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The Public Communications Policy of the Asian Development Bank: Disclosure and Exchange of Information

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VII. Staffing and Resource Implications

167. The successful implementation of the Policy will place new demands on many ADB staff, and involve additional costs. An ADB-wide shift toward greater openness, fuller disclosure, and more proactive sharing of information is an ADB-wide responsibility, and the critical processes and actions identified in the preceding paragraphs will require additional resources in certain areas. All efforts have been made to contain the additional costs of implementing the new Policy; they will be kept under close review as it takes effect, and budget allocations adjusted accordingly.

168. As discussed in more detail below, ADB will allocate the necessary resources in a phased manner. In total, one professional staff position, ten national officer positions, the equivalent of 5.2 professional staff-years, and 1.5 support staff-years will be required in the short term.³² Implementation of the Policy will also require one-time costs of approximately $203,000 and recurring costs of approximately $208,000 per annum.

A. External Relations

169. Following the approval of the Policy, eight new national officer positions will be assigned to key resident missions that currently have limited external relations capabilities: Bangladesh, Kazakhstan,³³ Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam (paragraph 146).³⁴ In the medium term, ADB will prioritize the remaining resident missions in terms of external relations demand and opportunities, and assign additional positions accordingly. ADB will also assess the need to create professional staff positions with regional responsibility at appropriate resident missions.

170. Based on the new organizational arrangements for external relations, ADB will further assess the human resource requirements to implement the external relations strategy under the Policy, identify the scope for improving and realigning the staff skills mix in OER and representative offices, and reallocate, where necessary, the available resources within the approved budget envelope. A one-time cost for the perception survey and other recurring costs such as mission travel, training, and media outreach activities for external relations will also be assessed and appropriate funding for these activities will be sought through the annual budget process.

171. Possible upgrading of public information centers at resident missions and other field offices serving developing member countries will be reviewed by OER, and an appropriate cost estimate will be brought to the Board separately.

B. Disclosure of Information

172. The creation of OER's new public information and disclosure unit (InfoUnit), which will oversee the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the disclosure requirements of the Policy, will require the addition of one professional staff position and one national officer position. In addition, one new national officer will be assigned to the web team to coordinate with the InfoUnit, operations departments, and other offices in posting many more documents on the ADB website. OER will require a training budget of approximately $133,000 in the first year, and $20,000 each succeeding year to monitor the Policy.

173. Additional operational staff time will be needed to disclose additional documents required under the Policy, communicate more systematically with affected people, address feedback received from stakeholders, and arrange for translations of CSPs and their updates. Regional departments will require the addition of 5.2 professional staff-years ($960,000) and 1.5 support staff-years ($32,500), and associated travel costs of $60,000 per annum. Regional departments will also require $70,000 in one-time costs to create project information documents, and $128,000 annually in translation costs. OER will develop, within 6 months of the Policy's approval, a framework for expanding the range of documents ADB systematically translates. The translation framework will include a more comprehensive annual translation budget.

174. The increased number of inquiries for historical information that can be anticipated as a result of the new Policy will be accommodated through strengthened and more cost-effective library, records, and archives management systems.

175. Under the new ADB information systems and technology strategy II (2004-2009), ADB's computer systems will be reconfigured and consolidated to cater for the provision of timely, relevant information. New information repository and retrieval systems currently being developed and planned under the strategy are also expected to facilitate easier and quicker entry and access to operational information. It is expected that, by making more project-related information available on the ADB website-and organizing it to promote easier user access-the time staff currently spent responding to requests for information will be reduced.

176. For loans and technical assistance, the cost of implementing communications plans and developing mechanisms for communicating with affected people (see paragraphs 74-76) will vary according to project type and geographical location, and will be identified and incorporated at the design stage into the budget of each program or project.

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