Information Sharing and Disclosure

Public Disclosure Advisory Committee

As part of the implementation strategy for the new Public Communications Policy (PCP), ADB has created a Public Disclosure Advisory Committee (PDAC) as an oversight body to interpret, monitor, and review the disclosure requirements of the Policy. The PDAC, which reports directly to the President, is made up of:

• the Managing Director General (serving as chair)
• the Director General, Department of External Relations
• the Secretary
• the General Counsel

The committee convenes as needed to review requests for information that have been denied by other ADB departments or offices.

Ensuring the PCP's effective implementation

The PDAC will contribute to the annual report on the public communications policy by assessing the implementation effectiveness of the disclosure elements of the Policy. The annual report will include a summary of refusals to provide information to the public, as well as any recommendations for changes to the Policy, the Operations Manual, or the organizational structure supporting ADB's public disclosure of information.

Petitioning a Denied Request

If a requester believes that a request has been unreasonably denied, or that the Policy has been interpreted improperly, a request for review may be submitted in writing to:

Public Disclosure Advisory Committee (PDAC)
Asian Development Bank
6 ADB Avenue
Mandaluyong City
1550 Metro Manila, Philippines

Requests for review by PDAC may also be submitted by email to pdac@adb.org, or by fax to +63 2 636 2640.

The PDAC will acknowledge receipt of a request within 5 working days, and will convene as soon as possible to consider complaints. The PDAC will notify the requester of its decision in writing, giving its reasons, as soon as a decision has been made, and no later than 30 calendar days after receiving the request.

In considering denials of requested information, the PDAC will consider the Policy's exceptions to disclosure, as well as the public's interest in disclosure of the requested information.

The PDAC will make publicly available on a rolling basis, a list of all requests received, the nature of each request, and the decision taken in each case. See the list of PDAC complaints received and decision taken.