IN FOCUS
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 Poverty in Asia and Pacific is one-third higher than earlier assumed
The new poverty count of the World Bank shows that poverty in Asia is one third higher than earlier assumed (903 million people instead of 660 million). Twenty-seven percent of the Asia and Pacific population are extremely poor and 54% (1.8 billion) live on less than $2 a day and are vulnerable to poverty.
The new estimates, based on 2005 purchasing power parity data, do not yet consider increasing poverty due to the food price crisis and the global economic slowdown. A recent ADB study explains the methodology behind the new poverty estimates, highlights country specifics on extreme poverty and vulnerability, makes poverty projections through 2020, and discusses possible implications on ADB's poverty reduction strategy and operations. |
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PROJECTS
Health Care Services for Poor Ethnic Minorities in Viet Nam
ADB is financing with $72 million a project to improve health care services in Viet Nam's south central coast region. The region is home to nine million people, including half a million people from ethnic minorities; 4 of the 7 provinces targeted have poverty incidences significantly above the national average of 19.5%. The project will help build or upgrade 20 hospitals, five district preventive medicine centers, and a training school for nurses and paramedics. It will also equip new and existing facilities with quality water, sanitation, and medical waste management systems. It will further hire and train medical staff and village health workers, and improve basic health care for 423 remote communes.
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CONTACT US
For suggestions and questions, please contact the Poverty Unit in ADB's Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Email: Poverty-Matters@adb.org |
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Helping the Philippine's Rural Poor through Agrarian Reforms and Rural Infrastructure
The Philippines’ Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), implemented since the late 1980s, follows a community-driven development (CDD) approach to support poor farming communities that got new land through rural infrastructure, small agricultural business development, and value chain production through linking up with larger agrobusiness firms. ADB supported CARP already in 1998 through its Agrarian Reform Community Project I (ARC) in 165 agrarian reform communities of 35 provinces. The ARC II project will now benefit additional 150,000 poor farmers in southern Philippines - including six provinces in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao that have high levels of poverty. The $135.2 million project is jointly financed by the Philippine Government, ADB ($70 million), and the OPEC Fund for International Development.
Innovative Design of Cross-Border Power Trade Helps the Rural Poor in Bhutan
The Green Power Development Project in Bhutan is a public-private partnership arrangement for constructing a 114-megawatt (MW) hydropower plant. This will generate 500,000 megawatt-hours of power annually, of which most will be exported to India. The proceeds will be used, among others, for expanding rural electrification as well as small hydropower and solar energy generation in Bhutan to 9,000 rural poor households and small businesses in remote areas.
ADB NEEDS YOUR HELP
The current financial crisis is developing into a global recession. This will also affect Asia in terms of rising poverty and vulnerability. ADB would like to conduct further knowledge work on this topic and welcomes suggestions from experts in the region; research studies are much appreciated. Please email abauer@adb.org.
ADB has just approved its technical assistance for knowledge networks on poverty reduction and inclusive growth. The project will facilitate working papers and policy briefs, seminars and conferences, and the development of an Asian website on Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth, linking up to 70 think tank institutions in the region. In this context, we are looking for a staff consultant (3 years) to manage and coordinate this project. Interested colleagues may contact abauer@adb.org. |
Emergency Food Assistance Reaches the Tables of Cambodia
In June 2008, ADB announced a package of $500 million to help poor countries in Asia cope with rising food prices. A recent project in Cambodia, financed with $35 million by ADB, helps over 68,000 poor families by providing emergency food assistance. The project targeted the poorest 20% of poor families in 200 selected communes.
Other recently approved projects:
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KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT
Poverty, Health, and Ecosystems: Experience from Asia
A recent ADB publication presents 16 case studies on the relationship between poverty, health, and natural resource management in Asia, and analyzes lessons that can be drawn from them to improve environmental management and poverty reduction efforts.
ADB is also intensifying its research on the environments of the poor, showing that environmental factors are becoming the major reason for poverty. It is estimated that by 2020 about 70% of the extreme poor ($1 poverty line) will live in areas where the environment is the primary cause of poverty, up from 53% (20% of Asia's population) today. The "environmental poor" are those living in the drylands, flood-affected wetlands, uplands, coastal areas, and slum areas. The discussion paper argues that climate change and other factors of globalization aggravate poverty in those geographical areas. It further posits that climate change may highjack the poverty debate, and that broader investments in geographical areas where the poor live, rather than for natural resources conservation, can help overcome poverty.
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Involving NGOs in Poverty Reduction Programs of the Government of the People's Republic of China
A technical assistance grant from ADB will help the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) formulate and implement pilot projects and mechanisms for civil society participation in national poverty reduction programs and innovate grassroots-level projects. The cooperation will lead to systematic channeling of the PRC's budgetary poverty funds through competitively-selected NGOs. Total project cost is about $1.3 million, of which the Government will finance about $800,000 equivalent, and the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation will contribute $100,000 equivalent; the remaining coming from ADB. |
When Do Rural Roads Benefit the Poor and How?
ADB has prepared one of the few empirical researches on impact evaluation containing in-depth quantitative and qualitative information on the process by which rural roads benefit the poor. The study comprises data from six village studies in Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka. The study concludes that rural roads have poverty reduction impact only when such projects are complemented by integrated economic activities. |
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TOOLS AND PARTNERSHIPS
Public-Private Partnership Handbook Shows How the Poor Can be Better Targeted
ADB's recent handbook on public-private partnerships (PPP) summarizes its knowledge on the features, structuring, implementation, and experience in public goods and services. The PPP handbook has also a specific section on the role of PPP for poverty reduction.
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