NGOs Call Upon ADB to Strengthen Consultation with Civil Society

by ADB External Relations Officer & NGO Liaison Bart W. Edes

Ms. Kelly Brooks, Policy and Outreach Officer, Oxfam Mekong Initiative

SHANGHAI, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (8 May 2002)--Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) today called on the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to improve its consultations with NGOs, information delivery, financial support for NGOs, and operational mechanisms for cooperating with civil society.

The call was made during the "NGO Open Forum" at the Shanghai International Convention Center before ADB's 35th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors. The Forum was attended by representatives of 40 NGOs from more than a dozen countries.

They deliberated ways to improve cooperation between civil society, governments and ADB. The half-day meeting concluded in a series of recommendations to guide ADB as it revamps its policies and practices for interacting with NGOs.

While recognizing improvement in ADB's engagement with civil society over the past few years, the NGOs made several recommendations to strengthen ADB's relationship with NGOs.

In particular, they advocated that ADB

• diversify more among the NGOs it consults,
• formalize the role of NGOs in identifying and designing projects,
• specify how NGO input would be used,
• recognize that advocacy NGOs may prefer a "watchdog" role to one of partnership.

Other suggestions included establishing an NGO grants fund with other donor agencies, and upgrading the status of the NGO Center and better integrating it into ADB operations.

Open Forum participants included representatives of social welfare and nonprofit development agencies, environmental groups, foundations, NGO associations, trade union alliances, and others. Bob Dobias, head of ADB's NGO Center, facilitated the discussions.

ADB will take into account NGO recommendations from the Open Forum as it develops a new framework for ADB-NGO cooperation. The Open Forum was the first of several meetings ADB will hold during 2002 in about 15 countries with NGOs and other stakeholders (governments, private sector) on how to develop such a framework.