Civil society writes to the Asian Development Bank ahead of formal review of ADB Accountability Mechanism

A group of 21 civil society organisations and networks have written to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) ahead of the formal review of the ADB Accountability Mechanism, expected in 2025. 

The organisations, including Accountability Counsel, Recourse and the NGO Forum on ADB, advise and support communities who are seeking remedy for harm caused by ADB’s financing. 

A review of the ADB Accountability Mechanism has long been overdue. More than 10 years have passed since the last review, during which time the ADB has taken on a much larger role in development,. It has become the biggest source of development finance in Asia and taken on the mandate to become “Asia and the Pacific’s Climate Bank”. The ADB has also set the goal of increasing its non-sovereign or private sector financing and exploring frameworks to increase co- or joint financing of projects. 

Recourse welcomed this opportunity to comment on three preliminary reports – a cost-benefit analysis, an impact assessment, and an external review of the ADB Accountability Mechanism – but also restated concerns with the independence of these reviews and the lack of affected community input.

The letter reads: “With scale and speed being touted as the order of the day, civil society organisations and the communities we support know better than anyone the risks to quality development. We have witnessed the impacts of rushed environmental assessments that are mere copy-paste versions of existing templates and of consultations that are simple check-box exercises. Our demand is clear: quality development that leads to improved lives on the ground cannot be sacrificed for speed, scale, or to attract private borrowers.”

An independent, accessible, and remedy-oriented Accountability Mechanism is one of the most powerful tools the ADB has to ensure that its newly-amended Environmental and Social Framework is actually implemented on the ground and, if not, that ADB is hearing grievances and providing remedy so that it can still deliver on its promise of development. This means the ADB not only has to catch up to international good practice around accountability but pave the way for newer policies that can make remedy for harm a reality.

Read the letter here or download on the right hand side. 

Signatories:

1. Accountability Counsel
2. Alternative Law Collective (ALC)
3. Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE)
4. Bank Information Centre, USA
5. CEE Bankwatch Network
6. Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur
7. Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network (CEMSOJ)
8. Defenders in Development Campaign
9. Friends of the Earth, US
10. GAIA Asia Pacific
11. GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation
12. Green Advocates International
13. Inclusive Development International
14. INWOLAG
15. Jubilee Australia Research Centre
16. KRUHA – People’s Coalition for the Right to Water
17. Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples
18. NGO Forum on ADB
19. Peace Point Development Foundation-PPDF
20. Reality of Aid – Asia Pacific
21. Recourse