{"id":3456,"date":"2026-04-09T10:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T10:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/?p=3456"},"modified":"2026-04-13T23:55:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:55:42","slug":"second-progress-report-shows-little-action-on-world-bank-redress-plan-at-liberian-plantation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/?p=3456","title":{"rendered":"Second progress report shows little action on World Bank redress plan at Liberian plantation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-317077\">\n<div class=\"bulletpoints-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"bulletpoints\">\n<ul>\n<li><em>An action plan for redress for communities whose land and human rights the World Bank\u2019s ombudsman found were violated by the operators of the Salala rubber plantation in Liberia appears to have stalled.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>A progress report published in February said the bank\u2019s private sector arm would continue to engage key stakeholders, but affected communities say they have not been contacted.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>In 2023, the International Finance Corporation\u2019s ombudsman found communities\u2019 complaints about inadequate compensation and widespread sexual harassment were valid.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>The IFC and the former operator of the plantation, Socfin, committed to carrying out the action plan, but a year later the plantation was sold, creating uncertainty over who will see the process through.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><button class=\"content-expander\"><span>See All Key Ideas<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A year after the World Bank approved a plan to redress community grievances over inadequate compensation and sexual harassment at Liberia\u2019s Salala Rubber Corporation, a progress report provides little evidence that any of its key commitments have been implemented.<\/p>\n<p>In February, the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cao-ombudsman.org\/sites\/default\/files\/downloads\/IFC-ManagementProgressReport-SalalaRubber-February2026-ENG.pdf.pdf\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external\">a second report on progress with the action plan<\/a>. \u201cIFC will continue to engage with key stakeholders over the coming months to explore the feasibility of MAP implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Windor Smith, from the Liberian civil society organization Alliance for Rural Democracy, which works with affected communities around the Salala plantation, told Mongabay she does not know which stakeholders the IFC is engaging with. \u201cThe situation is still the same. There is no engagement, no consultation with the communities and supporting organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luxembourg-based multinational Socfin took over the rubber plantation in 2007 and received an IFC loan of $10 million to rehabilitate and expand it. Community members started voicing grievances soon thereafter. Dissatisfied with the company\u2019s response, they filed a complaint with the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, IFC\u2019s independent watchdog, in 2019, alleging sexual harassment, inadequate compensation for their rubber trees and food crops lost and a flawed land acquisition process.<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2020\/06\/how-the-legacy-of-colonialism-built-a-palm-oil-empire\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">Read more about Socfin\u2019s plantations in Africa<\/a>.<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Exclusive: Women allege sexual exploitation on a Liberian rubber plantation\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FBHygRSUOqQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Four years later, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cao-ombudsman.org\/sites\/default\/files\/downloads\/CAOInvestigationReport-Liberia-SalalaRubberCorporation-Dec2023-ENG.pdf\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external\">CAO completed its investigation<\/a>, concluding that many of the complaints were valid. The IFC developed an action plan, which it committed to implementing along with Socfin.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to what followed many previous CAO investigations, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cao-ombudsman.org\/sites\/default\/files\/downloads\/IFC-ManagementResponse-MAP-Liberia-Salala-March2025-ENG.pdf\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external\">Salala management action plan<\/a> included several clear and concrete actions. Where compensation for lost crops was below IFC standards, it was to be adjusted retroactively. The IFC also committed to pay for women\u2019s economic empowerment activities for survivors and their families, including livelihood support and psychosocial activities, as well as sexual and reproductive health services for survivors of sexual violence in the communities in and around the plantation.<\/p>\n<p>According to the IFCs second progress update, none of these items have been implemented.<\/p>\n<p>The matter has been complicated further because Socfin repaid the IFC loan in 2020 and then sold Salala to a local rubber processing company, Jeety Rubber, in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Jeety, owned by Indian businessman Upjit Singh Sachdeva, did not respond to Mongabay\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to detail which parts of the action plan were carried out between the first progress report in June 2025 and the second one, in December, IFC spokesperson Gavin Thorpe referred to the MAP commitments, and said, \u201cBeyond that and other publicly available information on the CAO\u2019s website, we don\u2019t have anything further to share.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Socfin spokesperson Ludovic Saint-Pol told Mongabay via email that the company was committed to implementing its own, separate action plan, which was developed together with the environmental consultancy Earthworm Foundation. According to Saint-Pol, <a href=\"https:\/\/socfin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025.06.30-Socfin-SRC-Action-Plan-Update-June-2025.pdf\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external\">their action plan<\/a> was completed in summer 2025. \u201cSince then, while we remain open to dialogue and in contact with IFC, we have not received further detailed information regarding the implementation of the MAP.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_305138\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Second-progress-report-shows-little-action-on-World-Bank-redress.-Image-by-Ashoka-Mu.jpeg\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Inside the Salala rubber plantation. Image by Ashoka Mukpo\/Mongabay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em><strong>Banner image: <\/strong>In 2023, women working at the Salala plantation told Mongabay their managers often tried to pressure them into sex. Ashoka Mukpo\/Mongabay.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"VVlGp85jEC\" wp_automatic_readability=\"0\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2024\/04\/world-banks-ifc-under-fire-over-alleged-abuses-at-liberian-plantation-it-funded\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">World Bank\u2019s IFC under fire over alleged abuses at Liberian plantation it funded<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute , visibility: hidden ,\" title=\"\u201cWorld Bank\u2019s IFC under fire over alleged abuses at Liberian plantation it funded\u201d \u2014 Conservation news\" src=\"https:\/\/news.mongabay.com\/2024\/04\/world-banks-ifc-under-fire-over-alleged-abuses-at-liberian-plantation-it-funded\/embed\/#?secret=l6djnSwJuS#?secret=VVlGp85jEC\" data-secret=\"VVlGp85jEC\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Feedback: Use <a href=\"https:\/\/form.jotform.com\/91615167932158\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"external noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">this form<\/a> to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n<div id=\"single-article-footer\">\n<div class=\"container in-column about-editor-translator gap--40 pv--80\">\n<div class=\"container grid--3 repeat gap--40\">\n<div class=\"in-row gap--16\">\n<div class=\"author-avatar\">\n                    <img alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Beetle-known-for-ravaging-mango-trees-now-killing-baobabs-study.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36c50252038c27337a470c4e2a7339484976a21369d5232cad9f3d9fb5419159?s=64&#038;d=identicon&#038;r=g 2x\" class=\"avatar avatar-32 photo\" height=\"32\" width=\"32\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"\/>        <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>                            <span class=\"article-comments\"><a href=\"\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\"\/><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An action plan for redress for communities whose land and human rights the World Bank\u2019s ombudsman found were violated by the operators of the Salala rubber plantation in Liberia appears to have stalled. A progress report published in February said the bank\u2019s private sector arm would continue to engage key stakeholders, but affected communities say [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature-biodiversity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3456"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3458,"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3456\/revisions\/3458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatevdo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}