Despite the extraordinary gains made in living standards in Asia and the Pacific hundreds of millions of people are still excluded from the benefits of rapid economic growth, without access to basic social services and vulnerable to illness, unemployment and the region’s increasingly devastating natural disasters.

ADB's social development agenda involves people and their communities, organizations, institutions, societies and governments in all poverty relief activities. The aim is to reduce poverty, inequality and vulnerability among poor and marginalized persons by transforming institutions to enable them to foster inclusiveness and equitable access to services, resources and opportunities; empower people to participate in social, economic and political life; and provide security to help individuals cope with chronic or unforeseen and sudden risks.

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