The Peoples Forum on BRICS declared that the New Development Bank has to step back and reconsider why indeed it was established. In so doing, NDB must pro-actively reach out to peoples movements, trade unions, civil society organisations and peoples networks genuinely working with poor and impacted communities, rather than finding comfort in plush and polite consultations held with fellow bankers, bureaucrats, key politicians and cherry-picking “NGOs” who conform with rather than critically engage the NDB.

We intend to win our demands for social, economic and environmental justice. The victories we have won already on multiple fronts – such as halting numerous multinational corporations’ exploitation, gaining access to essential state services, occupying land and creating agricultural cooperatives, and generating more humane values in our societies – give us momentum and optimism.