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ADB Adopts New Accountability Mechanism

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (30 May 2003) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a new Accountability Mechanism to address concerns of persons affected by ADB-assisted projects. The new Accountability Mechanism consists of two complementary functions, a consultation phase and a compliance review phase, which together will replace ADB's Inspection Function, approved in December 1995.

Approval of the new mechanism follows a thorough participatory review of the Inspection Function. ADB organized ten consultation workshops with government officials, business persons, representatives of civil society and project-affected people. Between March 2002 and March 2003, ADB also solicited public comments on various papers prepared in the course of the review, including an issues paper, two draft working papers, and the working paper.

The consultation phase of the ADB Accountability Mechanism assists project-affected people with specific problems caused by ADB-assisted projects through a range of informal, consensus-based methods with the consent and participation of all parties concerned. A special project facilitator (SPF) will be appointed and he/she will be responsible for the consultation phase. The SPF will report directly to the President.

The compliance review phase is to establish ADB's accountability in its operations by providing a forum in which project-affected people (and in special circumstances, any Board member) can air their complaints against ADB in a fair, objective, and transparent manner by filing requests for compliance review. The compliance review focuses on ADB's conduct in connection with the particular project under compliance review. The conduct of other parties, including the borrowing country, executing agency, borrower, or private project sponsor, will not be the subject of the investigation.

A three-person Compliance Review Panel (CRP) will be appointed to investigate alleged violations by ADB of its operational policies and procedures in any ADB-assisted project that directly, materially, and adversely affect local people in the course of the formulation, processing, or implementation of the ADB-assisted project. Two of the panel members will be from regional countries, and the third will be from a nonregional country. The scope of compliance review includes all ADB operational policies and procedures as they relate to the formulation, processing, or implementation of the ADB-assisted project.

The CRP will report directly to the Board on all activities, including post compliance review monitoring and its outcomes, except on specific activities where it will report to the Board Compliance Review Committee, which will replace the present Board Inspection Committee. The CRP will report its findings and make recommendations to ensure project compliance, including recommendations, if appropriate, for any remedial changes in the scope or implementation of the project.

The offices implementing the two functions will be physically and functionally separate from each other, but will be linked for the purposes of responding to the complaints of project-affected people, and enhancing ADB's development effectiveness and project quality. Complaints relating to an ADB-assisted project under the ADB Accountability Mechanism will first go to the consultation phase before seeking to establish ADB's accountability under the compliance review phase.

The mechanism applies to both the public sector operations and private sector operations of ADB.

The principles in establishing and operating ADB's accountability mechanism include enhancing ADB's development effectiveness and project quality, being responsive to the concerns of project-affected people and fair to all stakeholders, and being independent and transparent as possible.

The effective date of the mechanism will be 30 days from the appointment of the SPF or CRP members, whichever occurs later, but no later than the end of November 2003.

More at adb.org/media

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