The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has launched a six-month campaign to familiarise internal and external stakeholders with its new whistleblowing policy.
In an effort to protect whistleblowers, AfDB says the inception of the policy highlights the value it places on contributions made by whistleblowers towards suppressing corrupt practices.
Speaking at the launch of the Whistleblowing Policy sensitisation campaign, AfDB Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption director Paula Santos-Da Costa affirmed that the campaign would be implemented in the Bank’s headquarters, regional and country offices and in Regional Member Countries.
The AfDB has evaluated its ability to protect whistleblowers and has set additional standards to rein in the Bank’s board members and elected officials under the disciplinary scope of the new policy.
Falling under this disciplinary scope were officials who had been “found to have threatened or participated in retaliation against any internal or external party reporting fraud and corruption in Bank operations, or assisting in audits, investigations and disciplinary processes”, the Bank said.
In seeking to protect external whistleblowers, the Bank opined that retaliators would be subjected to debarment under the AfDB’s sanctions system.
Natural persons and entities who make disclosures of fraud or corruption in good faith will receive protection under the whisleblower policy and due process will be ensured by protecting the anonymity of whistleblowers and maintaining confidentiality in its processes.
AfDB declared that its board of directors was committed to reviewing the new policy in 2028, after five years of implementation, taking into consideration implementation reports and feedback from stakeholders.
A review of the Bank’s 2007 Whistleblowing Policy was lauded for its adherence to whistleblower transparency reforms.
Santos-Da Costa declared that “an internal guideline has been developed and issued to ensure the strategic and efficient implementation of the Whistleblowing Policy 2023”.