Pakistan accounted for 43 of the 68 complaints related to ADB’s Accountability Mechanism

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan accounted for 43 of the 68 complaints related to the Asian Development Bank’s Accountability Mechanism in 2025, making it the single largest source of complaints received by the mechanism during the year.

According to the ADB Accountability Mechanism Annual Report 2025, the Complaint Receiving Officer processed 166 complaints during 2025, comprising 157 new submissions and nine cases carried over from 2024. Of these, 68 were related to the Accountability Mechanism, while 98 fell outside its scope.

The report said 44 of the 68 Accountability Mechanism-related complaints originated from Central and West Asia, including 43 from Pakistan and one from Georgia. Pakistan alone accounted for 63 percent of all AM-related complaints received and processed during the year.

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The ADB, however, cautioned that the high number of complaints from a country should not automatically be interpreted as evidence of poor safeguards performance in ADB-financed projects. It said factors including civil society activity, the size of the ADB portfolio, concentration of large infrastructure projects, stakeholder awareness and access to grievance redress mechanisms could influence complaint volumes.

The transport sector generated the most complaints in 2025, with 28 cases (41 percent of all AM-related complaints), followed by energy with 17 and water and other urban infrastructure and services with 12. Agriculture, rural development and natural resources accounted for nine complaints, while education and multisector projects accounted for one each.

Of the 68 AM-related complaints, 36 met the minimum information requirements and were forwarded to either the Special Project Facilitator (SPF) or Compliance Review Panel (CRP). Twenty-one complaints were closed, while 11 remained pending with the Complaint Receiving Officer at the end of 2025.

The report said 29 complaints were forwarded to the SPF, while nine were forwarded to the CRP, including two complaints transferred from problem-solving to compliance review. Land acquisition, resettlement and compensation emerged as the dominant concerns. Among the 36 admissible complaints, 15, or 42 percent, involved resettlement, compensation, valuation and land acquisition. Environmental and natural resource issues featured in seven complaints, while access to information and consultation each appeared in five cases.

Pakistan also featured prominently in the ADB’s problem-solving activities. The Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF) received complaints from Pakistan involving projects in sectors including transport, water and urban infrastructure.

A notable Pakistan case involved the Punjab Intermediate Cities Project in Sahiwal, where the OSPF facilitated an engineering redesign of a wastewater treatment plant. According to the report, the redesign avoided acquisition of 15–20 acres of prime agricultural land, preserving the land for local communities while addressing the project’s requirements.

The report said the alternative design demonstrated how early engagement and practical problem-solving could reduce impacts on affected households while preserving productive agricultural resources and potentially improving project outcomes.

The Compliance Review Panel also dealt with complaints concerning Pakistan projects. Complaints related to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Roads Project and the Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Project were determined to be outside the scope of the compliance review function and inadmissible.

The ADB report noted that confidentiality remained a significant concern among complainants. In 2025, 16 of the 36 admissible complaints requested confidentiality, equivalent to 44 percent. Eleven of these also expressed concerns about potential retaliation.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026