Publisher : Asian Development Bank
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2007
Thematic : Governance
Language : English
Note
Recent experience in most of Asia and the Pacific
represents a remarkable success story of rapid
economic growth and poverty reduction. In
less than a generation, the region’s people have
transformed their economies, so that today they
are among the most vibrant and dynamic in
the world.
Rapid development has brought enormous
benefits, with 300 million people having been
lifted above the $1 a day poverty line since 1990.
But nearly 1.9 billion Asians—half the region’s
population—still live on $2 a day or less, and
about one third of those on less than $1 a day.
Asia must continue to grow rapidly to help
the poor meet their needs and achieve their
aspirations for a better quality of life, as reflected
by the Millennium Development Goals.
What happens in these countries is important
not only for Asia and the Pacific but also for the
world. For example, rapid growth requires energy,
but the region’s reliance on fossil fuels that emit
greenhouse gases contributes to global climate
change. Other resources in demand by these
rapidly growing economies—water, minerals,
soils, forests—are under increasing pressure
world-wide. Enormous social challenges remain
in education, health, and other areas of concern
to the global community. And financial, human,
and natural resources can only be employed
effectively with sound governance systems that
respect the rule of law and the vital role of civil
society.
This report casts a spotlight on some of the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) responses to the key
environmental, social, and governance concerns
in our region. Our clean energy and environment
program, for example, serves as a vehicle to
combine our expertise and financing with those
of our client countries and many other partners
to tackle the massive challenge of global climate
change. Our programs in health, education, and
gender balance are responding to such concerns
as the spread of HIV/AIDS and female literacy.
Our governance programs are helping our client
countries develop stronger fiduciary controls
and institutions to support rapid and equitable
growth. As a leading development institution in
Asia and the Pacific, ADB is helping to channel
knowledge, technology, and funds to our client
countries so that they may develop in ways that
are environmentally and socially sustainable.
The report also summarizes how ADB is structured,
and how it operates. ADB is keenly aware of the
need to lead by example and to minimize our
corporate environmental footprint, and is proud
to have been the first multilateral development
bank to achieve International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification for our
internal environmental management systems. We
constantly seek ways to improve this performance.
Preparation of this report was overseen by an
interdepartmental working group cochaired by
Bindu Lohani, Director General of the Regional
and Sustainable Development Department and
Amarjit Wasan, Principal Director of the Office
of Administrative Services. A subgroup, chaired
by Nessim Ahmad, Director of the Environment
and Social Safeguard Division, managed the
compilation and presentation, with this process
led by David McCauley, Senior Environmental
Economist, and Eleonora Windisch, Head of
the Government Relations Unit in the Office of
Administrative Services. Jill Gale de Villa served
as project coordinator. A full list of the many
contributors is given at the end of
the report.
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Keywords : coral-triangle
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
