Footnotes

• Contributors ORR: developed the concept for the content of the article, performed the literature search and wrote the first draft of the article; MM and JJA: contributed to the content and modified later drafts of the article; DB: developed the concept for the content of the article, contributed to the content and later drafts of the article, and is the guarantor of the article.

• Funding Funding for the research conducted by Boston University was the result of a mediation process convened by the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for social and environmental issues of IFC/MIGA of the World Bank Group, between Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited (NSEL) and Asociacion de Chichigalpa por la Vida (ASOCHIVIDA). The funds were provided by the CAO and the Comite Nacional de Productores de Azucar (CNPA), of which NSEL is a member. The CAO managed all funds and maintained the contract to conduct the research, with the agreement of both parties involved in the mediation. ORR is also funded by the Enrique Najera predoctoral grant awarded by the Spanish Society of Epidemiology and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of CAO or any other body.

• Competing interest None.

• Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.