Satellite Meeting
Infrastructure Development: Mitigating HIV Risks beyond the Construction Phase
Introductory Remarks by
Ursula Schaefer-Preuss
Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank
At the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific
11 August 2009
Jakarta, Indonesia
Introduction
Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen: good afternoon. I am very pleased to be here today, representing the Asian Development (ADB). On behalf of ADB, I want to express my thanks to the conference organizers and our host, the Government of Indonesia for this opportunity to discuss with you the ADB experience.
The purpose of this satellite meeting is to share our common experiences and new initiatives on HIV/AIDS prevention in infrastructure development, in particular prior to construction and after construction. Until recently, ADB designed its HIV/AIDS activities mainly around the actual construction phase: we realized that a more comprehensive approach will better sustain the impact of our interventions.
Infrastructure Development and HIV/AIDS
Infrastructure development, particularly transport and communication, is essential to boost social and economic development. It facilitates the integration of previously isolated communities and regions and helps them share the benefits of progress and economic development, giving them access to new markets but also to better education and health services. ADB has long attached priority to supporting the role of transport as an important component of poverty reduction and economic development. In our long-term strategic framework, Strategy 2020, infrastructure is among the five core areas selected for future ADB support, within infrastructure a key role is identified for transport. Overall, we clearly recognize the people's access to transport, and their ability to be mobile, represents one of the key elements for poverty reduction and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. This priority is reflected in the scale of ADB transport operations which accounted for about one-quarter of total ADB lending from 2004-2008 and remain significant in ADB's pipeline of proposed future lending, in accordance with ADB's Strategy 2020.
A significant feature of Strategy 2020 is the importance that ADB attaches to reducing the adverse environmental and social impacts of development. A new Sustainable Transport Initiative will assist the region in meeting its needs for transport infrastructure while paying attention to mitigating adverse environmental and social impacts. Furthermore, we are all aware of the linkage between the HIV epidemic and infrastructure development, particularly on transport projects. We know that transport projects help people and goods to move, but as people and goods move, so do viruses, and communicable diseases spread. Economic and social integration in Asia and the Pacific increases speed and volume of cross-border travel and trade, but may also facilitate the spread of HIV.
Thus, we need to identify and implement interventions to mitigate the HIV risks and protect both local communities and migrant workers around infrastructure and transport projects. Based on our experience, ADB now believes that such interventions need to start early, before the actual construction project, and must be maintained after project completion. It requires a more comprehensive approach, and reinforces the need for partnership with the Government and other stakeholders such as local NGOs. ADB wants to be catalytic and design interventions that reduce HIV vulnerabilities, with results that are sustained after the project completion.
ADB's Recent Activities
This call for a more comprehensive strategy is the result of experience gathered and introduced into recent ADB activities. I would like to mention in particular a recent study "Intersections-Gender, HIV, and Infrastructure Operations - Lessons Learned from Selected Asian Development Bank Financed Transport Projects in Five Countries". We will have the privilege to hear the author herself present in detail the findings and recommendations of the study. As you will see, while all large ADB infrastructure projects now routinely include covenants that require contractors to address risks of HIV, there are still important challenges, including monitoring for compliance. Nevertheless, we are committed to work closely with our developing member countries and help them introducing and implementing the necessary mitigation policies. For example, here in Indonesia, ADB is supporting the Government to develop a strategy for HIV/AIDS prevention in infrastructure projects for the Ministry of Public Works.
Importance of Today's Event
ADB is certainly not alone in these efforts. For example, in 2006, during the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada, ADB signed the Joint Initiative agreed upon by Development Agencies for the Infrastructure Sectors to Mitigate the Spread of HIV/AIDS. We did this together with the African Development Bank, U.K. Department for International Development, Japan International Cooperation Agency (at that time JBIC), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, and the World Bank. Our joint efforts must continue, and this is this session today is important.
In addition to sharing knowledge, experience, and information, we need to build strong partnerships to address the challenges together. In this regard, I am particularly pleased to have with us today Dr. Chansy Phimphachanh, Director of Centre for HIV/AIDS/ STI (CHAS), Ministry of Health of Lao PDR. Dr. Chansy will highlight the importance of critical institutional partnership among ministries and their link to the National AIDS Council in her country. We are also fortunate to have experts in infrastructure development, gender, mobile populations, with whom ADB has worked closely. And I hope that you, the audience, will also be willing to share your experience during the discussions. Specifically, through the presentations and subsequent discussions, we would like to:
- present new designs and experiences on HIV interventions and strategies in the infrastructure sector, in particular in pre- and post construction stages,
- identify key gaps and challenges after the projects have been completed, and
- highlight key areas for functional inter-ministerial and inter-sector collaboration for an effective HIV/AIDS response.
I hope that we will leave this session with a deepened understanding on how effective responses can be better planned and implemented in the infrastructure sector. The idea is to work together, and ADB is here to build alliances for securing maximum results.
Conclusions
Ladies and Gentlemen: colleagues and friends - as I close my statement, I would also like to inform you of another satellite organized by ADB tomorrow, at the same time, in this same room: Ministries of Public Works and Transport - Key Partners for HIV Prevention in the Infrastructure Sector. This session tomorrow will complement our session today: we will learn how the ministries of public works and transport in Cambodia, Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic and Viet Nam have developed HIV/AIDS action plans for the infrastructure sector. ADB will also present a joint initiative of the Greater Mekong Sub-region's partners: the development of practice guidelines for harmonizing HIV prevention initiatives in the infrastructure sector, in support of national HIV/AIDS strategies.
Thank you again for your presence here today. I look forward to your active participation in the discussions.
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