The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a multilateral development finance institution whose mission is to reduce poverty in the Asia Pacific region. Although the ADB claims to operate in the interest of Asia’s poorest citizens, civil society groups have long been concerned about the ADB’s role in promoting sustainable and equitable growth in the region.
The ADB was founded in 1966 with the goal of eradicating poverty in the region. With over 1.9 billion people living on less than $2 a day in Asia, the institution has a formidable challenge. It plays the following functions for countries in the Asia Pacific region:
- Provides loans and equity investments to its developing member countries (DMCs)
- Provides technical assistance for the planning and execution of development projects and programs and for advisory services
- Promotes and facilitates investment of public and private capital for development
- Assists in coordinating development policies and plans of its DMCs
Though well-intentioned, ADB-funded operations have been responsible for causing widespread environmental and social damage, adversely affecting some of the regions poorest and most vulnerable communities.
Though publicly financed by taxpayer dollars, ADB activities (and those of other multilateral development banks) are often carried out without the informed participation of affected people, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), or, in many cases, the elected officials in the borrowing countries. A global movement to reform the MDBs has based its activities on the assumption that sustainable development and poverty alleviation are impossible without informed public participation in the decision making process.
Civil society concerns with the ADB include:
- Access to information about the ADB’s operations
- Public participation in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of ADB projects
- The social and environmental impacts of ADB programs and projects, and the Bank’s accountability for those impacts
- The ADB’s private sector lending
- The ADB’s role in regional and sub-regional economic cooperation
The Bank Information Center, in collaboration with its partners, works toward democratizing the ADB so that social and environmental considerations are incorporated in the Banks' decision making processes and operations.