Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund

The summary publication of the Social Protection Index RETA, financed by the PRF, will be presented to ADB staff and external guests. The study covered 31 Asian countries.

The conference will mark the completion of a three-country technical assistance project that has been carried out through the Asia Foundation in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Pakistan. It will involve presentations and discussions by the ADB-Asia Foundation project team, their partner government and grassroots organizations, and legal empowerment experts from the region.

The forum aims to facilitate a process where donors, government officials, consultants, and other stakeholders work together towards a new view of mainstreaming Managing for Development Results (MfDR) in partner countries, in which MfDR is seen as a component of larger public sector reforms. The project is co-funded by PRF.

The presentation of results of the citizen report cards and continuous improvement and benchmarking pilot projects under the regional TA will be presented during the Network of Asia-Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance Annual Conference in November.

The conference will facilitate sharing of comprehensive and current ICT for education issues. In addition to delegates from DMCs, a number of private sector stakeholders will participate. The conference is supported by a PRF-finance regional technical assistance.

The workshop, held last 4-8 October at ADB Headquarters, discussed the methodology for computing poverty purchasing power parity (PPP) and reviewed preliminary poverty PPP results (released in July 2007).

Seminar on Birth Registration

What is the link between getting registered at birth, having access to education, and ADB-funded education projects? This and other similar questions were researched as part of a PRF-funded TA grant, the results of which will be discussed at a seminar in June.

Seminar: Getting the message out - Using ICT and satellite broadcasting for HIV/AIDS prevention

First Voice International (FVI) will present lessons learned and issues for replicating ICT via satellite. A TA project used FVI's endowment of 5% of the WorldSpace satellite network to broadcast radio dramas on HIV/AIDS prevention in the Hmong and Khmu ethnic languages in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). These will also be discussed in a national workshop in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 21 May 2007.

RETA 6316: Asian Development Community Broadcasting Initiative National Workshop

Makati city government embarks on continuous improvement and benchmarking project

Under a RETA project financed by the PRF, the Makati City government has partnered with the University of the Philippines to apply benchmarking and organizational improvement techniques to improve garbage collection services. This initiative will help the city government improve service delivery and upgrade the toolkit prepared under the project. Visit the project's website to learn more about its activities.

International Workshop on Improvement of Rural Financial Market and Development of MFIs Held

Inauguration of secondary school girls' dormitory and learning center in Siem Reap

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Workshops Held

International Comparison Program for Asia and the Pacific

ERDI organized two consecutive meetings with the Core Group of Construction and Equipment experts. These meetings aim to make a final review of construction and equipment price data to ensure product parity across participating countries for purchasing power parity computation. This is part of a regional technical assistance cofinanced by the PRF.

Donors-ADB 8th strategy meeting: National Poverty Reduction Strategy Fund and Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund (NPRS-PRF)

Representatives from the Government of the Netherlands and DFID, UK met with ADB to review implementation progress of the funds, assess preliminary outcomes and impacts of fund-supported activities on ADB operations, and discuss steps for closure.

Final EMPA Regional Workshop Held Government agencies, NGOs and community members who participated in RETA 6224 project concluded at the final regional workshop held on 15 January at ADB’s headquarters in Manila. Participants agreed that the enhanced methodology for participatory assessment (EMPA) has increased participation, demand, gender, and poverty sensitivity within their respective water projects, and that EMPA should be applied to future projects.

Phase II selection launched for NGOs in PRC poverty work

ADB and partners under a technical assistance project launched a second round of competitive selection of NGOs to partner with local governments in participatory poverty work in Jiangxi's poor villages. NGOs' access to state funds and their direct role in the PRC's poverty reduction program mark a milestone. Read the news release.

Mr. Ashraful Alam, Project Director for the ADB supported Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement (sector) Project, Bangladesh will present experiences in implementing urban governance reforms, including means to enhance accountability in municipal management, involve civil society in municipal decision-making and discuss the performance-based approach applied in the Project.

Vietnamese legislators discussed the draft law on gender equality focusing on the retirement age and pensions for women and the ratio of women in elected bodies. Read the article to learn more.

ADB's Marzia Mongiorgi and Karin Schelzig-Bloom shared lessons from the third international conference organized by World Bank on CCT held in June in Istanbul. They also discussed potential application for ADB's targeted poverty reduction operations. ADB's Nepal and Pakistan resident missions joined the seminar through videoconference.

ADB and ADB Institute launched two e-learning toolkits to improve transparency and accountablity in the delivery of public services in Asia. These toolkits were developed under a regional technical assistance funded from the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund. Read more

Viet Nam Women's Union President Ha Thi Khiet presented the draft law on gender equality for discussion at the National Assembly on 31 May 2006. Preparation of the draft law was supported by a technical assistance financed by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund.

The Netherlands Formalizes $14 Million Grant to GMS Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative

ADB and the Government of Netherlands formalized the $14 million Dutch financial support to the greater Mekong Subregion Core Environment Program (CEP). The ADB-facilitated GMS CEP is cofinanced by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund. For more information, read the news release.

ADB Vice President C. Lawrence Greenwood meets with PRC Government, NGOs, and villagers in Jiangxi, PRC

As the final leg of his first visit to the PRC, the VP held an informal dialogue on 15 April with representatives of national and local governments, NGOs, and pilot villages under a technical assistance project for NGO-government partnerships in attaining village-level poverty reduction in Jiangxi Province. He also visited project sites under a loan for efficient utilization of agricultural wastes, and held a discussion with beneficiary communities.

Historic kick-off of NGO-Government poverty work in Jiangxi, PRC

ADB PRC resident mission Country Director Toru Shibuichi and an ADB delegation, along with national and local officials, visited "Sandy Peak" village in rural Jiangxi Province to observe the launch of NGO-government partnerships in poverty reduction in the PRC, under a technical asistance project.