Villagers in Tanzania have filed a formal grievance with the World Bank, claiming the bank still hasn’t provided adequate redress for loss of livelihoods and alleged human-rights abuses stemming from a bank-funded environmental program.
The villagers also claim that, despite the bank’s assurances, the abuses are continuing.
The World Bank’s Resilient Natural Resources Management for Tourism and Growth (REGROW) project had provided $100 million to expand protected environmental areas and boost tourism in the east African country. But the bank cancelled it in November 2024 amid allegations that Tanzanian wildlife rangers had committed forced evictions, rapes, extrajudicial killings and other abuses while working on the project.
The World Bank’s own investigation found that “there were critical failures of the Bank in the planning and supervision of this Project and that these have resulted in serious harm.”
Last month, the Oakland Institute, a California-based think tank that advocates for small farmers, forest dwellers and indigenous communities globally, lodged a complaint with the World Bank’s Grievance Redress Service on behalf of affected community members who, the institute says, remain anonymous because of fears of reprisals.
In April 2025, the World Bank released what it called an Action Plan aimed at providing relief to communities affected by the project. The plan included guarantees to halt forced resettlement of people, to ensure the continuation of farming and pastoral activities, and to provide livelihood support to communities.
In a statement, the Oakland Institute claimed that, despite pledges from the bank, Tanzanian park rangers had killed two more locals “and continue to terrorise communities,” as restrictions on livelihoods remain in place. The institute also alleges that World Bank efforts to support those impacted have “failed to provide adequate redress” – a claim supported by the findings of United Nations special rapporteurs and working groups.
According to the institute, the government of Tanzania under President Samia Suluhu Hassan – whose power was cemented last year after an election marred by widespread rights violations – has announced that inhabitants from five villages will be evicted, contradicting promises by the bank. Together, the relocations will affect “tens of thousands of people.”
In the statement, the Oakland Institute’s executive director, Anuradha Mittal, said that, “as Tanzania’s largest donor, [the World Bank] has the means and the leverage to end this harm and repair the devastation of lives it is responsible for.”