Nongovernment Organizations and Civil Society

News from ADB for Nongovernment Organizations
 March-April 2003, Volume 3, Issue 2

In this Issue

1. Registration Underway for ADB Annual Meeting
2. Input Sought on Stakeholder Cooperation Framework
3. Public Comments Invited on Inspection Function Working Paper
4. ADB to Play Key Role at 3rd World Water Forum
5. Philippines' Higher Education Body Receives a Boost
6. JFPR Grant Improves Sanitation Facilities in Papua New Guinea
7. Loan to Enhance Living Conditions in Ten Lao Communities
8. TA to Improve Employment Options for Cambodian Women
9. Water Supply and Sanitation Project Promotes Health in Sri Lanka
10. ADB's Lending Rises 6.3% in 2002
11. CIVICUS Seeks Collaboration on Civil Society Index
12. World Bank Invites Proposals on Making Services Work for the Poor
13. NGO Visitor: Foundation for Media Alternatives and Philink
14. Upcoming Events
15. Latest Documents Available from ADB
16. Give us your Comments

The 36th Annual Meeting of ADB's Board of Governors will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, 21-23 May. Seminars and other activities, some specifically for NGO participation, will begin on 19 May at the meeting venue. The Annual Meeting and associated events present a special opportunity for civil society representatives to interact with ADB staff and Management, and government representatives from ADB Member Countries. Those seeking to attend the Annual Meeting should indicate their interest by 31 March to the NGO Center at ngocoordinator@adb.org. Please note: ADB does not finance the participation of Annual Meeting attendees.

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ADB is actively exploring new ways to partner with civil society, and to improve the interactions between ADB, member governments, and NGOs. In April, ADB hopes to begin implementing a new framework within which these stakeholders can work more closely. The framework has been in development since May 2002, and has included 11 country-level and four subregional workshops in ADB Member Countries. Send your comments on the revised draft, to Robert Dobias (ngocoordinator@adb.org) before 31 March.

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In February, ADB posted the Working Paper on the review of its Inspection Function policy for public comment. Input is requested by 13 March, so that comments received may be taken into account by the Board of Directors, which will consider the Working Paper on or around 17 March. ADB will post comments on its web site, and reserves the right to use comments in the preparation of the finalized Working Paper (the "R-Paper"), which is scheduled for Board consideration in May. Comments may be sent to: inspectionreview@adb.org.

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The 3rd World Water Forum, from 16-23 March 2003, will bring together water professionals and other stakeholders to address water concerns, raise awareness on critical water issues, and mobilize actions and resources. The Forum, convened by the World Water Council, is held every three years. This year, ADB is taking a leading role in organizing activities on five major themes: water and poverty, water in cities, water and climate in small island countries, regional cooperation for shared water resources management in the Aral Sea Basin, and poverty and floods. The 3rd World Water Forum will take place in Kyoto, Shiga, and Osaka, Japan. For details, contact Thomas Panella at tpanella@adb.org.

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ADB has approved a US$500,000 technical assistance grant to strengthen the Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The grant aims to improve CHED's operation systems, develop strategies to deal effectively with clients and other agencies, and target human resource development. Restructuring and capacity building supported by the grant is expected to improve CHED's ability to reform the higher education system. For more information, contact Wendy Duncan at wduncan@adb.org.

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A US$1.74 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will provide poor urban dwellers -- mostly squatters -- with ventilated pit latrines and other low-cost toilets in Papua New Guinea. Healthier sanitation practices will also be promoted through community awareness activities in targeted areas. The program is part of a larger infrastructure project providing basic water supply and sewerage facilities to provincial towns, and which is financed by an ADB concessional loan of US$15.34 million. For more information, contact Steven van der Tak at svandertak@adb.org.

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A US$16 million loan to Lao PDR will improve roads, drainage, bus stations, and surroundings of public markets in about 10 small towns. The loan will also be used to improve management of solid waste and sanitation services, and support sustainable, pro-poor microfinance services to enhance livelihood opportunities for the poor. Decentralized governance will be established to bring urban administration closer to the people and make it more efficient and responsive to local needs. For more information, contact Gulfer Cezayirli at gcezayirli@adb.org.

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Income opportunities for poor women in eight Cambodian provinces will improve through a technical assistance (TA) grant for US$400,000 equivalent from the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund financed by the Government of the United Kingdom. The TA will strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Women's and Veterans' Affairs, and six other ministries, to mainstream gender issues. It will also help the Ministry carry out schemes to generate employment through developing microenterprise and entrepreneurial management, training programs, and establishing employment services backed by teaching and learning materials, databases, and analysis. For more information, contact Paul Chang at pchang@adb.org.

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The Secondary Towns and Rural Community-Based Water Supply and Sanitation Project will target five towns and rural areas of Sri Lanka's North Central Province to bring clean water to nearly a million people and better sanitation to more than 170,000 others. The project will focus on poor, unserved areas and build new piped water supply systems, expand existing systems, and carry out drainage work. Some of the major works will take place in areas affected by years of conflict. An ADB loan of US$60.3 million will cover about 70% of the total project cost of US$86.4 million. For more information, contact Maria Paniagua Pascual at mpaniagua@adb.org.

ADB's lending rose to US$5.7 billion in 2002. ADB approved 85 government-guaranteed loans to its Developing Member Countries for 67 projects and programs. ADB also approved four loans without government guarantee to the private sector, amounting to US$145 million, a sharp rise from US$37.5 million in 2001. India, with US$1.2 billion, or 21% of the total, was the largest borrower among 21 countries in 2002. It was followed by Pakistan, the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, and Viet Nam. These and other figures will be published in the ADB Annual Report, due for release on 24 April. For more information, contact Ian Gill at igill@adb.org.

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CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international NGO, invites statements of interest from national-level civil society organizations to partner in the implementation of the Civil Society Index (CSI). The CSI is a diagnostic tool used to assess the state of civil society in different countries around the world, and to gain insights and develop mechanisms on how to strengthen it. Piloted in 14 countries, the CSI is set to expand to 35 countries during 2003-2004. For more information, contact CIVICUS at index@civicus.org.

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The World Bank's "Development Marketplace 2003" (DM) is seeking innovative development ideas for "Making Services Work for Poor People." This year, DM expects to award at least US$4 million to winning projects, with a maximum award size of US$250,000. The competition is open to NGOs, trade unions, faith-based organizations, public agencies, and private sector entities (in partnerships with public-purpose organizations). The cut-off date for submitting proposals through the DM web site is 2 May. For details, contact Dminfo@worldbank.org.

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This regular feature spotlights one or more NGOs visiting the Asian Development Bank.

Representatives of NGOs, governments, the private sector, and the donor community from around Southeast Asia will meet together at ADB's Manila headquarters, 26-28 March, to consider ways to highlight initiatives in networking knowledge for development, share successful practices and innovations, exchange experience, disseminate findings, and pinpoint areas for follow-up. The event will be coordinated by two Filipino nonprofit organizations, the Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), and Philippine Development NGOs for International Concerns (Philink).

FMA supports civil society organizations, other development stakeholders, and individual citizens in their strategic use of information and communications media for democratization and popular empowerment. Most people in the Philippines do not have access to information and communication technology (ICT), and development organizations have not yet sufficiently developed the potential of ICTs. FMA is developing programs and projects to address this lack of ICT access by disadvantaged sectors in the Philippines.

FMA has accumulated pertinent data and undertaken policy research projects on the digital divide, and civil society's ICT capacity. It has participated in the Information Technology and E-Commerce Council, the Philippines' highest policy-making body on ICT-related issues, and in international initiatives related to communication rights, knowledge networking, and ICT for development.

Philink is a consortium of development NGOs, NGO networks, and people's organizations working for equitable participatory and sustainable development. Philink brings together development leaders, workers, and resource persons to discuss development ideas and global issues, and also organizes workshops on accessing donor resources.

The consortium maintains "learning databases" built up by its members. These include directories, resource materials, publications, case documentation, and research. These databases are in turn made part of a comprehensive electronic web-based portal. Philink also facilitates contact and exchanges between foreign and Philippine partners to promote the sharing of knowledge and experience. Philink also provides information for its domestic membership on donor activities, educational scholarships, training workshops, and seminars and conferences.

Alan Alegre (Executive Director, Foundation for Media Alternatives) and Liezl S. Formilleza (Coordinator, Philink) met with representatives of ADB's Regional and Sustainable Development Department on 14 February. The NGO representatives may be reached at alalegre@fma.ph and philink@codewan.com.ph, respectively. For more information about FMA, visit: http://www.fma.ph. Philink maintains its web site at: http://www.asiacaucus.net.ph/philink.htm.

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A listing in this section does not imply that funding is available to NGO participants.

• Civil Society Forum for South East Asia on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Children, 12-14 March 2003, Bangkok, Thailand. Contact: Sadia Mahmud-Marshall, Consortium for Street Children; email: sadia@streetchilldren.org.uk; web site: http://www.streetchildren.org.uk.
• 3rd World Water Forum, 16-23 March 2003, Kyoto, Japan. Contact: Forum Registration Office, tel: (81.3) 5212.1640; email: registration@water-forum3.com; web site: http://www.worldwaterforum.org/eng/index.html.
• Project Development and Management in the NGO Sector (Distance Learning Course), 24 March - 15 June 2003. Contact: HREA, email: applications@hrea.org; web site: http://www.hrea.org/courses/6E.html.
• Fourth International Workshop on Resource Mobilisation, 5-8 May 2003, Bangkok, Thailand. Contact: Angeline Paillat, The Resource Alliance, tel: (44.207) 587.0287; email: angeline@resource-alliance.org; web site: http://www.resource-alliance.org.
• Rural Development and Management (training course), 16 June – 11 July 2003, Silang, Cavite, Philippines. Contact: Course Coordinator, IIRR, tel: (63.46) 414.2423; email: Education&Training@iirr.org; web site: http://www.iirr.org.

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ADB makes available to the public hundreds of documents each year through its Internet site and a network of 164 depository libraries around the world. These documents include Country Economic Reviews, Country Economic Updates, Environmental Impact Assessments, Project Completion Reports (PCRs), Reports and Recommendations of the President (RRPs), Summary Initial Environmental Examinations, and Technical Assistance Reports (TARs).

Recent releases include: Preparing the Social Protection for Disadvantaged Women and Children Project (Bangladesh, TAR); Strengthening Disaster Mitigation and Management at the State Level (India, Technical Assistance Completion Report); Supporting Country-Driven Private Sector Development Strategies (Regional TAR); Health Management and Financing Study (Thailand, Technical Assistance Completion Report); Fisheries Development Project (Federated States of Micronesia, PCR); Road Sector Management in Lao People's Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea, and Philippines (Technical Assistance Performance Audit Report); and Preparing the Fuzhou Environmental Improvement Project (People's Republic of China, TAR).

Partnership welcomes feedback from readers, and may publish letters received.

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Questions about the contents of Partnership Newsletter or about ADB relations with NGOs, may be directed to Bart W. Édes at ngocoordinator@adb.org. Learn more about ADB cooperation with NGOs.

© Copyright 2002. Partnership Newsletter is published six times a year by ADB's Office of External Relations in conjunction with the ADB NGO Center. Previous issues are available here. 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. ADB reserves the right to edit submissions. Partnership Newsletter may be redistributed with credit given to Asian Development Bank.

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

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