48th ABS Annual Conference

Learning how to prevent conflict through effective consultation mechanisms in infrastructure projects is a new area of learning. Mirroring the admonition to “settle all things, both great and small, by consultation" (‘Abdu'l-Baha), a positive consultative “engagement effect” can be discerned such that with expanded access to prior consultation and community grievance mechanisms, fewer claims are lodged. Overall, findings support the development of increasingly robust community consultation channels within development banks which, far from aggregating complaints, conversely appear to serve as a conduit incorporating community concerns into project design such that disputes are avoided.