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Safeguards

ADB's safeguard policy aims to help developing member countries address environmental and social risks in development projects and minimize and mitigate, if not avoid, adverse project impacts on people and the environment.

In the Spotlight

Publication

Protecting the Safety and Well-Being of Workers and Communities from COVID-19

This advisory note identifies key measures and shares resources that can help prevent the transmission and spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among workers and communities.

Publication

Managing Infectious Medical Waste during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This brief provides governments with essential information to support their efforts to manage an increase in infectious medical waste due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

News Release

ADB Needs to Modernize Environment and Social Safeguard Policy

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) 2009 Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS) has played a positive role in avoiding or mitigating the unintended negative environment and involuntary resettlement impacts of its projects, says a review conducted by ADB’s Independent Evaluation Department (IED).

Video

New Website Facilitates Consultations for ADB's Environmental and Social Safeguard Policy

New Safeguard Policy Review website facilitates consultations during the review of ADB's environmental and social safeguard policy.

Safeguards: Overview

Environmental and social safeguards are a cornerstone of ADB's support to inclusive economic growth and environmental sustainable growth.

ADB's safeguard policy aims to help developing member countries (DMCs) address environmental and social risks in development projects and minimize and mitigate, if not avoid, adverse project impacts on people and the environment.

Safeguard Policy Review

ADB is reviewing and updating its 2009 Safeguard Policy Statement in response to evolving development needs. We encourage stakeholders, including civil society to participate in the consultations. Read more

Safeguard Policy Statement

Approved by ADB’s Board of Directors in July 2009, the Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS) builds upon the three previous safeguard policies on the environment, involuntary resettlement, and indigenous peoples, and brings them into a consolidated policy framework that enhances effectiveness and relevance. The SPS applies to all ADB-supported projects reviewed by ADB’s management after 20 January 2010. ADB works with borrowers to put policy principles and requirements into practice through project review and supervision, and capacity development support. The SPS also provides a platform for participation by affected people and other stakeholders in project design and implementation.

Available in:
  Operational Manual for the Safeguard Policy Statement

The SPS supersedes ADB's Involuntary Resettlement Policy (1995), Policy on Indigenous Peoples (1998), and Environment Policy (2002).  To obtain copies of these superseded policies, please contact the Safeguards Help Desk.

  • Environment Safeguards

    Environment Safeguards

    Without committed efforts to safeguard the environment, pressure will continue to build on the region’s land, forests, water systems, wetlands, marine ecosystems, and other natural resources--assets many of the poor depend on for their livelihoods.

  • Involuntary Resettlement

    Involuntary Resettlement

    Involuntary resettlement under development projects can give rise to severe economic, social, and environmental risks, and result in long-term hardship and impoverishment of affected people if it is not managed well.

  • Indigenous Peoples

    Indigenous Peoples

    Nearly three-quarters of the world’s indigenous peoples live in Asia and the Pacific. Their rights are increasingly threatened by development programs that could encroach on areas they traditionally own, occupy, use, or view as ancestral domain.

Publications and Documents

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Blogs

Blog

It takes hard work and imaginative solutions to ensure development projects deliver for communities

Safeguards – the procedures that ensure projects and programs avoid, minimize and mitigate adverse impacts on people and the environment – are a crucial part of development work

Blog

New approach to ADB procurement and safeguards for better project results

Using country systems for procurement and safeguards, a first for ADB in India, recognizes the country’s remarkable progress over the past 30 years.

Blog

Infrastructure and safeguards

As multilateral development banks gear up to fill serious gaps in infrastructure in Asia, attention also focuses on safeguards, which should be a top concern for established lenders such as the World Bank and ADB as well as new players like the AIIB.

Blog

ADB’s safeguards policy could be a benchmark

Safeguards to avert damage that development projects can do to the environment and communities are essential in development finance.

Safeguards: Contacts

Woochong UM (Mr)
Director General, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department
Concurrently Chief Compliance Officer
  Email contact form
Bruce DUNN (Mr)
Director, Safeguards Division
  Email contact form

Contacts for Safeguards in ADB Departments

Central and West Asia Department

For queries related to Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Jesper K. PETERSEN (Mr) Advisor and HeadPortfolio, Results, Safeguards & Gender Unit  Tel +63 2 8638 1738   E-mail

East Asia Department

For queries related to People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Republic of Korea; Mongolia; and Taipei,China

Mailene RADSTAKE (Ms) Principal Social Development Specialist (Safeguards)Office of the Director General  Tel +63 2 8632 5618  E-mail

Pacific Department

For queries related to Cook Islands, Republic of Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu

Cindy BRYSON (Ms)Safeguards SpecialistPortfolio, Results and Quality Control Unit  Tel +63 2 8638 1445  E-mail

Private Sector Operations Department

Mark KUNZER (Mr)DirectorPrivate Sector Transaction Support Division  Tel +63 2 8632 5688  E-mail

South Asia Department

For queries related to Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Ricardo Carlos BARBA (Mr)Principal Safeguards SpecialistPortfolio, Results and Quality Control Unit  Tel +63 2 8638 1808   E-mail

Southeast Asia Department

For queries related to Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Viet Nam

Meenakshi AJMERA (Ms)Principal Safeguards SpecialistOffice of the Director General  Tel +63 2 8638 1484   E-mail

As of 8 December 2020

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