Nongovernment Organizations and Civil Society

1.  ADB Appoints new Vice-President

ADB’s Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Ursula Schäfer-Preuss as Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development to replace Mr. Geert van der Linden, who has retired. Ms. Schäfer-Preuss is currently Director General at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Germany.

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2.  Study Evaluates Role of Civil Society Organizations in ADB Operations

An ADB Operations Evaluation Department (OED) study concludes that civil society organization (CSO) involvement in the preparation of country-specific strategies and programs tends to be limited to consultations at the early stages, although it has increased over time. Greater CSO involvement has been recorded in the area of gender and development, and in projects financed by grants from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund, and the National Poverty Strategy Fund. For more information, contact Ms. Kus Hardjanti, Principal Evaluation Specialist, Operations Evaluation Department, at khardjanti@adb.org.

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3.  Financing Made Available for CSO Action against HIV/AIDS

In June, ADB launched a package of 11 grant projects to step up the fight against HIV/AIDS. One project commits $1.5 million in small grants for CSOs active in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. CSOs working in ADB’s developing member countries and meeting the project’s other criteria are eligible for funding of up to $50,000. For more information, contact Jennifer Francis, NGO/Civil Society Specialist, Regional and Sustainable Development Department (RSDD), at jfrancis@adb.org.

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4.  Essay Competition Gives Voice to the Youth of Asia and the Pacific

ADB and ROAD, a network of Japanese students, has launched a student essay contest preceding ADB’s 40th Annual Meeting, to be held in Kyoto, Japan, in May 2007. University students from ADB’s developing member countries, and the Annual Meeting’s host country, Japan, are invited to submit English-language essays on one of three specific topics: economic growth and environmental conservation, human resource development and institutions, and industry and infrastructure. Deadline for essay submissions, which should not exceed 2,000 words, is 31 October.

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5.  Workshops Feature ADB’s Accountability and Communications Policies

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6.  Grant Supports CDM Potential in the People’s Republic of China

ADB is providing a $600,000 grant to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to set up a fund to help the country benefit from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Established under the Kyoto Protocol, the CDM allows developed countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction obligations through investment in emission reduction projects in developing countries. The fund will manage fees collected from CDM projects and promote domestic CDM projects and other climate change-related projects and activities. For more information, contact Anthony Maxwell, Environmental Specialist, East Asia Department, at amaxwell@adb.org.

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7.  NGO in Cambodia Promotes Community-Based Ecotourism

Mlup Baitong, an NGO in Cambodia, has developed an ecotourism site in Chambok Commune on the border of Kirirom National Park. The project, supported by a small grant from ADB, is providing alternative income sources for the local community and encouraging protection of natural resources. Revenues generated through entrance and service fees help pay the wages of day workers, with profits going into a locally controlled fund that finances community development initiatives. For more information, contact Mlup Baitong at mlup@online.com.kh.

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8.  Pakistan CSO Publishes Directory of Nonprofit Organizations

The Pakistan Center for Philanthropy has launched a directory containing information on 84 nonprofit organizations that it has certified. Funding for the directory, entitled Gateway to Giving, has been provided through an ADB-financed technical assistance project, Improving Governance in the Nonprofit Sector of Pakistan. For more information, contact Waqas ul Hasan, Project Officer (Governance), Pakistan Resident Mission, at whasan@adb.org.

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9.  Book Explores Relationship Between Poverty, Health and Environment

Most Asians of limited means reside in rural areas where the ecosystems that they depend on – water bodies, grasslands, soils and forests – are facing strains form unsustainable exploitation or conversion to other sources, according to a book jointly published by ADB and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Poverty, Health, and Ecosystems: Experience from Asia highlights the challenges faced by poor and resource dependent households across Asia in 16 case studies.

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10.  Web Site Shares Evaluation Results

OED conducts independent evaluations of ADB operations and publishes these to disseminate lessons widely available to development practitioners. OED has also created a web page with links to the evaluation sites of other development agencies, including those in the nonprofit sector. OED invites development agencies that publish the results of third-party and independent evaluation to share links for possible inclusion on the web page. For more information, contact Keith Leonard, Director, Operations Evaluation Division 1, at rkleonard@adb.org.

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11.  Report Recommends Narrowing Gender Gap

A joint ADB-United Nations report, Pursuing Gender Equality through the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific, describes progress on gender-specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and provides recommendations to narrow gender gaps and empower women in the region. The new report also provides details on regional challenges, promising initiatives, supportive institutions, and the gender dimensions of progress on other MDGs.

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12.  Learning Tool Kits Promote Pro-Poor Service Delivery

ADB and the ADB Institute have sponsored development of e-learning tool kits on citizen report card methodology and continuous benchmarking techniques that promote accountability and transparency. A regional technical assistance project is supporting incorporation of the tool kits into teaching curricula of educational and training institutes in developing countries. For more information, contact Raza Ahmad, Governance/Capacity Development Specialist, RSDD, at rahmad@adb.org.

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13.  CSO Visitors: Mercy Corps

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.

Mercy Corps, an international NGO based in Oregon, United States, works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty, and instability. Established in 1979, Mercy Corps helps more than seven million people each year recover from disasters, build stronger communities and find their own solutions to poverty. It has been an international leader in responding to the massive tragedy of the Indian Ocean tsunami, war in Afghanistan, massive food shortages in North Korea, ethnic conflict in the Balkans, and economic transitions in Central Asia and the Caucasus.

The NGO pursues its mission through emergency relief services that assist people afflicted by conflict or disaster, and through sustainable economic development that integrates agriculture, health, housing and infrastructure, education and environment, and local management. It also carries out civil society initiatives that promote citizen participation, accountability, conflict management and the rule of law. Underlying Mercy Corps’ work is the belief that communities recovering from war or social upheaval must be the agents of their own transformation for change to endure.

Mercy Corps was among the first humanitarian groups to use relief and development programs to strengthen civil society. Just a few weeks of armed conflict can destroy roads, schools, businesses and health systems that take years of traditional development work to build. Working side by side with those in need, Mercy Corps brings diverse groups together to create societies that are more peaceful, open, democratic, and economically strong.

The work of Mercy Corps is made possible through the contributions of thousands of individuals, corporations, foundations, faith communities and other donors. The organization consistently ranks as one of the United States’ most effective and efficient charitable organizations. Over the last 5 years, more than 90 percent of resources have been allocated directly to programs.

Since its founding, Mercy Corps has provided $1 billion in relief and development assistance, including food, shelter, health care, agriculture, water and sanitation, education, and small business loans to people in 82 nations. The NGO employs 3,200 staff worldwide.

On 23 August 2006, Mr. Silas Everett, Regional Technical Advisor, Mercy Corps, briefed ADB staff on Mercy Corps’ Community-Based Conflict Management Practice for Development in Maluku, Indonesia; eastern Sri Lanka; and the Ferghana Valley. For more information on Mercy Corps, see http://www.mercycorps.org.

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14.  Upcoming Events

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

• Fourth Meeting of the Network for NGO-Business Partnerships for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, 26 September, Manila, Philippines. Contact: Pareena Prayukvong; e-mail: pareenap@kiasia.org; tel: +66 2 229 3131; fax: +66 2 229 3130; website: http://www.ngobiz.org.



• Course on NGO Leadership, Development and Social Change, 9-27 October, Silang, Cavite, Philippines. Contact: Education and Training, IIRR; e-mail: education&training@iirr.org; tel: +632 886 4385; fax: +63 46 414 2420; website: http://www.iirr.org.



• Gender, Health and Poverty E-Learning Course, 18 October-28 November. Contact: Jo Hindriks, World Bank; e-mail: jhindris@worldbank.org; website: http://info.worldbank.org/etools/wbi_learning/sec/form_e.cfm?sch_id=HNP07-01-026.



• Forum for a Responsible Globalization, 25-28 October, Lyon, France. Contact: Karina Gleich, Fondation Scientifique de Lyon; e-mail: karina.gleich@fslse.org; website: http://www.global-economic-and-social-forum.com.



• India Social Forum, 9-13 November, Delhi, India. Contact: WSF-India; e-mail: wsfindia@vsnl.net; tel: +91 11 2667 4123; website: http://www.wsfindia.org.



• Course on Participatory Methodologies for Development, 29 November-1 December, Oxford, United Kingdom. Contact: Ingrid Kamikazi, INTRAC; e-mail: ikamikazi@intrac.org; tel: +44 (0)1865 263 040; fax: +44 (0)1865 201 852; website: http://www.intrac.org/training.php?id=58.



• World Congress of NGOs on "NGOs: Forces for Peace," 30 November-3 December, Dead Sea, Jordan. Contact: WANGO; e-mail: congress2006@wango.org; tel: +1 914 631 8990; fax: +1 914 631 8993; website: http://www.wango.org/2006.



• Ninth International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management, 4-8 December, Oxford, United Kingdom. Contact: Intizar Hussain, Executive Director, International Network on Participatory Irrigation Management; e-mail: ihussain@inpim.org; tel: +92 51 581 9038; fax: +92 51 595 8239; website: http://www.inpim.org.

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15.   Latest Documents Available from ADB

ADB makes hundreds of documents publicly available each year on its web site, and through a growing network of 170 depository libraries around the world. The extensive online Publications Catalog allows users to browse through a list of over 4,000 titles. These include country economic reviews, project completion reports (PCRs), project performance evaluation report (PPER), reports and recommendations of the President (RRPs), technical assistance reports (TARs), and technical assistance completion reports (TACRs).

Examples of recently published documents include the Health and Nutrition Sector Development Program PPER (Indonesia); Special Evaluation Study of Environmental Safeguards; Managing for Development Results in ADB: Revised Action Plan; Flood Damage Rehabilitation Project PPER (Bangladesh); and Special Evaluation Study -- Urban Sector Strategy and Operations: Management Response and Development Effectiveness Committee Chair’s Summary.

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