Pakistan Accounts for 43 of 68 ADB Accountability Complaints in 2025

Pakistan accounted for 43 of the 68 complaints received under the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Accountability Mechanism in 2025, representing 63% of all cases handled by the mechanism during the year.

 

According to the ADB Accountability Mechanism Annual Report 2025, the bank’s Complaint Receiving Officer processed 166 complaints, including 157 new submissions and nine carried over from 2024. Of these, 68 fell within the scope of the Accountability Mechanism, while 98 were outside its mandate.

 

Central and West Asia accounted for 44 of the mechanism-related complaints, with 43 originating from Pakistan and one from Georgia.

 

The ADB noted that a high number of complaints from a particular country should not automatically be viewed as evidence of weak safeguards in its projects. Complaint volumes can also reflect the scale of the ADB portfolio, large infrastructure projects, civil society engagement, public awareness and access to grievance mechanisms.

 

Transport projects generated the largest number of complaints in 2025 with 28 cases, followed by energy with 17 and water and urban infrastructure with 12. Agriculture and rural development accounted for nine complaints.

 

Of the 68 cases, 36 met the minimum information requirements and were referred to the Special Project Facilitator or Compliance Review Panel. Land acquisition, resettlement and compensation were the most common concerns, featuring in 15 of the admissible complaints.

 

Pakistan also featured in several ADB problem-solving cases. In one project in Sahiwal under the Punjab Intermediate Cities Project, an engineering redesign of a wastewater treatment plant helped avoid the acquisition of around 15–20 acres of agricultural land.

 

The report also highlighted confidentiality concerns, with 16 of the 36 admissible complaints requesting confidentiality. Eleven of those complainants additionally raised concerns about possible retaliation.