Millennium Development Goals

Building Capacity to Measure and Monitor MDGs

ADB is developing statistical databases on poverty and MDGs in the Asia and Pacific region that are more detailed and comparable. The Key Indicators has become one of ADB's main initiatives in monitoring and assessing the progress toward achieving the targets set under the MDGs in its developing member countries.

A major element of ADB's development programs that provide support for the MDGs is capacity building in monitoring MDGs and the strengthening of in-country databases. ADB co-sponsored with PARIS21 (Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century) the High-Level Forum on Statistical Capacity Building for ASEAN Countries in November 2002. The data requirements for the MDGs and related issues were discussed in this forum.

The MDGs were also used as the framework for implementing ADB's regional technical assistance on Enhancing Social and Gender Statistics. Under this program, ADB assisted selected developing member countries in the South Asia and Mekong subregions to generate and analyze social statistics with gender break-downs at the sub-national levels.

Since 2000 ADB has approved 14 Technical Assistance grants [ PDF ] to assist its developing member countries to establish, monitor and analyze development indicators. A number of these are still under implementation and are aimed at improving social statistics, poverty mapping, and developing tools for assessing the effectiveness of ADB operations in reducing poverty.