ADB Looks to Boost Funding for Poverty Alleviation Efforts
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials and government representatives from the international donor community and selected recipient countries are convening in Lao PDR to discuss replenishment of the Asian Development Fund, an endowment used to provide grants and low-interest loans to countries with low per capita incomes and limited debt-repayment capacity. While many Asia-Pacific nations have experienced unprecedented economic growth in recent years, non-income poverty remains pervasive, and 1.5 billion people in Asia still live on less than US$ 2 a day. Many Asia-Pacific nations are not making sufficient progress to meet Millennium Development Goal targets on hunger, water and sanitation access, child and maternal mortality, and education. ADB’s Asian Development Fund (ADF) provides targeted concessional assistance to help low-income Asia-Pacific nations fight poverty by fostering economic growth and extending basic social services. This week’s ADF meeting is the first in an ADF recipient country. The meeting is being hosted by the government of Lao PDR, and is the second in a series of meetings to negotiate replenishment of the Fund for 2009-2012, discuss means of improving the fund’s effectiveness, and identify priority action areas. The next ADF meeting is scheduled for March 2008 in Manila, Philippines. About ADB | 
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