Filing Complaint
All complaints to the ADB Accountability Mechanism must be made in writing and
addressed to the Complaint Receiving Officer or CRO. The complaint letter must
specifically state if complainants are directly requesting a compliance review by the
Compliance Review Panel.
Complaint Receiving Officer (CRO)
Asian Development Bank
6 ADB Avenue
Mandaluyong City 1550
Philippines
Tel: +632 632 4444 ext. 70309
Email: amcro@adb.org
Complaint letters may be sent by postal mail, email, or facsimile. It can also be
delivered personally to the ADB Headquarters in Manila, Philippines or to any ADB
resident/regional mission or representative offices located outside the Philippines.
Complaints sent to offices other than the ADB Headquarters will be forwarded to the
CRO's office in Manila.
Who can file a complaint for compliance review?
- Any group of two or more people (such as an organization, association, society,
or other grouping of individuals) residing either:
- in the borrowing country where the ADB-financed project is located, or
- in an ADB member country adjacent to the borrowing country.
- A local representative of the affected persons.
- A nonlocal representative, in exceptional cases where local representation
cannot be found and CRP agrees.
- Any one or more members of the ADB Board of Directors, in special cases
involving allegations of serious violations of ADB's operational policies and
procedures, but only after raising the concerns first with ADB Management.
What type of complaint can be filed for compliance review?
Complaints involving present or future direct harm allegedly caused by ADB's failure to
follow its operational policies and procedures in designing and/or implementing ADB-
financed projects.
Contents of a Complaint Letter for compliance review
The complaint for compliance review must specify the following:
- names, designations addresses, and contact information of the complainants and
their representative(s);
- if a complaint is made through a representative, identification of the project-
affected people on whose behalf the complaint is made and evidence of the
authority to represent them;
- whether the complainants choose to keep their identities confidential;
- whether the complainants choose to undergo compliance review with the CRP;
- a brief description of the ADB-assisted project with the project name and
location;
- a description of the direct and material harm that has been, or is likely to be,
caused to the complainants by the ADB-assisted project;
- a description of the complainants' good faith efforts to address the problems first
with the operations department concerned, and the results of these efforts; and
- if the complainants had already filed a complaint with the Special Project
Facilitator, a description of the complainants’ efforts to address the complaint and
the results of these efforts.
Complaints for compliance review may also include the following information, but are not
required:
- an explanation of the complainants’ claim that the alleged direct and material
harm is, or will be, caused by ADB’s alleged failure to follow its operational
policies and procedures during the formulating, processing, or implementing the ADB-assisted project;
- a description of the operational policies and procedures that have not been
complied with by ADB during the formulating, processing, or implementing the
ADB-assisted project;
- a description of the complainants' efforts to address the problems with the
project-level grievance redress mechanisms concerned, and the results of these
efforts;
- the desired outcome or remedies that complainants believe ADB should provide
or help through the Accountability Mechanism; and
- any other relevant matters or facts with supporting documents.
Language of complaint letter
Complaint can be submitted in English or in any of the official or national languages of
ADB's developing member countries. If the complaint is submitted in languages other
than English, the CRP will need additional time for translation.
Identity of complainants
The CRP will keep the identities of the complainants confidential if requested to do so,
but anonymous complaints will not be accepted.
The identities of representatives who are not at the same time complainants will not be
kept confidential, but will be disclosed to ensure transparency. The identities of relatives
and friends representing complainants who face constraints such as illiteracy or physical
disability will be confidential, if they so request.
What complainants need to know about requesting a compliance review
- Complainants cannot switch from compliance review to problem solving,
regardless of whether or not the compliance review was completed, unless the
complaint is found ineligible by the CRP.
- Complainants are encouraged to first try to resolve the complaint with the
concerned ADB operations department, though this is not a requirement.
- After exiting or disengaging from the problem solving process with the Special
Project Facilitator, complainants may request the Complaint Receiving Officer or
CRO to forward their complaint to the CRP for compliance review.
- Complainants can also request compliance review upon completion of step
3 of the problem solving process if complainants have serious concerns on
compliance issues. If found eligible by CRP, compliance review is undertaken in
parallel to step 4 of the problem solving process.
|