Nongovernment Organizations and Civil Society

ADB and Formal Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations

ADB's partnerships with civil society organizations span a range of issues and types of collaboration.

• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2008)
• International Union for Conservation of Nature– IUCN (2004)
• World Wide Fund for Nature- WWF (2001)

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

The IFRC* is the world's largest humanitarian organization, with 186 member National Societies. In March 2008, ADB and IFRC signed a Letter of Intent [ PDF: 126kb | 4 pages ], as they agreed that collaboration will strengthen institutional capacities in both organizations at regional and national levels, and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of their respective resources.

ADB and IFRC acknowledge that the collaboration they seek to foster will facilitate the realization of their aims to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals through the promotion of economic growth, the protection of the vulnerable, inclusive social development, the building of national capacity and improved governance.

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International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

IUCN* is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. During the past decade, IUCN and ADB have collaborated on a number of programs and projects. The scope of these activities has ranged from conferences, publications, and capacity building exercises to regional technical assistance. The cooperation between ADB and IUCN has largely been grounded on IUCN’s participation and access to conservation technologies in various environmental fields as well as its knowledge of country-specific environmental conservation issues.

The Memorandum of Understanding [ PDF: 198kb | 9 pages ] that ADB and IUCN signed in November 2004 states that ADB and IUCN staff at the national and regional levels will meet formally and informally, as mutually agreed, to develop concepts and plans for joint work. They propose to focus on the following three areas: forums and stakeholder consultations, knowledge management and capacity building, and collaborative programs and projects.

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World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)

In September 2001, the Asian Development Bank and the World Wide Fund for Nature*, the conservation organization, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) [ PDF: 19kb | 3 pages ] paving the way for joint activities. This was ADB's first such accord with an NGO.

The two agencies formed a partnership for sustainable management of natural resources in the Asia and Pacific region. Under the agreement, ADB and WWF are developing collaborative ventures to address poverty and environmental challenges. Stakeholders such as local communities, government agencies and NGOs are brought into this process through forums and stakeholder consultations.

Reviewed annually, the agreement also includes

• information sharing
• knowledge management and capacity building through, for example, transfer of skills and tools to target groups
• exchange of staff and publications between the two organizations

Read Annual Reports on the Implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between ADB and WWF to get more detail on how the two agencies collaborate:

• Fourth Report, 2006 [ PDF: 41kb | 9 pages ]
• Third Report, 2004-2005 [ PDF: 41kb | 8 pages ]
• Second Report, 2003 [ PDF: 99kb | 22 pages ]
• First Report, 2001-2002 [ PDF: 182kb | 9 pages ]

These photos capture the signing ceremony and the presentations that followed the WWF-ADB memorandum of understanding signing event.

Top: Claude Martin and Myoung-Ho Shin seal the accord with a handshake. Bottom (L-R): Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, WWF-Philippines, addresses assembled staff of ADB and WWF; Warren Evans, Manager, ADB Environment Division, explains ADB's support to preserving the environment in Asia and the Pacific; Claude Martin describes the conservation initiatives of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

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