effective policy-making increasingly relies on inclusive consultation processes that incorporate the voices of those directly affected by the issues.
Failure to Provide Visa Support: The AIIB has failed to offer meaningful visa-related support for local civil society groups attending the Uzbekistan Annual Meeting, creating significant barriers to safe travel and participation for organizations across the region. These visa-related obstacles severely limit the ability of affected communities and civil society representatives to engage with key decision-makers and participate in critical discussions. By not addressing these barriers, the AIIB not only undermines the inclusivity of its Annual Meetings but also perpetuates a pattern of exclusion.
NGO Forum on ADB network has been an active and critical stakeholder of the AIIB for the past eight years, consistently advocating for inclusive and accountable practices. Our decision to call for a boycott of this year’s AIIB Annual Meeting is driven by the intent to prompt AIIB decision-makers to address the aforementioned issues and commit to meaningful reforms in civil society participation. This boycott has been called upon with the intent that the AIIB decision-makers take heed of the above issues and commit to real steps for meaningful participation for civil society in all future Annual Meetings. We remain open to discussing AIIB operations, policies, and strategies with management and various bank agencies in the future.
Respectfully,
Rayyan Hassan
Executive Director
NGO Forum on ADB
Endorsed by the following organizations:
Accountability Counsel, Global
Aksi! for Gender, Social, and Ecological Justice, Indonesia
Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED), Bangladesh
BRICS Feminist Watch, India
Centre for Environmental Justice, Sri Lanka
CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network), Bangladesh
Environmental Public Society, Armenia
Gender Action, Global
Growthwatch, India
Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), India
Indonesian Forum for Living Environment (WALHI), Indonesia
Latinoamérica Sustentable, Ecuador
Programme on Women's Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (PWESCR), India
Recourse, Global
Sustentarse, Chile
Urgewald, Germany
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