‘African Development Bank adopts new policy to strengthen accountability and support people affected by its operations’ 24 September 2021

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group have approved a new policy framework for the Independent Recourse Mechanism (IRM) aimed at strengthening accountability and providing more effective recourse to people affected by Bank-financed operations. The policy framework is the result of a series of internal and public stakeholder consultations that began in December 2019. This process was part of the third policy review of the Bank’s Independent Review Mechanism and marked the first time that the IRM has engaged in such a comprehensive public consultation process. The new policy represents a significant step forward for the IRM, according to its Director, David Simpson. “The new policy framework restructures the complaints mechanism to make it more accessible, efficient and predictable,” said Simpson. “It also simplifies the complaint process for users of the Independent Recourse Mechanism, while enhancing its transparency, and providing clearer guidelines for case management.”

Highlights of the new IRM Policy:

• A new name accompanies the new policy as the Independent Review Mechanism will now be known as the Independent Recourse Mechanism.
• The new mechanism has been restructured, replacing the previous external expert panel model with a fully integrated unit that will now lead all problem-solving and compliance review functions.
• The new policy strengthens accessibility for complainants by allowing complaints to be filed by a single person and enabling the mechanism to advise communities on how to submit complaints if needed.
• It adopts a zero-tolerance standard for retaliation against complainants and rejects any form of threat, intimidation, harassment, violence, or discrimination towards those that raise concerns through the Independent Recourse Mechanism.
• It also requires African Development Bank management to make the Independent Recourse Mechanism better known among affected communities by disclosing information about the IRM at a project level.

…The Independent Recourse Mechanism provides individuals or communities who are adversely affected by Bank-financed operations with an independent mechanism through which they can raise their concerns, seek redress, and hold the Bank to account for ensuring it complies with its policies and procedures related to sustainability. The Bank’s complaint mechanism became operational in 2006 and has received over 100 complaints submitted by civil society organizations and affected communities. The mandate of the IRM covers both public and private sector operations of the Bank Group.