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1. ADB Increases Support in Response to Food Crisis
ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda has announced $500 million in immediate budgetary support to tackle rising food costs in Asia-Pacific region and pledged to double lending to $2 billion for agriculture in 2009. ADB has also published a report proposing policy responses to the challenge of food price inflation in order to avoid the reversal of the gains in poverty reduction. The report, “Food Prices and Inflation in Developing Asia: Is Poverty Reduction Coming to an End?,” is available on ADB’s website.
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2. Comments Sought on Safeguard Policy Update Consultation Plan
ADB welcomes comments on the updated consultation plan for the next phase of the Safeguard Policy Update. The draft plan describes the approach to preparing and disseminating the second draft of the Safeguard Policy Statement and other related documents; outlines the means of communication for consultation and dialogue with stakeholders; and provides a tentative timetable for the Safeguard Policy Update. The deadline for comments is 4 July. Comments can be sent to safeguards_update@adb.org, maxiaoying@adb.org, or cduffy@adb.org.
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3. Climate Change Fund will help Address Global Warming
ADB is establishing a new fund to slow the onset of climate change and to help the Asia-Pacific region adapt to the expected devastating impact of global warming. ADB will provide an initial $40 million to the Climate Change Fund, which will be open for further contributions from countries, other development organizations, foundations, the private sector and other sources.
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4. Pilot Program Aims to Boost Energy Efficiency in Guangdong Province
ADB is funding a pilot program in Guangdong to bring energy-efficient technology to major power consumers in Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China. Under the program, ADB is providing long-term, low-cost financing to the Guangdong Provincial Government, which will lend funds to major energy consumers to retrofit plants and buildings with energy-efficient technology.
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5. Action Plan Recognizes CSO Role in Addressing Disasters
ADB has approved a plan to support effective implementation of the institution’s 2004 Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy. The new plan recognizes that CSOs are a valuable actor in disaster disk management due to their flexibility, potential to link government and corporate efforts, facility in working with vulnerable communities, and ability to focus and direct attention to areas such as gender. For more information, contact Neil Britton, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist, Regional and Sustainable Development Department (RSDD), at nbritton@adb.org.
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6. Annual Meeting Features ADB-CSO Dialogue
More than 80 representatives of CSOs participated in the 41st Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors, held 3-6 May in Madrid, Spain. The civil society delegation was larger than at any previous ADB Annual Meeting held outside of Asia. The NGO/Civil Society Program included several activities to support dialogue between CSOs and ADB on issues of mutual concern, including ADB audit and evaluation practices, safeguard policies, the core labor standards, and Asia’s energy future.
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7. Oxfam America and ADB Bring Attention to Afghanistan’s Unheard Voices
On 16 May, Oxfam America and ADB organized a discussion in Washington, DC on “Unheard Voices: Perspectives from the ‘Poor’ of Afghanistan.” Speakers included representatives of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief, and the Embassy of Afghanistan in the United States, as well as the former United States Agency for International Development Mission Director to Afghanistan, and the author of the Afghanistan Pilot Participatory Poverty Assessment (available on this link - http://www.acbar.org/display.php?page_id=70).
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8. Seminar Explores Access to Land for Poor Rural Residents
The Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, the International Land Coalition, and ADB organized a seminar at ADB headquarters on 11 June to discuss access to land for poor people residing in rural areas. ANGOC and ILC partners presented draft studies on the situation of land reform in six South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. In addition, ANGOC recommended steps on how ADB could support improved access to land. About 40 ADB staff and CSO representatives participated in the dialogue.
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9. Workshop Highlights Civil Society Role in Improving Governance in Transport
The global Transport Knowledge Partnership (gTKP) sponsored a regional workshop on “Mobilizing Civil Society to Improve Governance in Transport,” 25-27 June. Hosted at ADB headquarters, the workshop brought together 45 representatives of CSOs, governments, research institutions, and inter-governmental organizations to share governance case studies and identify road sector benchmarks for use by road sector stakeholders. For more information, contact Stephen Vincent, gTKP, at Stephen.vincent@gtkp.com.
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10. Indonesian CSOs and Media Discuss Pro-poor Planning and Budgeting
Twenty-six representatives from CSOs and local media in the Indonesian provinces of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), West Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi shared experiences in supporting pro-poor planning and budgeting at a workshop held 27-28 May in Kupang, NTT. The workshop was financed through an ADB technical assistance project and the UNDP Target MDGs Project. For more information, contact Karin Schelzig, Poverty Reduction Specialist, Southeast Asia Regional Department, at kschelzig@adb.org.
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11. Magsaysay Laureates Gather to Address Asia’s Challenges
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation will assemble Magsaysay laureates from 21 Asian societies to discuss how to forge partnerships and build sustainability in a changing Asia. Prominent civil society leaders, including Muhammad Yunus, Mechai Viravaidya, and M.S. Swaminathan, are among invited speakers to the conference, to be held 29-30 August in Manila. Ursula Schaefer-Preusss, ADB Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, will speak on a plenary panel on “Poverty and Inequality: Taking Action to the Next Level.”
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12. Annual Report Highlights Work to Solve Community Problems
ADB’s Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF) has published its 2007 Annual Report. The document provides information on treatment of community complaints, support provided to ADB operations departments, outreach activities, and efforts to feed lessons learned into ADB-assisted activities. For more information, contact Karin Oswald at koswald@adb.org.
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13. CSO Visitor: IFRTD
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.
The International Forum for Rural Transport and Development (IFRTD) is a global network of individuals and organizations working together towards improved access, mobility and economic opportunity for poor communities in developing countries.
IFRTD's mission is to improve policies and practices in transport operations, infrastructure, access and service provision that will benefit the lives of poor rural communities in developing countries through dialogue, information sharing, capacity building, research and advocacy. IFRTD works to achieve this mission by strengthening and supporting networking, identifying priority issues for change, and pursuing a program of advocacy work to influence donors, policy makers and practitioners.
IFRTD also seeks to fill gaps in knowledge by promoting and disseminating research in a way that enhances networking, generates awareness of issues and advocates for appropriate changes and resource mobilization. IFRTD is committed to ensuring that the interests of developing countries are represented in the global rural transport agenda, and that the interventions of its members both support and are informed by these interests.
Members of the IFRTD include representatives of governments, academia, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, consultancies, technical institutions, national and international NGOs and community organizations. IFRTD membership is open to all who share its vision, objectives, values and principles. IFRTD strives to provide all members with equal opportunities to participate in the activities of the network. It encourages members to take ownership of the network and participate in decision-making processes.
IFRTD receives core support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
On 27 June, IFRTD representatives Danang Parikesit, Ashoke K. Sarkar, and Nori T. Palarca met with RSDD staff to explore possible ADB-IFRTD cooperation in countries where both organizations are active. For more information on IFRTD, see www.ifrtd.org.
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14. Training Courses
A listing in this section does not imply ADB endorsement or availability of financing for participants. All courses take place in 2008.
- International Training Workshop on Disaster Risk and Environmental Management, 9-12 July, Melaka, Malaysia. Contact: World Youth Foundation; e-mail: wyf@po.jaring.my; tel: +60 6 232 0911; fax: 60 6 232 3911; website: www.wyf.org.my/image/CallForParticipation.pdf.
- Ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, 9-13 August, Bali, Indonesia, India. Contact: 9th ICAAP Organizing Committee; e-mail: icaap9@aidsindonesia.or.id; website: icaap9.aidsindonesia.or.id/.
- The Workshop’08, 19-28 August, Thrissur, Kerala, India. Contact: Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices; e-mail: info@theworkshop.org; website: www.theworkshop.in.
- International Association of Public Participation Conference on “Public Participation and Corporate Social Responsibility: From Why to How,” 27-29 August, Glasgow, UK. Contact: Diane Coyle; e-mail: diane.coyle@strath.ac.uk; tel: +44 (0) 141 950 3062; website: www.strath.ac.uk/Departments/CADISPA/conf/registration.html.
- IUCN World Conservation Congress, 5-14 October, Barcelona, Spain. Contact: IUCN; e-mail: congress@icun.org; tel: +41 22 999 0000; fax: 41 22 999 0002; website: cms.iucn.org/news_events/events/congress/index.cfm.
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