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1. ADB Reaffirms Commitment to Gender Equality
Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), has become a recipient of the MDG3 Champion Torch, committing the institution to support gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Torch Campaign, launched by the Government of Denmark on 7 March, intends to secure extra commitments from participants to promote gender equality – the third goal in the set of development targets that world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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2. Project Improves Living Conditions of Resettled Ethnic Minorities in Viet Nam
A $1 million technical assistance project in Viet Nam, financed by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund, has helped to increase the capacity of resettlement authorities and grassroots stakeholders to develop a livelihood program for people resettled at 6 sites in 3 provinces in connection with the Son La hydropower project. The program also developed a group of Geographic Information System (GIS) Master Trainers for selection of resettlement sites at the national and sub national levels. For more information, contact Monawar Sultana, Social Development Specialist, Southeast Asia Regional Department, at msultana@adb.org.
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3. Book Highlights Positive Role of Participation in Development Initiatives
Empowering very poor communities so they can lift themselves out of poverty is finding increasing acceptance in Asia and the Pacific, even among countries with traditionally centralized decision making systems, according to a collection of case studies of ADB-financed projects. The publication, From the Ground Up: Case Studies in Community Empowerment, is available online.
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4. ADB Establishes Future Carbon Fund
ADB has established a fund that will use carbon credits generated beyond 2012 to finance clean energy projects in Asia and the Pacific. The current global regulatory framework, based on the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period, expires on 31 December 2012, hampering the trading of carbon credits after this date. This would reduce interest in investing in new clean energy projects and other climate change initiatives in developing countries.
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5. Bangladesh Receives Support to Address Rising Food Prices
ADB is providing a $170 million loan to Bangladesh to cope with the current food crisis. The loan is part of broader food security package being extended by international agencies and the Government of Bangladesh totaling $1.29 billion. The Emergency Assistance for Food Security Project will ensure access to food supplies for those hardest hit by recent natural disasters in Bangladesh and the rapid increase in food prices. For more information, contact Arun Kumar Saha, Project Implementation Officer (Agriculture), Bangladesh Resident Mission, at asaha@adb.org.
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6. WWF-Mongolia to Implement Resource Management Plan in Onon River Basin
Residents of northeastern Mongolia will be given the opportunity to play a more active role in managing and conserving their natural resources while also reducing poverty through a project supported by ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Mongolia will lead implementation of the project in close cooperation with the Onon River Basin Council. ADB and Mongolia’s Ministry of Nature and Environment will provide oversight. For more information, contact Christopher Edmonds, Rural Development Economist, East Asia Department, at cedmonds@adb.org.
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7. ADB Appoints Zhao Xiaoyu as Vice-President
ADB’s Board of Director, acting on the recommendation of President Haruhiko Kuroda, approved the appointment of Zhao Xiaoyu as Vice-President (Operations 1). He succeeds Jin Liqun who retired from ADB’s service on 31 July. In his new role, Mr. Zhao oversees the operations of the South Asia Department, the Central and West Asia Department, and the Private Sector Operations Department.
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8. Awards Promote Good NGO Practice in India
The Resource Alliance and the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation are offering the “India NGO Awards” to promote good standards and practices in resource mobilization, accountability and transparency; celebrate excellence in the non-profit sector; strengthen successful resource mobilization practices; inspire other non-profit organizations and promote cross-regional learning; and promote the overall credibility of the non-profit sector. Eligibility criteria and deadline for applications appear here: www.propoor.org/blog.php?sid=46673.
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9. Forum Promotes Energy Efficient and Inclusive Transport
The ADB Transport Forum, held 9-12 September at ADB Headquarters, provided a platform for exchanging information and experience on holistic approaches and solutions for sustainable transport development. Participants included government officials, policymakers, private sector, donor agencies, academics, civil society groups, and business leaders.
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10. CSO Visitor: AsiaDHRRA
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.
AsiaDHRRA (Asian Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia) is a regional partnership of eleven social development networks and organizations in ten Asian nations that envision Asian rural communities that are just, free, prosperous, living in peace and working in solidarity towards self-reliance.
The partnership’s mission is to be an effective 1) promoter and catalyst of partnership relations, creating opportunities for genuine people-to-people dialogue and exchange; 2) facilitator of human resource development processes in the rural areas; and 3) mobilizer of expertise and opportunities for the strengthening of solidarity and kinship among Asian rural communities.
The partnership works in five program areas: leadership development; regional policy advocacy and movement building; constituency building and resource development and management; management of information systems; and organization development and management.
AsiaDHRRA traces its roots to the 1974 Development of Human Resources in Rural Asia Workshop held in Thailand. Its member organizations operate in Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Taipei,China, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
On 8 August, Ms. Marlene Ramirez, Executive Director, AsiaDHRRA, shared her views with ADB NGO/Civil Society Anchors on how ADB and CSOs can work together to support implementation of ADB’s new long-term strategic framework, For more information on AsiaDHRRA, see www.asiadhrra.org.
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11. Training Courses and Conferences
A listing in this section does not imply ADB endorsement or availability of financing for participants. All events take place in 2008.
- Carbon Revenues: A Source of Funding (Training Course), 18-20 September, Orchha, India. Contact: Madhuban Pandley; e-mail: tla@devalt.org; tel: +91 510 2911 368; website: www.devalt.org/da/isb/tsu/form.htm.
- Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation (Training Course), 22-26 September, Oxford, UK; tel: +44 (0) 1865 201851; e-mail: training@intrac.org; website: www.intrac.org/training.php?id=100.
- 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.
- Partner Capacity Building (Training Course), 6-10 October, Oxford, UK; tel: +44 (0) 1865 201851; e-mail: training@intrac.org; website: www.intrac.org/training.php?id=101.
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