Partnership Newsletter

January-February 2006

Volume 6, Issue 1

IN THIS ISSUE
ADB News NGO News NGO Visitors	Upcoming Events Latest Documents Comments Contact Read Previous Issues

ADB News

Accreditation Process Begins for ADB’s 39th Annual Meeting

NGOs and other civil society organizations (CSOs) are invited to attend the 39th Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors, to be held in Hyderabad, India on 3-6 May. Several sessions will be held on topics of interest to CSOs, which must be accredited in advance by their home government in order to participate. Requests for accreditation must be received by 15 March. To request accreditation or propose ideas for discussion during the program, contact Suzanne Nazal, Civil Society Cooperation Officer, NGO & Civil Society Center, Regional and Sustainable Development Department (RSDD) at ngocoordinator@adb.org.

Revised Timeline Announced for Safeguard Policy Update

ADB's Board of Directors has requested ADB's Operations Evaluation Department (OED) to conduct an independent evaluation of the institution’s safeguard policies -- environment, indigenous peoples, and involuntary resettlement -- as an input to the Safeguard Policy Update. OED will carry out the evaluation between January and June, thus requiring a change in timeline for the Safeguard Policy Update. While informal consultations continue, it is expected that the structured series of country, agency, and civil society consultation workshops will begin in the third quarter of 2006. Board consideration of a draft paper is likely to be in January 2007, while Board consideration of a final paper is likely to take place in July 2007. For more information, contact Nessim J. Ahmad, Director, Environment and Social Safeguard Division, RSDD at njahmad@adb.org.

Civil Society Weighs in on ADB Water Policy Implementation Review

External consultations on the review of the implementation of ADB's Water Policy concluded with a civil society consultation held at ADB headquarters, 17-18 November 2005. The consultation provided an opportunity for 60 representatives of project-affected communities, development/service organizations, knowledge resource groups, professional associations, and advocacy organizations to discuss key water-related issues, experiences, and lessons learned. Read the results of the meeting, and of earlier consultations. For more information, contact the review’s Lead Facilitator, Kathryn Nelson, at knelson@adb.org.

Mercy Corps Contributes to Aceh’s Rehabilitation

Through its Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project, ADB has provided Mercy Corps, an NGO, with $1 million to deliver in the form of livelihood and community grants to those affected by the tsunami in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar, Indonesia. Of this amount, 40% has been earmarked for community cash grants and 60% for individual cash grants. The community grants are assisting communities, associations, local NGOs, and businesses to promote the economic recovery of hard-hit communities, restore productivity, and replace the income-generating assets of microenterprises destroyed during the disaster of December 2004. Individual grants allow microenterprises to replace damaged business assets so they can get their businesses back up and running. For more information, contact Tom Moyes, Credit Specialist, Southeast Asia Regional Department (SERD), at rmoyes@adb.org.

Grant Boosts Indonesia's Local Government Planning and Budgeting

ADB will help improve the planning and budgeting processes of Indonesia’s local governments through a US$2.1 million technical assistance (TA) grant. Co-financed by the United Kingdom, the TA project will design a capacity development program to assist 12 or more district governments in producing local strategies that address resource planning and allocation for reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. "Ensuring that budget processes are pro-poor and participatory will help boost service delivery and accelerate poverty reduction," says Karin Schelzig Bloom, Poverty Reduction Specialist (Social Development), SERD. For more information, contact kschelzig@adb.org.

Project Raises Awareness of Avian Flu in Viet Nam

Under the Central Region Livelihood Improvement Project, ADB and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an NGO, are working together in Viet Nam to raise awareness with over 150 local leaders about avian influenza as a first step in strengthening community preparedness and capacity to respond to disease outbreaks.

NGOs Promote Legal Empowerment for Women and Disadvantaged Groups

The Asia Foundation is implementing a regional technical assistance to pilot-test effective legal empowerment (LE) modalities that could increase access of women and disadvantaged groups to basic social services and productive resources in selected districts in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan. Together with national legal services NGOs, the Asia Foundation will develop an operations manual for NGOs involved in LE initiatives. The manual will outline options for practical modalities to ensure technical and financial sustainability and greater impact of LE initiatives, public-private partnerships, and establishment of effective monitoring and information systems. For more information, contact Francesco Tornieri, Social Development Specialist (Gender and Development), at ftornieri@adb.org.

Azerbaijan Aims to Develop Renewable Energy

ADB has approved a $700,000 in technical assistance (TA) project to help Azerbaijan reduce domestic imbalances in economic growth with reliable and environmentally clean energy supplies. In particular, the TA will prepare criteria for selecting priority renewable energy investment projects and develop a shortlist of such project; produce a pre-feasibility report for short-listed projects and rank priority projects; evaluate and identify an appropriate institutional setup for implementing renewable energy project; and prepare highest-ranked priority projects for ADB financing. For more information, contact Ashok Bhargava, Energy Specialist, East and Central Asia Department, at abhargava@adb.org.

ADB Supports Women’s Development in Cambodia

A $1.8 million grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will establish and upgrade women’s development centers in Cambodia to serve as one-stop, female-friendly facilities empowering women socially and economically. The centers will provide entrepreneurial skills training, and life skills and advocacy support, such as sanitation and hygiene awareness and day care facilities. Business startup referral services will also be offered. For more information, contact Januar Hakim, Urban Development Specialist, MKRD, at jhakim@adb.org.

Special Project Facilitator Completes Report on Complaint in Indonesia

ADB's Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF) has released the final report on the complaint concerning the Community Empowerment and Rural Development Project (CERDP) in Indonesia. It is available in both English and Bahasa Indonesia. Details on the complaint's outcomes, and feedback received from NGO intermediaries on the complaint process, will appear in the OSPF Annual Report, to be published in February. For more information, contact Karin Oswald, Senior Project Facilitation Specialist, OSPF, at koswald@adb.org.

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NGO News

AusAID Seeks Democratic Governance Specialist in Papua New Guinea

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) is opening a new Democratic Governance Program focusing on civil society for Papua New Guinea. The agency seeks a Democratic Governance Specialist to work with its civil society team at the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby. The role will involve developing a new democratic governance strategy and design parameters. The process will require consultation with state and non-state organizations, as well as travel to remote parts of the island country. For more information, contact Charlotte Smith, Manager, Civil Society, PNG Branch, AusAID, at Charlotte.Smith@ausaid.gov.au.

Duke University Offers Fellowships to Study Civil Society

The Joel L. Fleishman Civil Society Fellows Program provides a select group of leaders from NGOs, foundations, government, socially responsible businesses, and other CSOs to spend a 4-week residential sabbatical at Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy in North Carolina, USA. Successful applicants will receive a $6,000 stipend to study issues related to civil society. Deadline for applications is 1 May, and the fellowship period begins 1 October. For more information, contact Milissa Markiewicz at mmarkiew@duke.edu.

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NGO Visitors: Utthan

This regular feature spotlights one of the many CSOs whose representatives have recently met with ADB staff at the institution’s headquarters in the Philippines.

Utthan is a registered society and public trust based in Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1981 through the initiative of four professional women who, inspired by Professor Ravi Mathai’s “Jawaja” experiments, decided to work on sustainable processes of empowerment in the community.

Utthan’s approach to development is to encourage community participation with a focus on women's groups and issues from their point of view by enhancing and upgrading of skills and knowledge. In the early 1980s, Utthan supported the emergence of a community-based group called Mahiti in the coastal Bhal region of India’s Gujarat state. Utthan and Mahiti collaborated to initiate a women's movement in Bhal focused around access to a safe and regular supply of drinking water. They encouraged the Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board to approve a project promoting decentralized rain water harvesting structures, such has plastic lined ponds and roof water collection tanks.

This advocacy work led women to protest against an exploitative indigenous money lending system run by the most powerful caste in the area. The protest caused this lending system to crumble while providing women with the chance to organize themselves into vibrant community groups and undertake their own savings, credit, and income generating activities.

In 1994, Utthan withdrew from Bhal, after having helped Mahiti to build its organizational capability to continue development activities. Since then, it has gradually expanded to the other areas of Gujarat and expanded its range of development work. While in 1981 Utthan’s efforts covered 7 villages in a single block of Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district, it now carries out activities in 108 villages in 7 blocks of 4 districts of the state: Amreli, Bhavnagar, Dahod, and Patan.

Gender equity has been central to Utthan’s policies and programs. This is reflected in its work culture, space, and the opportunities provided to women. Utthan’s team consists of 48 members. Nearly half of its professionals are women.

Utthan’s Executive Trustee, Ms. Nafisa Barot, gave a welcoming address at the civil society consultation on the review of the implementation of ADB’s Water Policy on 18 November 2005. For more information on Utthan, contact Ms. Barot at nafisa@icenet.net, or visit the website at http://www.utthangujarat.org/.

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Upcoming Events

A listing in this section does not imply ADB endorsement or availability of financing for participants.

4th International Workshop on Good Governance and Civil Society, 20-25 February, Kathmandu, Nepal. Contact: Program Coordinator, International Institute of Development Management Technology, e-mail: workshop@aidmat.com; tel: +91 11 2689 6151; website: http://www.aidmat.com/idmat/gg.html.

World Social Forum Regional Workshop to Prepare for the Southeast/East Asia World Social Forum in Thailand, 26-27 February, Bangkok, Thailand. Contact: Giles Ji Ungpakorn, e-mail: Thaiwsf@yahoo.com; tel: +66 1 346 9481; website: http://www.prachatai.com/wsf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=38&lang=en.

Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure, 6-17 March, Washington, DC, USA. Contact: Kevin Paquette, International Law Institute, e-mail: kpaquette@ili.org; tel: +1 202 247 6006; website: http://www.ili.org.

6th International Evaluation Conference, 3-5 April 2006, Soesterberg, The Netherlands. Contact: International NGO Training and Research Centre, e-mail: training@intrac.org; tel: +44 (0)1865 263040; website: http://www.intrac.org/pages/6thevalConference.html.

International Conference on “Public Accountability in ODA,” 26-29 April 2006, Siem Riep, Cambodia. Contact: Wolfgang Eckes, Freidrich Naumann Foundation, e-mail: assistant.r721@thailand.fnst.org; tel: +66 2 365 05 70.

7th International Conference of the International Society for Third Sector Research, 9-12 July, Bangkok, Thailand. Contact: ISTR, Johns Hopkins University, e-mail: istr@jhu.edu; tel: +1 410 516 4678; fax: +1 410 516 4870; web site: http://www.jhu.edu/.

International Economic and Social Forum, 25-28 October, Lyon, France. Contact: Scientific Foundation of Lyon, e-mail: newsletter@forum-lyon.com; website: http://www.forum-lyon.com.

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Nongovernment Organizations and Civil Society