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NGO Framework
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Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) play an ever increasing role in ADB operations.
In Tajikistan, for example, two international NGOs implement an ADB project helping vulnerable households increase agricultural production, and creating income-generating opportunities for women.
In four South Asian countries, the World Conservation Union carries out a technical assistance project to pilot test approaches to protect ecologically sensitive areas, reduce poverty, and nurture regional cooperation.
ADB also collaborates closely with NGOs to expand public awareness about poverty and its links to water resource management, delivery of water services, and overall water security of poor people.
Over the past 3 years, hundreds of local, national, and international NGOs have contributed to the elaboration of ADB policies on the environment and inspection. Many more NGOs perform an independent monitoring and advocacy role, promoting public participation in projects, and transparency and accountability in ADB operations.
That ADB should interact with NGOs in these and other ways is only natural. NGOs are major players in the development process, and experience has shown that cooperation with them can improve the quality, efficiency, and long-term durability of ADB interventions.
NGOs add value to project design and implementation through their knowledge of local conditions, close ties to communities, and technical and specialized skills.
NGOs now manage hundreds of millions of dollars in development and humanitarian assistance in the Asia and Pacific region.
Many governments and bilateral donors rely on NGOs to implement projects that fulfill unmet needs of the disadvantaged, promote rural development, encourage good governance, and promote a vibrant civil society.
ADB has collaborated with NGOs for about 2 decades. In April 1998, ADB adopted a new policy on cooperation with NGOs that recognizes the great diversity within the NGO community, and encourages the integration of NGO experience, knowledge, and expertise into the institution’s operations.
In 2000, ADB President Tadao Chino established a high-level committee to review institutional arrangements for cooperation with NGOs, including consideration as to whether such arrangements were adequate given ADB’s primary focus on poverty reduction.
The committee directed a task force to prepare specific proposals, which were included in a final report endorsed by the President in September 2001.
The task force determined that NGO issues should be addressed consistently across ADB, and that ADB-NGO collaboration ought to be an ongoing, institution-wide concern rather than a series of ad hoc efforts that characterized existing cooperation.
The task force recommended that ADB strengthen its processes for consultation and dialogue with NGOs to address current and emerging developments in the NGO sector and at ADB.
Following from this and other recommendations, ADB created an NGO Network anchored by a new NGO Center, now based within the Regional and Sustainable Development Department.
NGOs contribute value to
sustainable development
through the following.
INNOVATION Identifying new approaches and models for specific development activities, drawing upon their close knowledge of local communities.
ACCOUNTABILTY Helping ensure that project components are implemented as envisaged and planned.
RESPONSIVENESS Encouraging the implementation of projects in ways that respond to local needs.
PARTICIPATION Serving as bridges between project authorities and affected communities, and providing structures for citizen involvement.
SUSTAINABILITY Nurturing continuity in project work, especially when implementing agencies lack capacity or when staffing changes.
In 2002, the NGO Center began implementing a regional technical assistance initiative, financed by ADB and the governments of Australia and the United Kingdom, to create a framework for improved cooperation with NGOs and governments.
Over the next year, such a framework was prepared in a highly participatory fashion by over 500 representatives of civil society organizations, governments, private sector, and ADB.
The resulting product, finalized in May 2003, is entitled, ADB-Government-NGO Cooperation: A Framework for Action, 2003–2005.
The Framework puts in an operational context the directives contained in ADB’s Long-Term Strategic Framework (LTSF) and Medium-Term Strategy, especially in terms of creating “improved conditions for wider and more effective participation in decision making, including decision making by civil society,” as called for in the LTSF.
The document features two unique aspects. First, it was prepared by a range of stakeholders participating in 14 intensive, action-oriented workshops organized across the region between May and October 2002.
An additional workshop was held with Dutch NGOs in Amsterdam in March 2003. Participants collaborated in identifying issues, goals, and actions based on their experiences.
At the end of this process, a subgroup of the workshop participants met in Manila in November 2002 to prepare the first draft of the Framework during a one-week “writeshop.”
Second, the Framework is neither a policy nor a strategy. Rather, it represents a road map to guide cooperation among ADB, governments, and NGOs in the context of ADB’s operations over the medium term.
Despite the diverse roles, views, experiences, and conditions across Asia and the Pacific, those involved in the process of elaborating the Framework were able to articulate a common vision of tripartite cooperation:
“Improved cooperation among the Asian Development Bank, NGOs, and governments to reduce poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through collaborative efforts to promote pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance.”
After lively debates on capacities, expectations, and institutional realities, participants in the consultation process recom- mended five areas for joint action.
Over half of ADB projects involve nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in some way, from providing input on proposed loans to serving as implementing agencies. Partnership Newsletter keeps NGOs informed of developments in and around ADB.
Published six times a year and distributed by e-mail, Partnership reports on new ADB technical assistance and loan activities, the latest documents and publications, draft policies open to public comment, training opportunities, and conferences and seminars of interest to civil society in the Asia and Pacific region.
To subscribe, simply send an e-mail to http://www.adb.org/Documents/ Periodicals/NGO_Newsletters with “subscribe” in the subject line. Previous issues are available at http://www.adb.org/Documents/ Periodicals/NGO_Newsletters.
The Framework, including all its specific recommendations, will guide the work plan for ADB’s NGO Center through 2005.
While the NGO Center will have oversight in addressing the Framework’s recommendations, implementation roles have been identified for other ADB departments, governments,and NGOs.
ADB will work with governments and NGOs to adapt implementation of the various recommendations to the specific conditions of each country. The Framework will be monitored and evaluated annually, and reported on publicly.
The recommendations developed during the workshops and writeshop correspond well with ADB’s existing policies and procedures. Consequently, additional resources required to implement the Framework are relatively modest.
What is most needed now is the sustained support of governments, NGOs, and ADB staff and management to strengthen tripartite collaboration in pursuit of a common goal: reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific.
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