Advancing a practice of presumption in favor of disclosure, ADB's Public Communications Policy (PCP) 2011 promotes proactive external relations and improved access to information about ADB operations for better development effectiveness. The policy promotes greater transparency and accountability by enabling ADB's stakeholders—especially people affected by development activities—to better participate in the decisions that affect them.
The PCP establishes the disclosure requirements for documents and information ADB produces or requires to be produced. It mandates project-related documents normally produced during the project cycle to be posted on the web. Specific disclosure requirements are detailed in the Operations Manual (L3) on Public Communications.
PCP 2011 strengthens ADB's existing public communications approach, underscoring the need to intensify communications with stakeholders in response to evolving development challenges in Asia and the Pacific.
Public communications are tailored to the needs of specific audiences. Engagement with affected people and other interested stakeholders are maintained throughout the project cycle, with essential communications and information-sharing aspects integrated into ADB-supported projects and programs.
ADB will increase the dissemination of its knowledge products—online and hard copy—to support the development of knowledge-based economies in the region. ADB will also use other key platforms such as regional and national conferences and other events to share its knowledge products and exchange views with government officials and other key audiences.
ADB's PCP 2011 strikes a balance between access to information and any potential harm disclosure may cause. It clarifies and streamlines the exceptions to disclosure and identifies the potential harm if information is disclosed.