Stakeholders Provide Input on Disclosure and Information Policies
Representatives of NGOs in Azerbaijan, Cambodia, People's Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand are among those who have provided comments on ADB's Disclosure and Information Policies, which are now under review. Comments received through 14 November 2003 are being posted on ADB's web site and will be considered in drafting a new, unified ADB policy, which is expected to receive approval of ADB's Board of Directors in mid-2004. A consultation draft will be made available soon, and workshops will be held in several countries between January and March 2004 to solicit the views of stakeholders in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. For more information, contact disclosure@adb.org.
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Civil Society Views Sought on ADF Replenishment
The Asian Development Fund (ADF), established in 1973, supports the sustainable social and economic development of poor countries in Asia and the Pacific region. ADF provides highly concessional loans to countries with low per capita gross national product and limited ability to repay debt. ADF resources consist mainly of contributions mobilized from donors under periodic replenishments. Discussions are now underway on the next replenishment -- "ADF IX". Documents concerning ADF IX will be posted for public comment on ADB's web site beginning in November. Comments on the documents may be sent to ngocoordinator@adb.org.
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Auditor General Meets with U.S. NGOs on Anticorruption Efforts
ADB Auditor General Peter E. Pedersen met with 12 representatives of U.S.-based NGOs and consultancies to discuss the Bank's Anticorruption Policy. Participants included staff of the Bank Information Center (BIC), Forest Trends, and Government Accountability Project. Steve Herz of BIC shared preliminary results of a soon-to-be-released study on ADB's compliance with the Anticorruption Policy, which designates the Office of the General Auditor (OGA) as the point of contact to report allegations of fraud or corruption among ADB-financed projects or its staff. OGA works to ensure that ADB projects and staff adhere to the highest financial and ethical standards. For more information, contact Michael Stevens at amstevens@adb.org.
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ADB Supports Activities of NGOs in India
As a part of an ongoing review of its Poverty Reduction Strategy, ADB consulted with stakeholders at its India Resident Mission in late July. Representatives of NGOs and international development agencies remarked that ADB operations have become more pro-poor since implementation of the Strategy began in 1999. One example of this trend is the technical assistance (TA) for Integrating Poverty Reduction in Programs and Projects. Under this TA, ADB has been providing small-scale grants to NGOs to provide AIDS counseling in slums, introduce organic farming in village clusters, and empower women in settlements near urban areas. The TA is also funding NGO projects to provide health care in remote villages, and improve technology to enhance rural livelihoods. For more information, contact Sujatha Viswanathan at sviswanathan@adb.org.
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Thousands of Uzbek Women Gain Training and Jobs
Two NGOs in Uzbekistan-Bukhara Oblast Business Women Association, and the Tashkent Oblast Business Women Association—have trained 800 women on legal rights, microfinance, tax, and credit regulations. They have also advised more than 2,500 women on how to establish small-scale enterprises on agriculture, trade, garment manufacturing, and bakery goods. Together, these initiatives have created nearly 700 jobs. The NGOs' efforts were supported by an ADB regional technical assistance on Gender and Development Initiatives. For more information, contact Shireen Lateef at slateef@adb.org.
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Grant Boosts Tripartite Cooperation in Greater Mekong Subregion
A recently approved $150,000 technical assistance grant will support joint collaboration against poverty by ADB, governments, and NGOs. The TA aims to raise awareness of NGOs on poverty issues, and promote intensified tripartite cooperation in formulating and implementing the Regional Cooperation Strategy and Program for the Greater Mekong Subregion. For more information, contact Hemanta Mishra at hmishra@adb.org.
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Small Loans Produce Big Impact in Nepal
Through the Microcredit Project for Women, ADB has helped improve the socioeconomic status of more than 40,000 poor women in 12 districts and 5 municipalities of Nepal. The project, completed in 2002, provided small-scale loans to enable women to buy livestock, grow vegetables, and make other investments for profit. NGOs were engaged to reach targeted beneficiaries and to help form self-help groups. Many of these groups later evolved into savings and credit cooperatives. The project also provided skills training and institutional support for partner NGOs. For more information, contact Kavita Sherchan at ksherchan@adb.org.
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Punjab Moves Toward Millennium Development Goals
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Bank Staff Reach Into Their Pockets to Aid Manila Charities
ADB's Staff Community Fund (SCF) is celebrating its 6th anniversary in November 2003. Supported by the voluntary contributions of ADB staff, the SCF contributes over $40,000 annually to 10-20 Philippine nonprofit groups assisting the disadvantaged in Metro Manila, where ADB maintains its headquarters. The SCF has, for example, provided free early childcare and education to indigents and supplemental feeding for pre-schoolers at a day care center, supported a solid waste management program, promoted dressmaking training of women-homeworkers, and purchased rehabilitation and walking aid equipment for the disabled. For more information, contact K. E. Seetharam at kseetharam@adb.org.
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ADB Welcomes NGOs to the 2004 Annual Meeting
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Paper Explores Use of Participatory Development in ADB Operations
A new ADB paper, written by Cindy Malvicini and Anne Sweetser, describes participatory activities used by ADB project managers in various contexts. The paper is based on a regional technical assistance, which supported capacity building and participation activities in 22 projects, poverty studies, country strategy and program development, and other activities. The new paper is intended to assist ADB staff and developing member countries in deepening and broadening stakeholder participation in development activities, and in creating a framework for participatory development. To order a copy of Modes of Participation—Experiences from RETA 5894: Capacity Building and Participation Activities II, contact adbpub@adb.org.
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Book Sales Will Benefit Street Children
ADB has published a coffee-table book If I Had the Chance . . . Artwork from the Streets of Asia and the Pacific, featuring the drawings and interviews with hundreds of children from the streets of Asia and the Pacific. The children participated in the Second ADB Street Children's Art Competition, which was held in 2002 in seven cities—Dhaka, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Manila, Phnom Penh, Ports Moresby, and Ulaanbaatar. The competition, with its theme "If I Had the Chance. . .", enabled more than 1,000 children to express their dreams. This book gives a glimpse of the hopes, fears, and needs of the children. Proceeds from the sale of this special publication will be shared among the NGOs that played key roles in the competition, and will be used for the direct benefit of the children under their care. Hard copies may be purchased for $80, soft copies for $20 (postage included). To order, contact adbpub@adb.org.
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GWU Offers Scholarships for Postgraduate Study of International Affairs
George Washington University (Washington, D.C.), with support from the Freeman Foundation, is offering four fellowships for the 2004-2005 academic year to enable Asian mid-career professions to pursue a Master of International Policy and Practice. Candidates from developing Asian countries are eligible for three fellowships that each covers all tuition, fees, and living expenses equivalent to about $35,000. The fourth fellowship is available to candidates from developed Asian nations and covers all tuition and fees equivalent to approximately $22,000. For more information, contact Kathleen Keough at kkeough@gwu.edu. Deadline is 15 January 2004.
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NGO Visitors: International Committee of the Red Cross-Philippines
This regular feature spotlights an NGO visiting ADB.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral, and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance. It endeavors to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles.
For people caught in the midst of conflict, ICRC seeks to provide protection by minimizing the dangers to which they are exposed, preventing or putting a stop to violations committed against them, upholding their rights, making their voices heard, and providing them with support. ICRC uses humanitarian diplomacy to make States aware of problems and issues of humanitarian concern, and shares these concerns with the international community. It also seeks to raise awareness of humanitarian imperatives and principles in various international fora.
ICRC seeks to establish strategic partnerships with private firms that are mutually beneficial and based on clear, ethical criteria. The objective of such partnerships is to improve ICRC's ability to help the victims of war, and to promote humanitarian principles with companies operating in war-prone areas. ICRC also works closely with Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Asia, the Pacific, and elsewhere to enhance and build upon their capacities to provide humanitarian services in their respective countries.
ICRC-Philippines has a staff of 36, about 15 of whom work in Mindanao, where the organization focuses its efforts. Among other things, ICRC-Philippines extends first aid to people injured in acts of violence, and gives direct help to wounded individuals unable to pay for medical care. It also helps people forced to flee their homes because of fighting. The NGO is also working with the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines to foster international humanitarian law and protection of individuals in times of armed conflict. In addition, it is providing financial support to the Philippine National Red Cross so that it may deliver food, medicine, and other goods to beneficiaries.
Symeon Antoulas, Head of Delegation, ICRC-Philippines, held an information-exchange session with Thomas Crouch, ADB Country Director for the Philippines, on 25 September 2003 at ADB headquarters. Learn more about the ICRC-Philippines.
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Upcoming Events
A listing in this section does not imply that funding is available to NGO participants.
- Scaling up Community Management of Rural Water Supply (learning workshop), 24-28 November 2003, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Contact: COSI Foundation; e-mail: cosi@sltnet.lk or cosi_train@sltnet.lk.
- Participatory Action Research for Community-based Natural Resources Management (international course), 8-19 December 2003, Silang, Cavite, Philippines. Contact: IIRR, tel: (63.46) 414.2417; fax: (63.46) 414.2420; e-mail: Education&Training@iirr.org; web site: http://www.iirr.org.
- Consultation workshops on ADB's draft policy on information and communication issues (disclosure), 8 January–early March 2004 in approximately 11 countries. Exact dates and locations for each workshop will be posted on ADB's web site on 14 November 2003. Contact: Tuesday Soriano, tel: (632) 632.4444; e-mail: disclosure@adb.org; web site: http://www.adb.org/disclosure.
- NGO Leadership Development and Social Change (international course), 19 January–6 February 2004, Silang, Cavite, Philippines. Contact: IIRR, tel: (63.46) 414.2417; fax: (63.46) 414.2420; e-mail: Education&Training@iirr.org; web site: http://www.iirr.org.
- Project Development and Management in the NGO Sector (distance learning course), 2 February–25 April 2004. Contact: Frank Elbers, HREA (the Netherlands/USA); e-mail: Monette.Pacia@iirr.org; web site: http://www.hrea.org.
- Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (international course), 8-26 March 2004, Silang, Cavite, Philippines. Contact: Monette Pacia, IIRR, tel: (63.46) 414.2417; fax: (63.46) 414.2420; e-mail: Monette.Pacia@iirr.org; web site: http://www.iirr.org.
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Latest Documents Available from ADB
ADB makes hundreds of documents publicly available each year on its web site and through a growing network of 166 depository libraries around the world. The extensive on-line Publications Catalog allows users to browse through a list of over 4,000 titles. These include Country Economic Reviews (CERs), Environmental Impact Assessments, Project Completion Reports (PCRs), Reports and Recommendations of the President (RRPs), Summary Initial Environmental Examinations, and Technical Assistance Completion Reports (TACRs).
Recent releases include Country Assistance Program Evaluation–-Papua New Guinea; Strengthening Urban Solid Waste Management–-People's Republic of China (TACR); Preparing the Tonle Sap Sustainable Livelihoods Project–-Cambodia (TA Report); Samut Prakarn Wastewater Management Project: Third Semiannual Report on Implementation of the Recommendations of the Board Inspection Committee–-Thailand; Preparing the Heart-Andkhoy Road Project–-Afghanistan (TA Report); Nonformal Education Project–-Bangladesh (PCR); Establishment of an Anticorruption Commission–-Indonesia (TACR); Private Sector Infrastructure Facility–-India (PCR); and Supporting Local Government Reforms–-Kazakhstan (TA Report).
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Give us your Comments
Partnership Newsletter welcomes feedback from readers, and may publish letters received.
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Questions about the contents of Partnership Newsletter, or about ADB cooperation with NGOs, may be directed to Mr. Bart Édes at ngocoordinator@adb.org.
© Copyright 2003. 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 online. 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.
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