The African Development Bank Board of Directors has decided to seek public input on a proposal to revise its 2005 disclosure policy, according sources close to the process and a May 2 letter from AfDB President Donald Kaberuka to the Global Transparency Initiative.
The decision to hold consultations came at an informal meeting of the AfDB board April 29, The GTI, a nongovernmental organization, sent a letter April 27 making a variety of recommendations for consultation. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
The board agreed that the draft disclosure policy first should be revised to incorporate comments from board members and then be issued in mid-May for a 60-day period of public comment. The board also decided to hold a consultation meeting with civil society group representatives during the AfDB annual meeting, which will be held June 9-10 in Lisbon. “We will also plan a distinctive engagement in the regional member countries,” he wrote.
The appearance of an informal draft without clarity on the process for consideration had prompted concern among a number of member countries and nongovernmental organizations.
The Bank also will release a final draft after the period of consultations and before the next Board meeting at which the final draft policy will be considered, Kaberuka stated.
The process, the president wrote, “… is a demonstration of our Bank Group’s commitment to engage fully with all stakeholders on our new disclosure policy.”
Filed under: IFTI Watch