Accountability of the Multilateral Development Banks
Examining the Independent Grievance Mechanisms of the Banks
Project Aims and Goals
In 1993 the World Bank created its Inspection Panel to investigate whether the Bank had caused environmental and social harm to communities while financing development projects. Within a decade the African, Asian, Inter-American Development Banks and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development had followed suit.
This research project investigates why the mechanisms were created, why they continue to be reformulated, and whether they impact on the Banks work and provide recourse to project affected people.
The research for the project has concluded and the results are now being disseminated.
Database: Claims Submitted to the Multilateral Development Bank Accountability Mechanisms 1994-2020
This 2020 podcast for the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC) discusses addressing social and environmental harm through global governance, with a particular focus on the Asian Development Bank.
As instruments of global governance, Multilateral Development Banks were created to lend developing states capital for economic growth and development that they could not access from private capital markets. Despite their positive aims, these international organisations have often come under fire and received harsh criticism for their lending practices on economic, political, environmental, and human rights grounds. In particular, the Banks have been the focus of attention for being unaccountable for their actions.
Professor Susan Park chats with Dr Natali Pearson about global governance and Multilateral Development Banks, with a specific focus on accountability mechanisms in the Asian Development Bank.
Data and Publications
Refer to the following pages for information about the accountability mechanisms at the banks
The World Bank Inspection Panel
The World Bank Group Compliance Advisor Ombudsman
The African Development Bank Independent Review Panel
The Asian Development Bank Accountability Mechanism
The Inter-American Development Bank Independent Consultation and Investigations Mechanism
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The following texts were produced as part of the project
Park, S. (2015). Assessing Accountability in Practice: The Asian Development Bank’s Accountability Mechanism. Global Policy, 6(4), 455-465. [More Information]
Park, S. (2014). Institutional isomorphism and the Asian Development Bank's accountability mechanism: something old, something new; something borrowed, something blue? The Pacific Review, 27(2), 217-239. [More Information]
Park, S., McConchie, R., Walters, E., Goodwin, N. (2011). Outreach for Good Governance and Development Effectiveness through the Accountability Mechanism, (pp. 8 - 62). , UNSPECIFIED: Asian Development Bank. [More Information]
Organisations and Links
The following organisations and people participated in this project. Click the links to proceed to their websites.