Development Partners Give High Marks Foe ADB’s Organizational Effectiveness

Manila, Philippines (26 January 2011)

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is an effective, transparent, client-focused organization, and should continue with current efforts to further improve its effectiveness, says a new donor assessment report.

The report, commissioned by the Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) consisting of 16 donor countries, gives ADB satisfactory to high marks in most key performance indicators, including in areas such as making transparent decisions in allocating resources, focusing on achieving results, reporting results information clearly, and harmonizing procedures with other development partners.

“Over the past four years, ADB has been implementing a number of reforms designed to improve its effectiveness and the findings suggest that these reforms are providing the foundation for organizational effectiveness,” the report’s authors said.

At the same time, the report highlighted that ADB could improve in linking resources allocation to intended results, and in managing its human resources. 

“We are pleased that the report recognizes the progress we have made and we will continue to work hard to strengthen our organizational effectiveness,” said Kazu Sakai, ADB’s Director General for Strategy and Policy.  

ADB has put in place a corporate-wide results framework, which allows it to monitor its progress against a set of clearly defined performance indicators, and to identify areas for remedial action. It has also introduced new approaches to better link ADB’s resources allocation to country and sector outcomes. In 2010, ADB launched a human resources plan, ‘Our People Strategy’, to be more transparent in staff recruitment, compensation and promotion.

The report is based on a perceptions survey and review of documents. Over 100 respondents, comprising mostly donors and governments, took part in the survey, which examined ADB’s performance both at the institutional level and in four of its developing member countries – Afghanistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. The MOPAN regularly assesses the effectiveness of development agencies.

By ADB