A/HRC/45/15 institutionalized throughout all stages of development financing, that is, during the policy, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages. 94. At the policy level, the Special Rapporteur regrets the lack of information received about involving communities in formulating development financing policy. One civil society organization from Latin America reported that while it was consulted about some national development plans, Governments treated discussions about how to finance those plans as separate processes that did not involve civil society.21 95. At the project level, the Special Rapporteur received information indicating that communities are not being involved as decision makers from the beginning of discussions about whether to finance development projects. Rather, development banks, Governments and companies often propose projects without the input of local communities. As a result, communities learn about development projects after they have already begun.22 For example, in one case, a community in an East African country learned that they were being evicted for a road expansion project when the demolition of their neighbourhood began around them – before eviction notices were sent or relocation sites were offered.23 96. In the absence of notification from Governments and development finance institutions, how communities and civil society access information about financing for development to facilitate meaningful participation presents another set of challenges. For example, a civil society organization reported that it could be difficult to find out which investors, private or public, were financing a particular project. 24 This can be due to the use of financial intermediaries, or to the lack of contact information provided at the site of a proposed project. In this context, the Special Rapporteur encourages the above-mentioned good practice of creating a website listing all public-private partnerships in one country (see para. 27 above), although this would not cover projects that were exclusively private or public. 97. One East African State reported that it held informational workshops about new finance legislation in each of the country’s provinces (see para. 26 above); this model could be adapted to conducting local workshops on potential development projects. In combination with the dissemination of information that is comprehensible to the population at large, this measure could help to address another concern that was raised: the technical nature of development finance information can make it inaccessible.25 Civil society has also reported the issue of a lack of translation into minority and/or indigenous languages. In the abovementioned road expansion case, the development finance institution only announced that it was going to translate some projects documents into one of the local languages three years after evictions began.26 98. The Special Rapporteur is also concerned by the frequent exclusion of vulnerable populations, including persons with disabilities, women, children and young people, minorities, indigenous peoples, people of African descent and members of other disempowered or marginalized groups. He received reports that development finance institutions neglected to consult vulnerable groups, despite the increased risk of harm that those groups faced from development projects. For instance, civil society organizations have reported cases where development projects had resulted in young girls suffering sexual abuse and dropping out of school.27 99. In reaction to this lack of notification or consultation with communities and vulnerable groups, civil society organizations have set up an early warning system to alert communities 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 16 Latin American Network on Debt and Development, information provided on 29 May 2020. Counter Balance, “Development in reverse – episode 3: the Nepal Marsygandi Corridor” (28 February 2019), and Accountability Counsel, submission to the Special Rapporteur. Counter Balance, “Development in reverse: episode 2 – the Mombasa road” (21 February 2019). Bank Information Center, information provided on 6 May 2020. Latin American Network on Debt and Development, information provided on 29 May 2020. Counter Balance, “Development in reverse: episode 2”. Bank Information Center, “Uganda Transport Sector Development Project”, available at https://bankinformationcenter.org/en-us/project/uganda-transport-sector-development-project-tsdp/, and Accountability Counsel, information provided on 8 May 2020.