Governance

Policies and Action Plans

ADB in 1995 was the first multilateral development bank to adopt a special policy on governance. The Policy guides our mission to enhance governance quality in our developing member countries.

Over the years, supplementary policies like the Anticorruption Policy (1998) were adopted to broaden and strengthen our governance work.

ADB periodically reviews and revises its policies to ensure that they remain relevant and responsive to the changing needs of the region.

In 2000, ADB developed a Medium Term Agenda and Action Plan, to assess progress and lessons learned to fine tune its approach to governance for the next five years (2000-2004).

In 2005, ADB conducted a joint review of implementation of its governance and anticorruption policies to assess and refocus its efforts.

In response to the findings of the Review, ADB launched its Second Governance and Anticorruption Action Plan (GACAP II) in 2006.

In addition to outlining strategic priorities for the region, ADB's governance and anticorruption policies and GACAP II guide the anticorruption and integrity work of the Office of the Auditor General in ADB's Integrity Division (OAGI) to ensure that ADB projects and staff adhere to the highest ethical standards.

Related Policies and Strategies

ADB has developed specific guidelines on procurement, law and policy reform and consultation and participation to help integrate its approach to governance in its day to day operations.

ADB's governance and anticorruption policies and related action plans are also supported by the following policies and strategies:

• accountability mechanism
• public communications and disclosure polices
• private sector development strategy
• medium-term framework and action plan for capacity development
• managing for development results action plan (MfDR)

Further Reading

• Executive Summary of the ADB Governance Policy [ PDF: 187Kb | 5 pages]
• Summary of the ADB Anticorruption Policy [ PDF: 127Kb | 4 pages]
• Executive Summary of the ADB Governance Medium-Term Agenda and Action Plan 2000-2004 [ PDF: 138Kb | 4 pages]
• GACAP II Progress Highlights [ PDF ]
• "Zero Tolerance"? Assessing the Asian Development Bank's Efforts to Limit Corruption in its Lending Operations by the Bank Information Centre, Washington, D.C. (2004)*
• A Progress Report on Implementation of ADB's Governance Action Plan in ADF Borrowers (2003) [ PDF: 1,321Kb | 52 pages]
• ADB Medium-Term Governance Agenda and Action Plan 2000-2004 (2000)
• Challenging the Culture of Secrecy: A Status Report on Freedom of Speech at the Asian Development Bank by the Government Accountability Project, Washington, D.C. (2004) [ PDF: 1,166Kb | 10 pages]