ISLAMABAD: The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a new ‘Access to Information Policy’ that aims to maintain the bank’s high standards of transparency.
The policy, which will come into effect on January 1, 2019, will replace the current Public Communications Policy (PCP), said an ADB statement on Sunday.
The new policy retains the key information disclosure and exceptions of the PCP, and includes a new overarching principle of “clear, timely, and appropriate disclosure” that is underpinned by a presumption in favour of disclosure and a commitment to sharing information and ideas.
ADB has expanded some areas of disclosure. For example, the types of information that will be made available after 20 years will now include historical country financial information and certain external audit reports on ADB-administered trust funds.
“Transparency and openness are key to maximizing the development impact of our work,” said ADB Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Vice-President Bambang Susantono. “We want to make sure that ADB continues to be a top performer in terms of transparency. Principles-based access to information policies are now considered to be among best international practices.”
ADB was ranked first in the 2018 Aid Transparency Index, an independent measurement of aid transparency, created by Publish What You Fund, a UK-based non-government organization. The index assessed 45 of the world’s leading development organizations.
