Call for Session Organizers: Civil Society Program (CSP) of the 56th ADB Annual Meeting in Incheon, Republic of Korea

ADB invites civil society organizations (CSOs) to submit proposals for the Civil Society Program of the 56th ADB Annual Meeting in Incheon, Republic of Korea. Deadline is 5 March 2023

The Civil Society Program aligns with this year’s 56th ADB Annual Meeting’s theme and aims to reflect on ADB-CSO engagement in the past years, as well as envisioning the future of their collaboration in support of its Strategy 2030, ADB’s long-term corporate strategy. The strategy sets seven operational priorities (OPs) to contribute to ADB’s vision of achieving prosperity, inclusion, resilience, and sustainability in Asia and the Pacific. Read more on ADB’s Strategy 2030 seven operational priorities.

Interested CSOs are requested to submit their draft proposal and session design using the templates provided in the form’s annexes, no longer than two pages, excluding attachments. Annex 2 should include a list of tentative speakers for the session.

Submit your proposals to [email protected], using the attached form, on or before 5 March 2023, 5:00 p.m. GMT+8 with "56th ADB Annual Meeting Civil Society Program Session Proposal" on the subject line.

Target participants

CSOs, both operationally-focused and advocacy organizations, currently work with ADB across several areas, including:

• stakeholder engagement throughout project design,
• implementation of components of ADB-supported projects, particularly in the delivery of social services,
• monitoring and evaluation, and
• policy design and review, particularly in sectors and themes such as gender, safeguards, and others.
• CSOs who also work with ADB through partnerships for knowledge generation and sharing, as well as in the review and updating of its institutional policies.

Guide to submitting session proposals

CSOs should consider the following in designing their session:

1. Clarify link to any of the seven operational priorities and to this year’s theme;
2. Clarify focus on CSO perspectives on any of the seven operational priorities and this year’s theme, and recommendations for meaningful ADB-CSO engagement in any of these;
3. Establish quality and expertise of the panel of speakers;
4. Establish demonstrated capacity to deliver a high-quality session (e.g., confirmation of the panel of speakers, diversity in gender, age, and country);
5. Establish ability to draw from a wide number of Annual Meeting attendees and organizations;
6. The session may run for 60 minutes up to a maximum of 90 minutes. It can be organized solely by the proponent CSO or together with other organizations;
7. It is required that the session include at least one speaker under age 35 as part of the panel, to ensure voice and perspectives of the youth on the proposed topic;
8. It is encouraged that the session include a speaker from ADB as part of the panel. The proposal should identify a proposed management or staff member to be part of the panel. ADB will assist proponent organizations in identifying an appropriate member from ADB to serve as speaker for the panel.
9. The CSOs will prepare key highlights of the session within 48 hours after it is completed (maximum 320 words). The key highlights will form part of the overall 56th AM documentation of events.

Event organizers / partners

NGO and Civil Society Center, ADB 

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