Regional: Supporting the Operational Priority 1 Agenda: Strengthening Poverty and Social Analysis

Multisector / ADB's corporate management, policy and strategy development

After decades of sustained growth, Asia and the Pacific has transformed into one of the most dynamic areas in the world, but it also has clear and persistent disparities. Extreme poverty has been dramatically reduced, and more than 95% of developing Asia's population live in middle-income countries. However, about 264 million people still live below the $1.90/day poverty line, and the 1.1 billion people who live on less than $3.20/day are particularly vulnerable to shocks and are at risk of falling back into poverty. Income inequality in countries has risen or remained at a high level, and significant nonincome disparities exist in access to decent jobs, quality education and training, health services, and social protection. Access to and affordability of basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation, and transport remain a challenge for many people in Asia and the Pacific. Urbanization, climate change, demographic transition, digital technology, the changing nature of work, and migration all risk the creation of new vulnerabilities and vulnerable groups. Significant gender disparities persist and often intersect with other vulnerabilities, thereby limiting potential for growth and attainment of equal opportunities for half of the population in Asia and the Pacific.

Strategy 2030 acknowledges the complexities of Asia and the Pacific and calls for a focus on addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities under OP1. The Operational Plan for OP1 highlights the need for all sectors to address the inequality of access to opportunities, especially for poor and vulnerable people. To do this effectively, robust PSA needs to be undertaken to better understand the complex contexts and interaction of social, economic, political, and institutional forces in DMCs; anticipate projects' differentiated impacts on various social groups; and use this information to better address vulnerability in country partnership strategies and programs, target projects, and design measures to support inclusion, access, affordability, and participation.

Strengthening the capacity of governments to conduct PSA and integrate findings into national poverty reduction and social inclusion agendas and project design is needed. In many countries, PSA approaches are limited, applied inconsistently, and focused strongly on risk and safeguards. They do not (i) address the broader issues of heterogeneity in poverty, vulnerability, and inequality; or (ii) incorporate an assessment of the different impacts on poor and vulnerable groups, including disadvantaged youth; older people; people with disabilities; and those discriminated against based on their gender, ethnicity, religion, class, or sexual identity. ADB has developed good guidance on PSA, which should be updated to (i) address links to the Sustainable Development Goals; (ii) outline good practices for all lending modalities (e.g., results-based lending); (iii) align the analyses for sovereign and nonsovereign projects; (iv) clarify how the broad umbrella of PSA should be resourced and organized to feed into project design and key areas of analysis, such as gender, participation, and safeguards; (v) integrate guidance for selected sectors, such as urban development, and develop new guidance in areas such as rural development or disability inclusion; and (vi) identify and integrate good practices and tools that have been developed in DMCs or by TA and loan projects from ADB or other development partners. There is a need to (i) ensure that the tools and guidance better address the diversity of issues, social groups, and definitions of poverty and vulnerability across countries and regions; (ii) strengthen capacity in DMCs (through ADB projects' executing and implementing agencies) to implement PSA and, with governments and other development partners, develop harmonized approaches to monitoring and reporting; and (iii) help ensure that the tools and capacity building are adequately aligned with national poverty reduction and inclusivity agendas.

Undertaking strategic research is critical for keeping DMCs and ADB abreast of emerging issues and enabling them to address these issues in innovative and comprehensive ways. To quickly adapt and develop effective responses to rapid social and economic changes, conducting targeted research on emerging poverty and inclusion issues and differential impacts on vulnerable populations is necessary. Key areas for investigation include disability inclusion, climate change and disaster resilience, migration and displacement, and impacts of technology or other disruptors in sectors. Disability inclusion is a particular area where targeted research and strengthened operational approaches are needed. Of the 1 billion people with some form of disability globally, 70% live in Asia and the Pacific. Many people with a disability face extreme poverty because of lack of access to and exclusion from opportunities. They represent one of the most left behind segments of the population. The urban poor are among the most vulnerable to shocks as they have fewer assets, are typically excluded from formal decision-making processes, and often live in unorganized settlements in the most hazardous parts of cities that are at a higher risk of being affected by climate change and disaster-related events. Targeted research in emerging areas will help improve the quality of analysis and design of interventions, and facilitate the development of a network of researchers and collaborators across DMCs in Asia and the Pacific and improve knowledge dissemination.

Supporting innovation in PSA will help create better and more impactful projects and replicable approaches. Using technologies such as geographic information systems; designing analytical tools to assess gender and other distributional impacts; and developing approaches to assess the poverty and social impacts of climate change, economic empowerment, market access, and land use will help embed effective approaches and test pioneering ones.

In response to these challenges and issues, the TA will strengthen analytical tools and processes for PSA, improve capacity in DMCs, and develop knowledge and collaboration on new areas for engagement.

Remaining poverty and inequalities in the region addressed (ADB Strategy 2030)

Pro-poor and social inclusion design elements in ADB operations improved

Analytical tools for poverty and social inclusion updated and shared with DMCs

Strategic research and knowledge exchange on poverty reduction and social inclusion strengthened

Innovative approaches to poverty and social analysis applied in selected projects

6.The TA has completed the following activities to date (Attachment 1):

"Output 1: Analytical tools for poverty and social inclusion updated and shared with developing member countries. Inception and important preparatory activities were undertaken in Q4 2019 to Q1 2020 such as consultation with social development specialists, mapping of existing practice and tools used across the regional departments on poverty and social analysis (PSA), and coordination with SDCC's Safeguards Division (SDSS) on the key areas of overlap with their technical assistance for Strengthening Safeguards Implementation in ADB Projects. A research study mapping the key trends in economic migration and forced displacement in Asia and Pacific was undertaken as a joint initiative with the Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations team, Regional Cooperation and Integration Thematic Group and SDSS. The TA is collaborating closely with the teams engaged in the ongoing update of the 2009 Safeguard Policy Statement regarding the sequencing and relationship of PSA with other assessments such as the social impact analyses for resettlement and indigenous peoples, assessments of labor impacts, including retrenchment, definitions of vulnerable groups, approaches to disability inclusion at the project level. Since PSA is conducted at both the country level in preparation of country partnership strategies and project level, the TA is also collaborating with the TA on Support to the Implementation of Strategy 2030 Operational Plans (7OP TA) and SPD on refinement of the Inclusive and Sustainable Growth Assessment guidance for country partnership strategies in the section on poverty assessment. The TA is also collaborating with SPD in the ongoing review of corporate results framework indicators on jobs, poverty and inclusion, and disability inclusion led by SPD's Results Management and Aid Effectiveness Division, and the growing importance of cross cutting institutional shifts such as WASH+, Just Transition, and nutrition will all need to be taken into consideration in the update of the PSA tools and Handbook.

"Output 2: Strategic research and knowledge exchange on poverty reduction and social inclusion strengthened. Price Waterhouse and Coopers has been engaged to support the South Asia Department (SARD) in the finalization of a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Framework applicable to ADB operations in South Asia.

The International Center for Research on Women has been engaged to conduct a stocktaking of policies, programs, initiatives, and practices of SARD DMC governments, civil society, the private sector, and development partners in engaging men and boys for gender equality and women's empowerment, including in promoting boys' and men's involvement in the recognition, reduction, and redistribution of unpaid domestic and care work, mobilizing men's support for women's entry in sectors traditionally associated with men, and analyzing and addressing the effects of gender inequality and the patriarchal view of masculinity and femininity on men and boys.

The Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDIH) has been engaged in November 2020 to support knowledge and capacity building around disability inclusion, inclusive design, and assistive technology among DMCs through the design and delivery of inclusive design trainings, research, development of knowledge products, and catalytic support to ADB project teams to help them initiate work on inclusive design or other disability inclusion activities. The inclusive design training was successfully launched with a high-level kickoff event on 18 August, and a pilot run with ADB staff was concluded on 3 September 2021. GDIH is also finalizing the scoping report on the accessible and assistive technology landscape in Asia and the Pacific, identifying who the disruptors and innovators are in the region and what that means for ADB's future investment options. A separate research on education technology and inclusive education is also being prepared. Specific guidance on ADB projects such as the Friendship Park in Armenia, the disability inclusion and affordable housing projects in Mongolia, and the long-term care project in Indonesia are also being provided through GDIH experts.

"Output 3: Innovative approaches to poverty and social analysis applied in selected projects. To date, seven projects for innovations in poverty and social analysis from regional departments are being supported: (i) Youth Investigators for Livable Settlements (Indonesia); (ii) Poverty and Social Analysis of Chittagong Hill Tracts Region (Bangladesh); (iii) Poverty and Social Analysis for the Advancement and Transformation of Villages through Community Empowerment Program (Indonesia); (iv) Online Social Analysis and Public Consultation Tool Pilot (People's Republic of China); (v) Microfinance Risk Participation and Guarantee Program (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines); (vi) Inclusive Business Impact Measure Baseline (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam); and (vii) Rapid Needs Assessment of Homeless Population (Mongolia). Of five projects approved for funding support in 2020, only two (items i and v) were able to push through with their plans, and the rest had to cancel or delay implementation due to reprioritization and reprogramming of projects resulting from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disruptions and response.