Nongovernment Organizations and Civil Society

News from ADB for Nongovernment Organizations
 September 2001, Volume 1, Issue 1

In this Issue....

1. ADB Board of Directors authorizes Inspection Panel on Samut Prakarn
2. Resident Mission opened in Vientiane
3. NGOs Consult with ADB Staff at 34th Annual Meeting
4. Activists advise ADB on increasing cooperation with NGOs
5. ADB Holds art contest for 500 street children
6. Consultation continues on draft Environment Policy
7. Learning from postproject evaluation
8. Additions to ADB's NGO team
9. Upcoming events
10. Documents available from ADB
11. Other news

On July 10th, the Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) authorized an inspection of the Samut Prakarn Wastewater Management Project. The inspection will be conducted by an independent panel of outside experts, who will determine whether ADB complied with its operational policies and procedures in designing and implementing the project in Thailand. The inspection will be conducted under ADB's Inspection Function Policy approved by ADB's Board of Directors in December 1995.

The inspection follows a written request filed by three residents of the Klong Dan community, including the Mayor of Klong Dan, who allege that ADB failed to comply with its own policies, and that this failure may result in direct and material harm to the residents of Klong Dan.

This is the first inspection authorized by ADB. The Inspection Function was set up to provide people, claiming to be adversely affected by public sector ADB-financed projects, with an independent forum through which they can request that any perceived failure of ADB to act in accordance with its own policies and procedures be examined.

The Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Boun Nhang Vorachith, and Asian Development Bank (ADB) President, Tadao Chino, officially opened the new office of ADB's Resident Mission in Vientiane on 16 July 2001. President Chino described the event as "a major milestone in ADB's development partnership with the Government and people of Lao PDR and with other members of the development community and civil society."

Since joining ADB in 1966, the Lao People's Democratic Republic has received 49 loans, of which 20 were active at the end of 2000. President Chino said that, "there is much more to achieve and ADB is committed to work very closely with the Government and people of Lao PDR to reduce poverty, to promote economic and social development, and to strengthen regional cooperation."

ADB's new country strategy and program (CSP) will provide strategic directions for its operations in Lao PDR for the next five years. Under the strategy, ADB will focus on rural development and market linkages, human resource development, sustainable environmental management, private sector development, and regional integration. Good governance through policy and institutional development will be emphasized as an integral part of ADB's operations.

NGOs Consult with ADB Staff at 34th Annual Meeting

The 34th Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank (ADB) was marked by the most extensive consultations with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) ever at this yearly event. More than 90 representatives of civil society organizations participated in the NGO program. This was the first Annual Meeting held since the launch of ADB's NGO Center and Network in February 2001.

At past Annual Meetings, the main opportunity for NGOs to exchange views with ADB staff was during the Open Forum. This year, however, the four-hour Open Forum served as a springboard into nine topic-specific consultation forums held over two days.

During the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s 34th Annual Meeting in Hawaii, representatives of different nongovernment organizations (NGOs) were asked about their work, impressions of the Annual Meeting, and opinions on what ADB should do to strengthen its relations with civil society. Their answers were posted on the ADB web site as the week of seminars and consultations progressed. Those interviewed work with NGOs in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, and Viet Nam.

On Saturday, 28 April 2000, ADB hosted 500 street children from Metro Manila for an art competition and day of fun. The competition had as its theme "The Streets of My City." The children, aged 5-16, used art as the medium through which they expressed their views on what the streets of Metro Manila mean to them, and what they would like to change or improve. The young artists were registered for the day's activities through 12 local nongovernment organizations (NGOs) that work daily with homeless minors. More than 200 ADB staff members and spouses volunteered to help with the program.

After the competition, the participants themselves selected their favorite drawings. ADB staff chose their favorites, too, and a jury selected 12 drawings and others deserving of honorable mention. The selected drawings were exhibited at ADB’s Annual Meeting in Honolulu in May 2001. A video of the day was also shown. Every NGO that participated was given a cash grant to support its educational programs. Additional support was provided for those NGOs whose children's work was selected.

The art competition was followed by a roundtable workshop on 30 May 2001 between ADB staff involved in poverty reduction programs and the participating NGOs. Roundtable participants explored options on what new steps ADB could take to reduce the poverty of street children and "street families" in the Asian and Pacific region.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) is drafting an Environment Policy and has been reaching out to stakeholders for input. The new policy will help govern the way in which ADB seeks to improve environment conditions in Asia and the Pacific, and the way it looks at the environment in its programs and projects. ADB aims to develop an effective policy that represents shared values, and that will help ensure that those values are actually realized in project implementation.

To facilitate dialogue on the subject, ADB developed a short "Note on the Draft Environment Policy Working Paper." This document outlines the need for an Environment Policy, the proposed areas of attention, and some key principles governing ADB practice vis-à-vis the environment. Meetings have been held around Asia, the Pacific, and North America, yielding considerable input from interested individuals and organizations. Additional comments have arrived through electronic mail.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s Operations and Evaluation function involves monitoring and assessing the progress of ADB's diverse operations relative to the needs of its developing member countries. The function also aims to identify lessons of experience and provide feedback to improve future operations, and help assess ADB's overall development effectiveness.

ADB's increasing concern about the impact of its assistance on poverty reduction has added a new dimension to evaluation. While learning through evaluation remains the key activity of ADB's Operations Evaluation Department (OED), evaluation and learning activities have a clearer focus on and revolve around ADB's main purpose of reducing poverty. Because of the broader significance of the impact of poverty reduction interventions, ADB is aware that evaluation must produce results that are operationally useful. The office is giving increased attention to project objectives and designs that can be evaluated. This will facilitate monitoring and verifying ADB's strategic intent of reducing poverty.

One key evaluation tool used by ADB is the project performance audit report (PPAR). The PPARs provide comprehensive evaluations of the effectiveness of ADB projects in achieving their objectives, and give an analytical assessment focusing on issues and lessons of operational significance. Over 100 PPARs are available for review on ADB's web site.

Hemanta R. Mishra, former Senior Environmental Specialist responsible for NGO Coordination at the World Bank's Global Environment Facility, has joined the staff of the ADB NGO Center. Mr. Mishra, a Nepalese national, becomes the third full-time professional employed by the Center, which was created in February 2001. In his role as Senior NGO Specialist, he will assist in carrying out the Center's consultations with NGOs, and liaison activities with ADB staff, ADB Board members, and external agencies. Mr. Mishra can be reached at: hmishra@adb.org. Separately, Ms. Kavita Sherchan has begun her duties as External Relations and Civil Society Liaison Officer at ADB's Nepal Resident Mission in Kathmandu. She is responsible for media matters and NGO issues in the resident mission, and can be reached at: ksherchan@adb.org.

Second Asia and Pacific Regional Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR), "The Role of Volunteering and the Third Sector in Building Stronger Communities," Osaka, Japan, 26-28 October 2001. For details, contact Mark Lyons

Third ADB-OECD Conference on Combating Corruption in the Asia-Pacific Region, Tokyo, Japan, 28-30 November 2001. For details, contact Jak Jabes.

ADB has published over 80 documents since December 2000. These documents, along with previously released reports, are available on ADB's web site by category:

• Country Economic Reviews
• Reports and Recommendations of the President
• Technical Assistance Reports

The e7 Sustainable Energy Development Scholarship Program offers financial support to outstanding students to pursue advanced studies in sustainable development, and to encourage meaningful contributions to the collective knowledge about sustainable energy development. Eligible students include those from developing countries and economies in transition who plan to undertake studies at the master's level or postdoctoral level in areas directly related to sustainable energy development. For information and an application, contact the Secretariat for the e7 Network of Expertise for the Global Environment, 1155 Metcalfe Street, Suite 1120, Montreal, PQ H3B 2V6, Canada; tel: (1.514) 392.8876; fax: (1.514) 392.8900; http://www.e7.org.

We welcome your feedback and will publish selected comments received from readers. Asian Development Bank (ADB) reserves the right to edit submissions.

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to partnership-request@intraweb.asiandevbank.org and place 'unsubscribe password' in the body. 'password' (without the quotes) is the password which you gave or was given to you by Mailman when you first subscribed.

Questions about the contents of Partnership Newsletter, or about ADB relations with nongovernment organizations, can be sent to ngocoordinator@adb.org.

Copyright 2001. Partnership Newsletter is published six times a year by the Asian Development Bank's Office of External Relations in conjunction with the ADB NGO Center. Hypertext links provided in Partnership Newsletter do not imply ADB endorsement of the views expressed on non-ADB web sites. Such links are provided solely as an information service. Published contributions do not necessarily represent the view of ADB Management, staff, or members. Partnership Newsletter may only be redistributed in its unedited form.

NGO Center
Asian Development Bank
PO Box 789, Manila 0980, Philippines
Tel: (632) 632-4147; (632) 636-2648