ADB holds meetings on safeguards policy update

ISLAMABAD—The Asian Development Bank (ADB) held the first of its series of consultative meetings as part of efforts to update its safeguard policies.
ADB has three safeguard policies: Policy on Involuntary Resettlement (1995), Policy on Indigenous Peoples (1998), and Environment Policy (2002). The ongoing Safeguard Policy Update was initiated to improve the effectiveness of these policies and enhance their relevance to changing client needs and new lending modalities, said an ADB press release received here on Wednesday.
The update is intended to articulate the safeguard requirements to improve their clarity, coherence and consistency; balance a front-loaded procedural approach with one more focused on results during implementation; make policy implementation more adaptable in practice to match an evolving range of lending products and innovative financing modalities; work toward greater harmonization with safeguard practices across multilateral financial institutions and tailor safeguard approaches to different clients with different capacities; and improve internal processes and resource allocation. The goals of the consultative meetings include enhancing ADB’s understanding of stakeholders’ perspectives and establishing a shared understanding of safeguard objectives, principles and requirements.
The first meeting was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Participants from seven Central and West Asia countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan participated in it. Participants include representatives from governments, non-governmental organizations, academia and multilateral development banks. Subsequent meetings will be held across the region over the coming months.
A consultation draft of ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement was placed on ADB’s Web site on 12 October 2007 for a 90-day comment period.—Online