Civil society organizations are concerned about a number of ADB policies and strategies. BIC has participated in efforts to promote responsible Bank policies that provide social and environmental justice. In particular, BIC has been involved in debates on the following ADB policy areas:
- Accountability mechanism (Inspection Function)
- Safeguard policies
- Information disclosure policies
- Environmental policies
- Forest policy
Policies and operations
The ADB has developed policies, strategies, and frameworks to guide its operations. ADB Board-approved policies are translated into an Operational Manual which serves as a guide for staff implementation of the policies.
ADB Policy and Strategy Papers (ADB website)
ADB Operational Manual (ADB website)
The Regional and Sustainable Development Department (RSDD) at the ADB develops policies and guidelines for all the sectors and aspects of development relevant to the ADB's work. RSDD also monitors the ADB's compliance with its own policies and guidelines. For more information on the ADB’s internal policy development, contact:
- Bindu Lohani, Director General
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Tel: +632 632-5721, Fax: +632 636-2192
Accountability mechanism
The ADB's Inspection Function is intended to provide project-affected communities a mechanism through which to raise concerns about the harmful, or potentially harmful, impacts of the ADB’s operations in their countries.
The ADB Board of Directors approved a new Accountability Mechanism on May 29, 2003. The new Accountability Mechanism is unique from those of other institutions in that it has two arms: a consultation phase designed to address problems faced by project-affected communities, and a compliance phase, established to conduct independent assessments of the ADB’s compliance with its policy framework when it is believed that failure to do so has, or is likely to, result in material harm to local communities.
For more information, see BIC's ADB Accountability Mechanism page (BIC website).
Safeguard policies
The ADB Safeguard Policies are intended to account for potential social and environmental risks in Bank-funded projects. The Bank has three Safeguard Policies:
The Safeguards were updated in 2005. In a letter submitted to ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda on July 22, 2005, thirteen civil society organizations from across Asia, US, Europe, and Australia put forward recommendations to help ensure meaningful civil society participation in the planned Safeguard Policies update, and cautioned the ADB against extremely rapid and selective plans for engaging external stakeholders.
Resources
Information disclosure policies
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted a review of the transparency of the organization in 2003-2005. This review resulted in a new Public Communication Policy (PCP).
The following documents, among others, should be available on the ADB website or made available to in-country stakeholders within the stated timeframe:
- Draft Country Strategy and Programs (CSP)
- Pre-CSP assessments such as poverty and sector analyses
- Board minutes and tentative Board schedule
- Chairman’s summaries of Board discussft Policy and Strategy papers
- Environmental and social monitoring reports
- Draft Operations Evaluation Department reports
Documents can also be requested at ADB’s InfoUnit, which is mandated to acknowledge information requests within 5 days and respond within 30 days. Citizens are encouraged to sign up under the new ADB email notification system in order to receive an alert when documents of interest have been posted at the ADB website.
Some concerns
Although the improved disclosure policy is a step in the right direction, the ADB continues to make slow progress when measured against the increasingly refined transparency agenda of critics. ADB has yet to publicly disclose the following documents:
- Board transcripts
- Board documents such as Report and Recommendations of the President and R-Papers, prior to Board discussion
- Project concept clearance paper for private sector projects
- Final draft CSPs upon circulation to the Board
- Aide Memoirs and Project/Program Progress Reports
- Operational budgets
- Names of blacklisted companies
The ADB is also being encouraged to set up an independent external appeals mechanism (instead of the current internal Public Disclosure Advisory Committee) to process refused information requests.
Although the draft PCP is an improvement from the Bank's current disclosure policy, it fails to address several key transparency reforms.
- The ADB ignored a call from several civil society organizations to require the disclosure of aide memoires – documents produced throughout the project cycle that outline Bank and Government agreements on steps in project development or implementation.
- The PCP does not require the disclosure of draft documents, including draft Board reports and draft country strategies.
- The PCP does not thoroughly address private sector information. It makes minimal progress in this area from the previous disclosure policy.
- Although the ADB makes several laudable statements regarding the need to “strike a balance between transparency on the one hand, and certain legal and practical constraints, on the other,” the PCP does not describe how the Bank will operationalize this statement. Without an independent body that can generate opinions on what should and shouldn’t be disclosed in order to “balance” such things as business confidentiality against the public’s right to information, the ADB will never effectively implement a “presumption in favor of disclosure.”
Resources
Other policies