USA – Non-judicial grievance mechanisms

Section II: Priority Areas of the National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct
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3. Priority Area (3) Strengthening Access to Remedy: “[…] The USG commits to strengthen access to remedy and to enable communities affected by USG investments or who utilize USG dispute mechanisms to access remedy safely and without reprisal. To do so, agencies and offices will strengthen USG-based due diligence processes and grievance mechanisms in consultation with external stakeholders through the following measures…

• U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC): DFC will strengthen protections against reprisals for groups and individuals through an updated policy commitment, developing internal guidance for responding to allegations of retaliation, and enabling anonymous complaints in DFC grievance mechanisms.
• U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”): Treasury will advocate for effective remedy systems at multilateral development banks, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), for project-affected communities, which includes robust responsible exit principles.
• Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM): EXIM will engage with Export Credit Agency (ECA) counterparts on strengthening remedy procedures and will engage in public outreach to solicit input on how to improve access to remedy and the efficacy of project-based grievance mechanisms.” (p.11-13)

Section III: Additional National Action Plan Commitments
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Table 3: Access to Remedy Commitments

(See NCP elements in the OECD National Contact Points (NCPs) breakdown)

The Department of the Treasury will “advocate for an effective remedy system at multilateral banks, including IFC and MIGA, which includes robust principles on “responsible exit.” This advocacy will inform IFC and MIGA’s development of the “IFC/MIGA Approach to Remedial Action.” This approach seeks to minimize the occurrence of environmental and social harm in IFC and MIGA projects through improving the implementation of environmental and social safeguards, while also supporting remedial action to communities to address harm when needed.”

The Export-Import Bank of the United States will “solicit public input on how to strengthen the effectiveness of project-based grievance mechanisms. This will include outreach to interested stakeholders and an opportunity for the public to provide feedback on this subject. This feedback will inform the agency’s efforts to work with other export credit agencies in establishing improved standards for project-based grievance mechanisms as well as its own evaluation of the adequacy of such mechanisms in the project context.”

(p.23)