C0006 Nicaragua

In June 2021, the IRM received a complaint relating to FP146. The complainant(s), while welcoming the objectives of the project, alleged that the project would harm indigenous and Afro-descendant communities as 1) prior to the approval of the project, there was no proper consultation with communities, including no free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC); 2) the project will lead to environmental degradation and attacks by armed non-indigenous settlers; 3) the Accredited Entity’s actions do not seem to comply with the GCF’s policies, especially on participation and information disclosure; 4) the GCF Board conditions placed on the project, especially relating to the implementation of FPIC and to the selection of independent third party monitor(s), will not be defined and complied with effectively; and 5) the executing entity will not fulfil its obligations in the implementation of the Bio-CLIMA project (more details about the complaint can be found in the eligibility determination report). The complainant(s) requested confidentiality, and the IRM is granting confidentiality in accordance with its TOR and PGs and as a result of its retaliation risk assessment. The complaint was declared eligible on 21 July 2021, and the case proceeded with the Initial Steps phase, where the IRM explored the options of problem solving and compliance review, with the complainant(s) and other stakeholders. After an initial round of meetings, all parties expressed their willingness to explore problem solving under the facilitation of the IRM. At the conclusion of this phase (extended to 180 days from the original 60 days), parties were unable reach an agreement on substantive matters relating to the framework and process design of a dialogue before the deadline. In these circumstances, the complainants have communicated to the IRM their request to transfer the case to compliance review. The initial steps phase is now concluded and the IRM is referring the complaint to compliance review for further processing.