Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Agricultural policy, institutional and capacity development

Education / Education sector development - social protection initiatives

Energy / Energy sector development and institutional reform

Health / Mother and child health care

Transport / Transport policies and institutional development

Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Urban policy, institutional and capacity development

This TA facility will build on the lessons of SARD's regional TA8311: Enhancing Gender Equity Results in South Asia Developing Member Countries, implemented in 2010-2020. Foremost of these lessons is the importance of collaborative or convergence approach between the resident missions (through country directors and GESI teams) and ADB headquarters, between SAOD and sector divisions, between SARD and other ADB departments, and between ADB and the executing and implementing agencies, not only in tapping available resources but also in designing, refining, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based GESI initiatives and results and in ensuring that agreed GESI activities and targets are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

This TA facility is aligned with the second operational priority (OP2) of ADB Strategy 2030, 'accelerating progress of gender equality. It embeds OP2 and OP1, 'addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities, across all sector projects. It also complements with operations contributing to other OPs. The proposed TA facility will strengthen the contributions of the South Asian countries to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 1 (no extreme poverty), SDG 5 (gender equality), and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), and the upholding of the SDG principle of 'leaving no one behind.