ADB Vice President Stresses Need for Economic and Social Benefits to Be Shared by Many
BEIJING, PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA - Asian Development Bank Vice President Ursula Schaefer-Preuss today stressed the need to ensure that access to economic and social benefits in Asia can be shared by many, not just by the few. “Asia is the fastest growing region in the world, and yet if specific actions are not taken, there will be many people falling behind, not being able to benefit from growth,” said the Vice President in a speech at the opening session of the “Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People” conference in Beijing. She said income poverty in Asia, as measured by the $1 per day benchmark, is declining, much due to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) rapid growth. However, the region still has more than 600 million living on less than $1 per day; and about 1.8 billion people living on less than $2 per day. Young girls in the region still lack access to primary education. Infant mortality in Asia is around 60 per thousand live births – which is almost double that of Latin America and the Caribbean. Maternal mortality is about 30% higher than that of Latin America and Caribbean. Ms. Schaefer-Preuss said Asia faces the twin challenge of ensuring energy security and preventing environmental degradation. “Protecting the environment is a critical challenge on poverty alleviation since it will lead to increased distress on agriculture and food security, foods and other natural disasters, while significant concerns on human habitat and safety remain.“ “The poorest people in the region suffer the first and most,” she said. The Vice President also emphasized that society’s most vulnerable groups – children, women, and those living in rural areas – are suffering the most, and that the rural-urban disparity is rising. “Alleviating poverty and hunger means we have to address the needs in various economic and social policies- ranging from health, environment, labor, rural and urban, social protection, infrastructure – at regional, national and local levels,” she said. Ms. Schaefer-Preuss added that in many parts of Asia, governments are becoming much more proactive in understanding the complexities of poverty. To support governments, ADB will target its efforts on enhancing people’s access to infrastructure, education and employment, health and basic social services, clean environment and energy, as well as gender and other forms of equality. “ADB remains a strong partner in the region’s development, ready to move forward alongside Asia and the Pacific in taking action for the poor and the hungry,” the Vice President said. About ADB | 
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