Involuntary Resettlement

Resettlement Project Wins Canadian Award

By Marcia R. Samson
Editorial Coordinator

BETTER RESETTLEMENT: The Hebel Roads Development Project in the PRC required 380 households to move; ADB made sure things went smoothly.

The Canadian International Development Association (CIDA) has chosen the Asian DevelopmentBank’s (ADB’s) regional technical assistance project for the Review of National Resettlement Policies and Experience with Involuntary Resettlement Projects as the winner of the Annual CIDA/Manufacturers Alliance Award for “Improvement of Physical Infrastructure or Improvement of Social Infrastructure.”

According to Susanna Price, ADB Senior Social Development Specialist, this pioneering study will result in better resettlement policies and practices for those threatened with displacement by development projects. The study recommends policies that provide not only alternative housing but also sustainable livelihood to restore the lost income of the displaced, thereby reducing poverty risks. The beneficiaries will include those with or without title to the land from which they were displaced. These include vulnerable groups such as urban squatters, rural landless, and fisher families.

“Resettlement policies will facilitate the implementation of ADB’s projects and will also be useful to other projects funded by international and national agencies,” says Ms. Price.

The study covered resettlement policy and legal frameworks in Bangladesh, People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Viet Nam—chosen for having the most people displaced during 1994–1996 as a result of ADB-funded projects.

The study involved analyzing resettlement policies and laws of each country, synthesizing the lessons learned, and reviewing innovative approaches to resettlement. Stakeholder workshops formed an important part of the process and provided an opportunity for government and civil society groups to express their views on National Resettlement Action Plans.

The governments of these countries had welcomed the opportunity to work with ADB and draw on the experience of other countries to seek new resettlement approaches. They gave positive feedback on the study at a regional seminar held at ADB headquarters in Manila in August 1999; some are preparing to adopt the recommendations as national resettlement policies.

In Bangladesh, the Government has committed to adopt a resettlement policy, says Ms. Price. In the People’s Republic of China, work is in progress on the guidelines implementing the 1998 land law. Indonesia and Nepal are reviewing their respective land acquisition acts.

The Government of Pakistan is planning to adopt a national policy. Broad consultations on the resettlement policy are being held in the Philippines, while in Viet Nam a revised decree is about to be signed.

ADB’s Policy on Involuntary Resettlement, approved in 1995, emphasizes the need not just for compensation at replacement rates to restore lost assets, but also for measures to restore living standards and livelihoods so that people are not impoverished by the resettlement.

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