The World Bank’s private investment arm is refusing to directly compensate individuals who faced sexual, physical, and financial harms at a chain of schools it funded in Africa and India, despite requests from the people who were hurt and pressure from civil society advocates, U.S. senators, and an internal watchdog.
On Thursday, the World Bank Group’s Executive Board will vote whether to approve the International Finance Corporation’s plan to remedy harms relating to its $13.5 million investment in Bridge International Academies, following a lengthy investigation that concluded in December. The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman found a series of failures relating to school safety and labor practices at Bridge schools in Kenya, according to a summary of its draft report that was leaked to The Intercept. The CAO asked the IFC — the World Bank’s financing arm — to work with Bridge to establish processes to compensate the affected individuals for harms suffered. Yet the IFC’s proposal declines to do so, according to two sources familiar with the case.
This comes just months after the IFC bucked a CAO recommendation for direct payments as a remedy for harm in a separate investigation involving the sexual abuse of young female students in 2016 by a teacher at a Bridge school in Kenya. Instead, the IFC agreed to fund a program that would support survivors of child sexual abuse to access services, such as counseling and health care, on a case-by-case basis and regardless of whether they were abused at a Bridge school.
“They failed to act when they became aware of the problems. That is reckless and complicit behavior.”
Civil society groups are up in arms about what they perceive as the IFC’s inadequate response to the CAO’s findings in both cases. “The truth is that the IFC knew about these problems. They failed to act when they became aware of the problems,” said Angelo Gavrielatos, campaign manager at the nonprofit Education International. “That is reckless and complicit behavior. It’s long overdue that they establish a remedy and contribute to that remedy for those who have been harmed.”
The IFC declined to comment specifically on the plan it will present to the World Bank board this week, saying only that its policy is to publicize its action plans following board approval.
Since 2018, the CAO has investigated a series of formal, overlapping complaints against Bridge International Academies, which opened in Kenya in 2009, for issues including school safety and sexual abuse. The CAO’s probes, and reporting by The Intercept, have revealed that students, parents, and teachers in Kenya were harmed as a direct result of Bridge’s wrongdoing and the IFC’s failure to supervise its investment. Bridge did not respond to requests for comment.
Civil society experts say that the best way for the IFC to make amends is to give money directly to survivors with no strings attached, as a way to acknowledge their suffering, as well as to give them the autonomy to decide what they need to heal and move forward with their lives. There is global precedent for providing compensation to survivors of abuse, including sexual abuse. A task force at the World Bank Group itself endorsed this approach in a 2017 report responding to sexual misconduct during a Bank-funded development project in Uganda. The IFC, for its part, said it has never provided no-fault compensation for harms suffered by survivors of sexual abuse on any IFC-supported project.
The IFC is facing compensation requests in other ongoing investigations as well. Emily, a Kenyan woman who filed a complaint with the CAO last year about sexual assault she experienced at a Bridge school as a child, said that her decision to request compensation from the IFC was about acknowledging her father’s vehement advocacy on her behalf. (After first meeting Emily about a year ago, this writer introduced her to civil society groups that helped her to file the complaint, which is being reviewed by the CAO).
“I didn’t consider myself; I considered my father. He was always at the police station,” said Emily, who The Intercept is identifying with a pseudonym to protect her privacy. “He wanted me to go through this process and get justice, not only for myself, but for the others. Can you give something small to appreciate this man?”
“Deeply Inadequate”
The CAO probes misconduct that occurs at IFC-backed projects during the time of its investment and for 15 months afterward. In this case, the IFC poured millions of dollars into Bridge’s parent company, NewGlobe Schools, over the course of nearly a decade. In March 2022, amid the CAO investigations, the IFC quietly divested from NewGlobe Schools.
Yet the IFC still had indirect ties to the company because of its active investment in Learn Capital Venture Partners III LP, a venture capital firm that funds NewGlobe Schools. The IFC’s connection to Bridge ended in February, when Bridge transitioned away from NewGlobe Schools to become an independent foundation. (Learn Capital and NewGlobe Schools did not respond to requests for comment.)
The CAO launched its first probe into the IFC’s Bridge investment following a 2018 complaint by the Kenyan nonprofit EACHRights filed on behalf of parents and teachers at Bridge. Last December, the ombudsman completed its long-awaited investigation into the case, known as Bridge 01.
The CAO found that more than 100 Bridge students suffered potentially preventable injuries while at school, and at least two preventable student fatalities occurred during the years of the IFC’s investment, according to a copy of the executive summary of the leaked report, which is considered a draft until it is voted on by the World Bank board. Issues around worker compensation potentially affected thousands of Bridge employees, the report estimated. Overall, investigators found shortcomings in the IFC’s due diligence processes before making the investment, during the life of the project, and after its divestment.
The CAO recommended that the IFC work with Bridge to develop processes to provide fair and swift compensation to current and former workers and to the parents of current and former Bridge students.
However, despite the CAO’s findings, the IFC did not accept the recommendation in its proposed MAP, set to be presented to the World Bank board for approval on June 13, as confirmed by sources familiar with the case and documents seen by The Intercept.
The IFC shared a draft of certain sections of the MAP with select civil society groups on May 3, giving them until May 15 to provide feedback. This brief timeframe was criticized by Oxfam in an email to the World Bank’s board on May 16 for being insufficient and superficial in terms of consultation and stakeholder engagement.
Oxfam further stated that the MAP displayed a lack of commitment from the IFC to rectify its failures outlined in the CAO report, and a reluctance to design a remediation program to address the harms. Despite these concerns, Oxfam declined to comment further to The Intercept.
In a similar vein, the IFC did not allocate funds directly to individuals affected by incidents at Bridge’s schools in Kenya following the CAO’s investigation into child sexual abuse. The CAO’s report on the Bridge 04 case highlighted the IFC’s lack of supervision, resulting in significant harm to students. The IFC was requested to prepare an action plan for approval by the World Bank board.
In response, survivors of the Bridge incidents, supported by civil society groups and Senators Warren and Welch, outlined their demands in a letter to the board. These included financial reparations, counseling, education, training, legal support, and a public apology from Bridge.
Despite these appeals, the IFC’s final MAP submitted on March 7 did not include direct compensation for survivors of the Bridge incidents. Instead, it proposed a collective response supporting programs for child sexual abuse survivors in Kenya, leaving little room for direct financial compensation for Bridge survivors.
Although the Bank board approved the plan, civil society groups criticized it for failing to provide direct compensation to survivors. The IFC stated that it aims to develop a program to support Bridge survivors, potentially including financial support after consultation with stakeholders.
World Bank President Ajay Banga acknowledged the IFC’s oversight regarding the Bridge investment and expressed regret during a meeting with employees in June. He mentioned the need to address the issue openly and take appropriate action to rectify the situation. He emphasized the importance of World Bank employees being concerned about the issues within the institution and working together to address them. The World Bank Group did not provide a response to inquiries.
“We Have a Voice”
Emily and three other survivors of sexual abuse shared their experiences at Bridge with the CAO. The CAO began an investigation into Learn Capital, the firm that invested in NewGlobe Schools and was an IFC client at the time. The CAO recently completed an assessment report on the complaints filed by the four women, who chose to remain anonymous for safety reasons. Both Bridge and Learn Capital have shown reluctance to engage in a dialogue with the complainants. It is now up to the CAO to determine if further investigation is necessary.
David Pred, the executive director of Inclusive Development International, expressed dismay at the lack of support from Bridge and Learn Capital towards the sexually abused former students. Emily, one of the survivors, found the process of seeking reparations and collaborating with the CAO and civil society groups to be empowering. She has taken on a leadership role among the survivors, encouraging others to come forward and report their experiences.
Despite facing personal challenges, including the loss of her father and financial constraints, Emily remains committed to seeking justice and helping other survivors of sexual assault. She aspires to become a counselor but requires financial support for her education.
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