IN FOCUS
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Conditional Cash Transfers: How relevant are they in the context of the economic crisis?
 Conditional cash transfers are an important tool for social protection. They are particularly designed to help the very poor by providing money to families in response to proven school attendance of children and basic mother and child health care. As part of their response packages to the global economic crisis, countries like Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines have expanded their cash transfer systems.
On 23-24 July 2009, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held a Regional Workshop on Social Assistance and Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programs. The workshop helped identify gaps in designing social assistance interventions, and facilitate sharing of experiences among practitioners in selected countries. It brought together officials from ADB's developing member countries (DMCs) tasked with social protection programs in their countries, development partners, ADB staff and civil society organizations, including representatives from global labor unions.
The workshop will be followed by a social protection conference in January 2010 in Manila to be organized by ADB. Social protection will also be a major topic of the forthcoming conference on the social impact of the crisis, to be held on 28-30 Sept 09 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
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PROJECTS
Livelihood Enhancement for Poor Water Users in India
A US$2 million grant funded by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will support capacity building and skills development for livelihood activities related to agro-processing, animal husbandry, fish farming, and high value crop production. It will also aid in conducting training and awareness activities for water user groups, with the aim of increasing the number of women representatives, as well as representatives from marginal groups like sharecroppers and indigenous communities. The target of the project is to increase the income of 20% of the extremely poor in project areas and have women make up 30% of the membership of the water user groups, by the third year of implementation.
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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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ADB Approves US$500 Million Loan for Pakistan to Help Economic Recovery and Deepen Safety Nets for Poor
The ADB's Board of Directors has approved two loans to Pakistan totaling US$500 million that will assist the government with its macroeconomic stability efforts and fund a targeted safety net program for the poor, easing the impact of increasing global fuel and food prices.
The loan will also support a cash transfer program, the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), focusing on poor women. Under the scheme, the female head of qualified families receives 1,000 rupees per month to help defray the rising cost of food and other household expenses. The BISP social safety net program is expanding its current coverage of 3.5 million families to 5 million families next year, and aims to reach 7 million families by 2011.
PRC's Xinjiang Region Gets $100 Million ADB Loan to Improve Roads, Environment
Xinjiang, a poor region in northwest People's Republic of China, will receive a US$100 million loan for urban living improvements designed to spur sustainable growth and improve the environment.
Xinjiang, which shares borders with eight countries and provides a gateway between PRC and Central Asia, has 46 minority groups, which make up over 60% of its population. It also has some of PRC's highest poverty rates and has lagged behind coastal regions in benefitting from the country's economic boom. Poor urban infrastructure has deterred investment, degraded the environment and limited growth opportunities, especially in the promising tourism sector.
ADB Helps Poor Households in Cambodia's Resource-Rich Tonle Sap Basin
ADB is providing a US$3.45 million technical assistance grant to Cambodia to help diversify and boost the incomes of thousands of marginal farmers, small land holders, and poor householders living in and around the resource-rich Tonle Sap Basin. The freshwater lake provides livelihood for more than one million people, or a third of the country's population, still, almost 40% of the residents in this region live on less than $1.25 per day.
The project, covering the provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, and Siem Reap, will support training programs, demonstrations of modern agricultural practices, and the introduction of communication facilities in remote rural communities to provide access to internet-based agricultural knowledge banks.
Community Managed Livelihood Improvement Project in Laos (Consultant's Report)
This report presents the findings, observations and results from a final evaluation of the Community Managed Livelihood Improvement Project (CMLIP) in Lao PDR. CMLIP is closely linked to the Community Managed Irrigation Sector Project (CMISP) as it was planned and formulated as an add-on component to expand the number of beneficiaries and target poor households that due to unsuitable agricultural land did not benefit from the irrigation interventions. The CMLIP is financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction.
Better Health Care Access for Mongolia's Poor Affected by Global Financial Crisis
The ADB and the Government of Japan are financing a health and nutrition program in Mongolia to improve health care access by poor households affected by the global financial crisis. The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction is providing a US$3 million grant for the design and implementation of a medicard program that will enable the poor to avail of free health services. Under the grant, micronutrients will also be distributed to at least 15,000 children under three years old in eight provinces to combat malnutrition.
Helping Nepal Recover from Monsoon Floods
More than 300,000 people living in the eastern and far western region of Nepal were seriously affected by the floods last year, and the landslides that followed. Damage to infrastructure and livelihoods amounted to an estimated $88 million, and thousands of people, mostly the poor, were displaced. A US$25.6 million ADB grant will help restore economic activity to the devastated areas through the Emergency Flood Damage Rehabilitation Project. The project aims to return economic activity to normal as soon as possible in the affected areas, and also to help reduce future risk from similar disasters.
Other recently approved projects:
KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT
 Climate Change and Transport: Promoting Environmentally Sustainable Transport in the People's Republic of China
The ADB has been assisting the development of the transport sector in the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 1986 by providing lending and non-lending support. Considerable progress has been achieved since then, however, with volatile fuel prices and increasing greenhouse emissions, issues of affordability, environmental sustainability and resource optimization are becoming increasingly important. This paper analyses these key issues and recommends a new, target-oriented approach that places energy efficiency, environment, and health at the top of the policy agenda for transport and related sectors at all levels. The paper also provides key recommendations for promoting environmentally sustainable transportation that can be considered by PRC to overcome these challenges.
Recommendations to East Asian Leaders for G20 Meeting
East Asia, along with the rest of the world, is severely affected by the global financial and economic crisis, especially via the trade, investment, and liquidity channels. This threatens to increase unemployment, poverty, and social instability in the region. However, East Asia's economic fundamentals remain sound and its long-term growth prospects are robust. Working collectively, East Asia can weather the crisis and contribute to a global economic recovery. We believe that the global crisis calls for a collective response, and that individualistic and inward-looking solutions are not appropriate. We call on East Asian leaders to put forward the following points at the upcoming G20 meeting in London.
 Tsunami Recovery in India-3 Years On
The report documents key achievements of the Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project (TEAP) that was jointly executed by ADB, the government, nongovernment organizations, and other development partners in Tamil Nadu and Kerala after the devastating tsunami of 2004. TEAP has provided livelihood alternatives to affected communities and restored public infrastructure with full involvement of the affected communities at every stage of planning and reconstruction. The report takes stock of lessons learned in shared commitment and harmonization of development support for disaster recovery.
Restoring the Asian Silk Route: Toward an Integrated Asia*
The "Silk Road" refers to an extensive pan-Asia interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting Eastern, Southern, Central, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean, including North Africa and Europe. However, there is still a lack of region-wide transport infrastructure connectivity, hampering increased economic growth, trade, and investment. This paper concludes that Asia must strengthen its physical connectivity to make it a conduit for international trade through restoring the Asian Silk Route. It deals with Asia's current trade and transport integration issues and challenges to be addressed to achieve full regional connectivity.
A Cross-Country Analysis of Achievements and Inequities in Economic Growth and Standards of Living
This study compares achievements and inequalities in standards of living across 177 countries worldwide between 2000 and 2007. It uses six indicators, namely: (1) per capita gross domestic product (GDP) at 2005 purchasing power parity terms; (2) life expectancy at birth; (3) adult literacy rate; (4) primary enrolment rate; (5) under-5 survival rate; and (6) births attended by skilled health personnel - to construct an achievement index (similar to the human development index).
ADB is Improving its Development Effectiveness, According to Review
The 2008 Development Effectiveness Review is the second corporate performance study to be conducted by ADB. It taps project completion reports and other data from 2004 to 2008, using a 'scorecard' approach to measure ADB's contribution to development in the region and its overall effectiveness as an organization.
According to the report, ADB delivered significant development gains particularly in the energy, transport and education sectors. It also notes that ADB has sped up and increased the level of its assistance, with funds of US$8.8 billion disbursed in 2008, the highest ever annual amount. The report further notes that the design quality of new operations has improved. However, there are still several areas needing further improvement at both the project level and within the organization itself.
India: Living on City Wastewater
Poor farmers in and around Hyderabad and Secunderabad in India's semi-arid Andhra Pradesh state have made use of urban wastewater for irrigating their crops and supporting other livelihood activities. The farmers even claim that the wastewater contributes to the growth of leafy vegetables, bananas, coconuts, jasmine, fodder grass for cattle-raising. Though a 2002 water quality study indicated that the Musi River has high levels of faecal contamination, health risk to consumers is expected to be low, assuming that none of the vegetables irrigated with wastewater are eaten raw. The report also showed that all heavy metals are within safe limits. This, however, does not mean that water treatment is not a necessity. But until policymakers take action, these farmers are willing to settle for wastewater than having no produce to sell and no food to feed their families.
Investing in Sustainable Infrastructure: Improving Lives in Asia and the Pacific
Impressive economic gains in Asia and the Pacific have been accompanied by a decline in the region's natural capital and unprecedented levels of air and water pollution. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of people in the region are still not enjoying the benefits of recent economic expansion. Disparities in incomes and living standards are growing wider, and the worldwide financial crisis will likely amplify these disparities. Further, due to the impacts of climate change, the region's remaining poor are growing more vulnerable to natural disasters, sea level rise, and droughts.
ADB is committed to responding to these challenges by supporting the development of sustainable infrastructure in the region through loans, investments, technical assistance projects, and regional programs that promote cutting-edge, cost-effective, and clean technologies.
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TOOLS AND PARTNERSHIPS
ADB LOOKS FOR POVERTY CONSULTANT
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 an eminent adviser (or team) on poverty reduction (working from home office) to manage and coordinate this project. Interested colleagues may contact: abauer@adb.org. |
ADB Board Approves New Policy to Strengthen Safeguard Protections
The ADB Board of Directors recently approved a Safeguard Policy Statement that will strengthen protections already in place to avoid or minimize the adverse impacts of ADB-supported projects on the environment and affected people. As a central part of ADB's mission to promote environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth, the new Safeguard Policy Statement consolidates and builds upon current ADB policies on Environment, Indigenous Peoples and Involuntary Resettlement that are already applied to all bank-supported projects in developing member countries (DMCs).
ADB to Provide $200 Million Crisis Support for Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan
ADB is extending $200 million in loans and grants to help Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan sustain critical social spending programs that have been imperiled by the global economic crisis. The loan is comprised of two program loans of $80 million equivalent for Armenia; two program loans of $80 million equivalent for Georgia; and a program grant of $40 million for Tajikistan. All the funds will come from ADB's Asian Development Fund, a financing facility that offers loans at low interest rates and grants to reduce poverty in its poorest developing member countries. The loans are expected to be fully used by the end of this year.
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LOOKING AHEAD
The Impact of the Global Economic Slowdown on Poverty and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, 28-30 September 2009
A high-level Asia-wide regional conference will discuss the opportunity of the crisis for social protection, social development (health and education) and labor markets in the region. It will also hold a special discussion on the impact of the crisis on the environments of the poor. About 180 participants, including ministers and vice ministers as well as high level donor representatives, will gather in Ha Noi, Viet Nam. The meeting will come up with recommendations on social and labor market policies for the next ASEAN Summit.
The conference will be opened by the Prime Minister of Viet Nam, ADB President, World Bank chief economist for East Asia, UNDP Assistant Secretary General for East Asia, ILO Regional Director General for Asia, ASEAN Secretary General, ADB Vice President will also participate. Apart from ADB, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ADB, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Government of Viet Nam, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of the People's Republic of China are co-organizing the event. ADBI, BMZ/GTZ/KfW, DFID, ILO, IPRCC, JICA, UNDP, WHO, World Bank are co-financing the event.
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