Posted on July, 15 2024

WWF today welcomes Susana Rodriguez as Ombudsperson. Susana is a distinguished international accountability specialist and brings wide-ranging experience and expertise in mediation and operationalizing grievance mechanisms.

An Ecuadorian and Spanish national, Susana has worked to prevent and address environmental and social impacts by improving how organizations respond to grievances in a variety of settings throughout her career. She has experience building grievance mechanisms and providing dispute resolution for organizations including the International Finance Corporation, as a specialist member of its various grievance response mechanisms serving project-affected communities, and the Green Climate Fund, where she led its independent mechanism’s dispute resolution function.

“We are delighted to welcome Susana Rodriguez in the role of Ombudsperson for WWF’s global conservation network who will help strengthen our accountability to embed our environmental and social safeguards, and which are part of the very fabric of inclusive conservation,” said Kirsten Schuijt, Director General of WWF International.

“I look forward to writing the next chapter of the Office of the Ombudsperson, focused on setting up operations to effectively support stakeholder communities and deliver improved environmental and social outcomes from WWF activities. I’m driven by a deep commitment to environmental and social justice and inspired by the opportunity to engage as Ombudsperson in support of WWF’s mission to promote a world in which nature and people flourish,” said Susana Rodriguez, upon her appointment.

With this appointment the Office of the Ombudsperson is set to move from its foundational design to its operational phase. The Ombudsperson operates independently of conservation activities and is accountable to the International Board. WWF has created the Office of the Ombudsperson (Office) as a critical component of WWF’s efforts to: 
 

• Strengthen its programmatic work through compliance with Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (ESSF) commitments;
• Further strengthen WWF’s relationships with communities through stakeholder engagement;
• Strengthen its institutional accountability in terms of the ESSF; and
• Improve the environmental and social outcomes of its work.

ENDS