Social Development

Roads Connect Villages to Opportunity in Central India

In India's Madhya Pradesh new all-weather roads connect rural people to healthcare, and to the broader economy. Read More

Asia’s Last Safety Net: Pensions in an Aging Continent

As the region’s families change and populations age, the elderly are being left behind. National pension systems, and creative policy decisions, are needed to fill the gap. Read More

In Remote Tajikistan, a New Bridge is Transforming Lives

Thanks to a new bridge, over 47,000 villagers can benefit from improved mobility, access to services, and communication. Read More

Missing Link in Development: Focus on ICT

Susheela Venkataraman, Principal Director of ADB’s Office of Information Systems and Technology, explains how ICT can help bridge socioeconomic divides in Asia and the Pacific. Read More

EQUITABLE GROWTH FOR ALL

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 groups by transforming institutions to enable them to foster inclusiveness and equitable access to services, resources and opportunities; empowerment to participate in social, economic and political life; security to cope with chronic or unforeseen and sudden risks.