Asian Development Bank

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Water Policy

ADB's Water Policy "Water for All" was approved by the Board of Directors in early 2001 in response to the urgent need to formulate and implement integrated, cross-sector approaches to water management and development. The policy seeks to promote the concept of water as a socially vital economic good that needs increasingly careful management to sustain equitable economic growth and to reduce poverty. The conservation and protection of water resources in the region through a participatory approach are at the heart of the policy. The principal elements are

• promote effective national water policies and action programs;

• foster an integrated approach to the management of water resources;

• improve and expand the delivery of water services in water supply and sanitation, irrigation and drainage, and other subsectors;

• foster the efficient and sustainable use and conservation of water;

• promote regional cooperation for the beneficial use of shared water resources within and between countries;

• facilitate the exchange of water sector information and experience; and

• improve water sector governance through decentralization, capacity building, monitoring, and evaluation.

Water Supply and Sanitation

(See Social Infrastructure.)

WCED

World Commission on Environment and Development

Web Site

ADB’s web site http://www.adb.org provides interactive electronic access to ADB news, information, and publications. The information appearing on the ADB web site is particularly relevant to journalists, businesspeople, consultants, government staff members, nongovernment representatives, job seekers, and researchers.

Women in Development

(See Gender and Development; and Improving the Status of Women)