Irum Ahsan
Advisor, Office of the Compliance Review Panel
Irum Ahsan currently advises on Policy and Compliance matters for ADB's Office of the Compliance Review Panel, an independent panel that reports to ADB's Board of Directors and handles complaints alleging ADB's non-compliance with its operational policies while designing and implementing ADB-financed projects.
She also handles Law and Policy Reform Projects in collaboration with ADB's legal department, focusing on environmental and climate change adjudication and enforcement, legal literacy for women, corporate governance, energy laws, and regional cooperation. ADB’s LPR work is based on the premise that a functioning legal system – anchored by the Rule of Law is an essential component of sustainable development. Her team includes dynamic lawyers and together our work led to the establishment of the Asian Judges Network on Environment, the first such network in the world, 6+ green courts in Asia and Asia’s first Gender Based Violence Case Court in Pakistan. Member of ADB’s Governance, Gender and Environment Thematic Groups.
Her work lead to winning the Lexis Nexis 2020 Client Global Inspiration Award for contributions to SDGs; 2018 Financial Times Most Innovative In-House Legal Team Award and Innovation in Rule of Law and Access to Justice Award; ADB’s 2019 Governance Award for Outstanding Knowledge Sharing and Collaborative Initiatives; and 2017 ADB’s Vice President Award for Exceptional Contributions to the Law and Policy Reform Work.
Irum also worked for 10 years on several multi-sector development projects across Asia-pacific as an international finance and transaction lawyer at ADB.