Media Center

RETA 6072: Regional Seminar and Learning Event on Local Governance and Pro-Poor Service Delivery

Co-organized with the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)

ADB Headquarters, Manila, Philippines, 10-12 February 2004

Post Seminar Statement

The seminar was convened on 10 - 12 February 2004 by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) at the ADB Headquarters in Manila, Philippines.

This was a unique learning opportunity for national and local government practitioners, as well as civil society advocates, to share experiences and bring home learning to improve quality of and access to public services in their localities.

The seminar focused on practical experiences and lessons shared by practitioners.

The innovation in this activity was the introduction and application of the concept of "the seminar as learning event." This involved the identification of learning points per presentation, completion of the learning record sheet after each activity, preparation of learning boards, and the presentation of a learning diary for each day of the seminar.

• Read the Executive Summaries [ PDF: 204kb | 22 pages ]
• See the Future Opportunities for Learning [ PDF: 56kb | 5 pages ]
• Read the Participants' Assessment [ PDF: 98kb | 1 page ]
• Learn about Designing & Preparing for the Learning Event [ PDF: 19kb | 2 page ]
• See the CD-ROM on Local Governance and Pro-poor Service Delivery

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Seminar Objectives

For government practitioners and stakeholders to

• Share experiences and lessons in improving the quality of and access to basic services particularly for the poor
• Discuss initiatives and innovations that worked in making services work for people
• Reflect upon learning that could be adapted to improve services delivery in their respective localities

Seminar Participants

There were over 120 participants from these countries:

• Bangladesh
• Cambodia
• Fiji
• India
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Kyrgyz Republic
• Lao People's Democratic Republic
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Sri Lanka
• Tajikistan
• Timor Leste
• Tonga
• Uganda
• United Kingdom
• United States of America
• Viet Nam

These participants were

• National government executives overseeing public services
• Local government officials responsible for services delivery, and
• Civil society representatives advocating to improve responsiveness in services delivery.

View the complete list of participants [ PDF: 214kb | 5 pages ].

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Seminar Documents

• Program, Papers, and Presentations

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Contacts

Seminar Steering Committee

Asha Newsum
Principal Governance Specialist
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
P.O. Box 7890980 Manila, Philippines

Raymond Z. Renfro
Director
Capacity Building and Training
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)
Kasumigaseki Building 8F
2-5, Kasumigaseki 3-chome
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-6008, Japan

Roger Shotton
Senior Technical Adviser
Local Governance Unit
United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
Two UN Plaza – 26th Floor
New York, NY, USA 10017

ADB Advisory Team

Joel Mangahas
Regional and Sustainable Development Department

Simeon Ilago
Regional and Sustainable Development Department

Lili Gutierrez
Focal Point, RETA 6072
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Email: mlgutierrez@adb.org

Anna Karmina Ong
Regional and Sustainable Development Department

Links

The Asian Development Bank Institute is working with ADB to develop the learning products arising from the regional seminar and learning event.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund managed the preparation of case studies in rural services delivery and compiled these in the publication Local Government Initiative: Pro-Poor Infrastructure and Service Delivery in Asia for the regional seminar and learning event.

The Public Affairs Center in Bangalore, India and the Australia Continuous Improvement Group in Melbourne, Australia are working with ADB and ADBI in developing the learning products to improve service delivery systems.