Message from the Ombudsperson

This annual report reflects what members of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) community brought to the Office of the Ombudsperson (OOMP) in 2025.

OOMP is ADB’s designated confidential, informal, neutral, and independent resource for workplace concerns. We listen, help people think through challenging situations, facilitate difficult conversations when appropriate, and support early resolution before issues become formal disputes. We do not investigate, make decisions, advocate for any party, or replace formal processes. Our role is to provide a safe space for candid discussion and to share aggregate trends with ADB Management and the wider community without disclosing sources. In this way, we support individual problem-solving and help strengthen workplace relationships, trust, and communication that ADB needs to deliver on its mission.

In 2025, we provided services in 417 cases despite resource constraints. Group climate and supervision remained the most common areas of concern, together making up half of all issues raised. Concerns about supervision rose notably, pointing to gaps in how managers set expectations, handle conflict, and support their teams. Concerns about peer and colleague relationships also grew, reflecting strain in day-to-day workplace interactions. Stress and work-life balance again dominated concerns about wellbeing.

Women continued to bring forward most cases, a pattern OOMP has observed over many years. To better understand women’s workplace experiences beyond the case data, we conducted a listening exercise between December 2024 and February 2025, engaging 217 participants across headquarters and field offices. What emerged reinforced and added depth to patterns OOMP has heard over time, including concerns about voice and fairness, and the pressures many women manage alongside their work. We also continued to hear how caregiving responsibilities, including elder care and broader family obligations, affect women’s wellbeing and their ability to participate fully at work.

Field office concerns made up 20% of cases in 2025, reminding us that accessibility and trust matter when colleagues decide whether to raise workplace concerns. Distance from headquarters creates additional barriers to accessing informal conflict resolution services and allows concerns to fester. Sustained engagement with field offices is necessary to build connections and trust that make early, informal support equally available and accessible across the ADB community.

Many of these concerns are not new. They reappear year after year, and the 2025 data carry a consistent message: the longer a workplace issue is left unaddressed, the harder it becomes to resolve. It is therefore important to normalize the use of informal conflict resolution services while at the same time investing into conflict competence of staff at all levels.

This report is also Eliass Wayne Blair’s final year as ADB Ombudsperson. Since joining ADB in 2018, he helped strengthen OOMP’s role as a trusted, confidential resource and shaped how the office listens to the ADB community and reflects patterns back to the organization. We acknowledge his service with appreciation.