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1. Feedback Sought on Second Draft of ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement
ADB invites comments on the Second Draft of the Safeguard Policy Statement. The Statement updates ADB’s three safeguard policies in order to enhance their relevance and to strengthen their effectiveness. The Statement will guide ADB operations in the areas of indigenous peoples, involuntary resettlement, and environmental considerations. Comments can be sent until 4 December to: safeguards_update@adb.org.
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2. Loan Targets Improvement to Rural Infrastructure Services in Indonesia
ADB will provide a $50 million loan to rehabilitate and expand rural infrastructure services in 1,650 villages in the Indonesian provinces of Jambi, Lampung, Riau, and South Sumatra, benefiting about 2 million people. The project will form part of a flagship government program which is engaging communities in the financing, planning, and implementation of rural services, specific to their local needs. For more information, contact Bobur Alimov, Environmental Economist, Southeast Asia Department (SERD), at balimov@adb.org.
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3. Project Focuses on Civil Society Role in Fighting Poverty in the PRC
ADB is contributing to a $1.3 million technical assistance project aimed at promoting greater involvement of NGOs, volunteers, and corporate social responsibility actors in national poverty reduction efforts in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The project will fund a "second generation" pilot test, building on earlier ADB-assisted experiment in Jiangxi Province, and more broadly supports ADB’s Country Partnership Strategy for the PRC (2008-2010), which identifies the promotion of government-civil society partnerships to address poverty as a key "niche area” for ADB support. For more information, contact Chris Spohr, Social Sector Economist, PRC Resident Mission, at cspohr@adb.org.
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4. Regional Technical Assistance will Assess Impacts of GMS Projects
Newly approved regional technical assistance, Assessing the Socioeconomic Effects of Greater Mekong Subregion Projects, will evaluate the socioeconomic effects of selected projects, construct data sets to promote better monitoring and evaluation of outcomes and impacts, and draw policy implications and lessons that could inform future ADB-financed projects in the Greater Mekong Subregion. For more information, contact Sharad Bhandari, Senior Economist, SERD, at sbhandari@adb.org.
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5. International NGO Raises Awareness of HIV/AIDS Threat in Mongolia
In 2007, Marie Stopes International Mongolia launched an initiative to help prepare Mongolia prepare for the eventual arrival of HIV/AIDS in the sparsely populated country. The initiative – part of the ADB-financed project NGO Initiatives to Prevent HIV/AIDS – targets tens of thousands of persons among high risk and vulnerable groups, such as construction and factory workers, students, and homeless people.
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6. Nepal Receives ADB Grant to Improve Local Governance
ADB is helping Nepal improve local governance and promote community development through a program grant of $106.3 million. The grant will support active engagement of communities in local governance, and improve resource management and service delivery by local government agencies. It will also increase the involvement of women, as well as caste, ethnic, and minority groups, in the local governance process. For more information, contact Gambir Bhatta, Senior Governance Specialist, South Asia Department, at gbhatta@adb.org.
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7. Report Showcases Successful Project Grievance Mechanism
The grievance mechanism incorporated into the ADB-financed Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project (ETESP) has proven successful at handling various complaints that have arisen during implementation of the complex project. ADB has published a report detailing useful lessons on how grievance mechanisms can be incorporated into other projects to address problems at an early stage before they become more serious. The publication is available online at the address below. For more information, contact Robert C. May, Special Project Facilitator, at spf@adb.org.
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8. Study Highlights Importance of Quality Education for Inclusive Growth
ADB has published Education and Skills: Strategies for Accelerated Development in Asia and the Pacific. The study analyzes education sector issues in the region, and reaffirms that the goal of inclusive growth depends on continuous development of an adequate human resource base. It also provides a strategic framework for ADB’s work in the education sector, and helps ensure that ADB responds effectively to education and skills development needs arising from changing labor markets and rapid economic and social development. For more information, contact Jouko Sarvi, Principal Education Specialist, Regional and Sustainable Development Department, at jsarvi@adb.org.
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9. Working Paper Examines the Causes of High Food Prices
ADB has published Causes of High Food Prices under its Economist Working Paper Series. Written by Stanford University Visiting Professor, C. Peter Timmer, the publication reports that basic food prices have rocketed since mid-2007 with disastrous consequences for poor consumers. It offers reasons for the rise in prices, and concludes that Asia will need several years of good rice harvests in order to stabilize the situation and reduce the exposure of poor people to another shock in food prices.
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10. CSO Visitor: Constellation for AIDS Competence
This regular feature spotlights one of the many NGOs whose representatives have recently met with ADB staff at the institution's headquarters in the Philippines.
Under a two-year, ADB-funded project, the Constellation for AIDS Competence is helping NGOs in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand develop “AIDS Competence” in the communities with which they work. In each of the countries, between six and 12 NGOs are engaging with the process. Already 145 facilitators have stimulated a total of 297 communities to develop their AIDS Competence.
The Constellation for AIDS Competence is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in Belgium, with a secretariat in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was initiated by twelve founding members in December 2004. They bring different experiences, knowledge, connections and tools from various organizations such as British Petroleum, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, the Salvation Army, the AIDS Education Program of Chiang Mai University, Thailand, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the United Nations Population Fund in Kigali, Rwanda, and the business school of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
The mission of the Constellation for AIDS Competence is to stimulate and to connect local responses to HIV/AIDS around the world. For any interested network or organization, the Constellation for AIDS competence proposes to encourage the development of a Facilitation Team, which builds on the strength of the community with which the network or organization works; operates through the "SALT" approach; and offers a set of tools for communities to develop their AIDS competence.
"SALT" stands for Support, Stimulate; Appreciate, Analyze, Action; Listen, Learn, Link; and Transfer, Team. It represents how the Constellation for AIDS Competence works. Specifically, team members stimulate further action through their appreciative questions; support each other in the appreciation of individual and community strengths; exchange their perspectives about what they have learned from each visit; and prepare to transfer lessons learned to their own context.
The Constellation for AIDS Competence offers an active learning network for the NGOs participating in the ADB-backed project through the use of an electronic platform and a series of knowledge fairs. At the end of the 2-year period, each NGO will be equipped to facilitate local responses to HIV/AIDS effectively. Moreover, they will be able to transfer this capacity to their colleagues. The NGOs are forming mutual support networks in each of the six countries.
On 2 October, Jean-Louis Lamboray, Chair, Constellation for AiDS Competence, delivered a presentation to ADB staff on his organization's participatory approach to inform and mobilize communities on HIV/AIDS. For more information on the Constellation for AIDS Competence, see www.aidscompetence.org.
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11. Conferences and Training Courses
A listing in this section does not imply ADB endorsement or availability of financing for participants.
- International Knowledge Fair on AIDS Competence Process, 10-12 December 2008, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Contact: Constellation for AIDS Competence; e-mail: lawan@aidscompetence.com; tel: +66 53 894 228; website: www.aidscompetence.org.
- Developing Teams in NGOs (training course), 16-19 December 2008, Anand, Gujarat, India. Contact: IRMA; e-mail: oliver@irma.ac.in; tel: +91 2692 221697; website: www.irma.ac.in.
- Gender Analysis and Planning (training course), 14-16 January 2009, London, UK. Contact: INTRAC; e-mail: training@intrac.org; tel: +44 (0)1865 263040; website: www.intrac.org/training.php?id=86.
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