Arab Watch Coalition Members’ Participation in the 2025 OECD Watch Global Meeting
Following an invitation from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Watch, Ms. Sihem Bouazza, Chair of the Board of Arab Watch Coalition, and Mr. Ahmed Chehbouni, Treasurer of the Board participated in the organization’s 2025 Global Meeting.
The event was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from April 8 to 10, and brought together civil society actors from around the world to discuss pressing regional and global challenges in today’s geopolitical context. Key themes included corporate accountability, strategies for civil society engagement, and opportunities for solidarity and collaboration.
Participants were introduced to the work of the OECD on corporate responsibility, including its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the OECD’s complaint mechanism. The discussions also explored how to strengthen national, regional, and global policies and legal frameworks around corporate accountability in the private sector.
A significant focus of the meeting was identifying ways and standards for engaging with corporations to promote responsible business conduct.
OCDE Watch is a global network of civil society organizations committed to ensuring that companies respect human rights and are held accountable for any harm they cause. The network works to empower communities, individuals, and civil society organizations to use the OECD Guidelines and its grievance mechanism—filed through National Contact Points—to hold companies accountable when they breach these standards.
The OECD Guidelines are directed at companies and set expectations around a wide range of issues, including animal welfare, anti-corruption, fair competition, information disclosure, environmental protection, just transition, climate change, human rights, the rights of human rights defenders, labor rights, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, land rights, stakeholder engagement, taxation, and technology.
During the meeting, Arab Watch Coalition (AWC ) was presented in terms of its structure and objectives, with a focus on its efforts to promote responsible conduct among companies funded by the World Bank Group—particularly in the private sector. It was highlighted that the Coalition is currently engaged in advocacy around the review of the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Sustainability Framework. This framework includes the IFC’s Disclosure Policy and Performance Standards, which outline the conditions private companies must meet to qualify for IFC loans.
The IFC’s Sustainability Framework aligns closely with the OECD Guidelines, especially in areas such as environmental protection, human rights, and transparency—principles that companies are expected to uphold throughout their operations.
AWC also advocates for a consultation process on the IFC framework that is inclusive, transparent, participatory, effective, and meaningful—ensuring that civil society and affected communities are genuinely involved in shaping the framework.
In terms of substance, although the IFC already has its own disclosure policy and accountability standards for the private sector, the AWC is pushing for greater transparency about private sector loans. This includes making more information publicly available on the IFC website and ensuring that all project stakeholders are engaged at every stage of implementation.
While there is a publicly available blacklist of companies that have committed financial violations related to international financial institution loans, no such list exists for companies that violate human rights standards. AWC is calling for the same approach to be applied in both cases—so that companies breaching human rights principles are also excluded from receiving further funding from international financial institutions.
By Sihem Bouazza and Ahmed Chehbouni.