24 January 2008
Leading donors to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have demanded that the institution overhaul its staffing and oversight procedures.
On January 16, the Financial Times (FT) reported that top donors to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), including the Unites States and the United Kingdom, have cited "a lack of significant progress on the reform agenda."
Leading donors have demanded an overhaul to the ADB's staffing and oversight procedures after record number of staff turnover at the institution. Additionally, the ADB was critisized by other multilateral agencies after its president, Haruhiko Kuroda, recently blocked a recommendation by a ADB-board committee to extend the term of the director-general of the ADB's operations evaluation department, according to the FT.
Shahid Malik, the British minister for international development explained why the UK would not raise its funding level to the ADB, stating that the UK would prefer to "support those multilateral organisations which clearly demonstrate their desire to fully realise their potential.”
In response to the FT article, former U.S. ambassadors/executive directors to the ADB offered their personal recommendations, in a commentary dated January 28, 2008, on how the ADB should reform:
- split the department of human resources and budget into two departments with different managers;
- fill important staff positions – and eventually all positions – in an open process;
- further staff and financial resources to investigate cases of fraud or corruption in ADB-financed projects;
- ADB management should redouble its support for the private sector operations department and remove its lending limits; and
- remove the veil of secrecy that enshrouds ADB’s decision-making.
Sources
Donors seek ADB shake-up, by Raphael Minder, January 16, 2008. (Financial Times website)
Five ways to reform Asia's regional bank, by Paul Speltz and Linda Tsao Yang, January 28, 2008. (Financial Times website)
How to lift tattered morale at the ADB, by Dr Eisuke Suzuki, February 1, 2008. (Financial Times website)