The Long Road to Justice for the Ngäbe of Kiad

In 2012, Both ENDS received a message from the Panamanian organisation ACD, a small local CSO that works on nature conservation and the defence of the rights of Panama’s Indigenous population. And this is how Both ENDS gets involved in the struggle, led by Indigenous communities of the Ngäbe people under the banner of a social movement called M10 (Movimiento 10 de Abril), to prevent the construction of the hydroelectric dam.

Despite sustained community resistance, including a road blockade that is dismantled with lethal police force, and a UN-facilitated dialogue, which collapsed in 2015, the construction on the dam went ahead – in part due to questionable political pressure from the side of the banks.  In 2016, dam construction completed and the reservoir was filled, causing damage and suffering in the affected communities.

Although the struggle could count on a lot of international support in its early years, attention to the case weakened after the dam went fully operational. Following the flooding, Both ENDS, SOMO and ACD were the only organisations left that continued to support M10. We arrived at a breakthrough in 2021, when the company behind the dam, GENISA, prepaid its loan and when the banks’ complaint mechanism, the ICM, made its final monitoring visit and noted serious negative impacts.

Development banks like FMO typically place the responsibility to respect human rights standards with their client. In this case, this position was impossible to uphold – the client had broken off all relations. It was also crystal clear that the banks themselves had been negligent, notably regarding their disrespect for the Indigenous right to FPIC – free, prior and informed consent.

FMO and DEG decided to engage with M10’s demands for a responsible exit, and a dialogue ensued between the communities and the banks, with the objective of reaching a solution. Between 2022 and 2025, intensive conversations took place between the different parties, both physically in Panama and through numerous video calls. Representing Both ENDS, I have been able to support the community representatives throughout the entire dialogue process, with strategic advice, translations, and encouragement.

At times it was difficult for the community representatives to keep up the faith in achieving what they felt would feel like justice. The dam is already operational. ICM was slow to report. An earlier dialogue had collapsed. Encouraging them to keep on going was an important part of the job for me.

But the results are worth it: in June 2025, when the agreement was signed, the banks published a statement recognizing that...

“the communities affected by this project experienced, and continue to experience significant loss to their territory, environment, ways of life, and to the places they hold sacred. We wish to sincerely acknowledge the negative impacts caused by the construction and operation of the project, and to declare, again, our intention to help address some of the negative impacts the affected communities have endured, working in collaboration with those who have suffered, while respecting their sovereignty”. 

Now, Kiad has turned into a construction site, with families building new houses. The communities will soon – finally – be receiving electricity and water. There are talks with neighbouring landowners to buy new parcels of agricultural land. Many other plans are being drawn. Humberto, one of the community representatives during the dialogue, reflected:

“We have felt violated as an Indigenous people. They have to do better research before they invest whatever resource in other parts of the world. We are the first community to have pulled their [the bank’s] ear. They’re not used to that. Together we’ve brought the banks here, to our humble communities, and we held them responsible. We made history”.

The lessons are clear. These processes are time and energy consuming, and positive outcomes are all but guaranteed. But the Barro Blanco case shows us that solidarity, sustained through time, does yield its victories. Together, we wrote history.