http://www.bicusa.org/en/Issue.46.aspx The latest news on ADB Safeguards Policy Update from the Bank Information Center 10 http://www.infodev.org/images/infodev.gif http://www.bicusa.org/en/Issue.46.aspx Network charges that poor quality of 2nd draft implies that President Kuroda has been unable to convince the ADB bureaucracy to uphold and support his vision of the ADB as the leading regional development organization on poverty alleviation and climate change. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10972.aspx Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:44:36 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10972.aspx The 2nd draft, contrary to Asian Development Bank President Kuroda’s standard-setting public assertions that no weakening of the policy would occur, represents a significant dilution of the Bank’s existing safeguards. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10963.aspx Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:07:18 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10963.aspx Internal ADB evaluation finds unsatisfactory returns, lack of focus for selection, weak safeguards. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10939.aspx Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:21:05 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10939.aspx ADB consults with civil society organizanizations this week on their social and environmental lending criteria. Critics worry that the strategy will not reduce poverty in the region. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10938.aspx Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:56:11 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.10938.aspx Audio from the panel discussion on the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Safeguard Policy Update at the ADB's 2008 Annual Meeting is now available online. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3845.aspx Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:07:12 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3845.aspx After ignoring civil society demands that called for a halt to public consultations, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has finally agreed to issue an additional draft and consultation. The announcement comes a week before the Asian Development Fund (ADF) replenishment wrap-up, and ADB watchers believe the concession was made after the U.S. tied its ADF contribution to a satisfactory resolution of the review. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3765.aspx Tue, 13 May 2008 14:59:47 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3765.aspx Civil society organizations warn that Asia's communities and environment will continue to be at risk if the Asian Development Bank (ADB) fails to improve its existing safeguard policies that are currently being revised. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3751.aspx Tue, 06 May 2008 13:48:12 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3751.aspx While the U.S. remains committed to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its mission of reducing poverty in Asia, objections to the Bank's lending policies and its function are causing concerns that U.S. funding commitments could be cut because of the dispute. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3741.aspx Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:01:29 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3741.aspx This update provides the most recent information regarding the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank held in Madrid, Spain from May 3-6. It also includes the activities of civil society organizations taking place during the meeting. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3740.aspx Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:45:11 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3740.aspx The new strategic framework of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been criticised by civil society groups as being anti-poor and vulnerable to corruption. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3732.aspx Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:55:38 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3732.aspx The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and ITUC-Asia Pacific represents 18.6 million members in 48 national affiliates from 29 countries in the region. In a letter to President Kuroda of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ITUC and ITUC-AP point out that the ADB draft omits mention of all labor issues except one brief mention. They urge the ADB to adopt a policy on core labor standards and other basic labor conditions. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3730.aspx Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3730.aspx As part of its North America leg of consultations, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held a half day event in Washington, DC on April 1 to seek feedback on its draft Safeguard Policy Statement. Several NGOs declined attendance in support of the position taken by the NGO Forum on ADB which calls for a "halt" in consultations given the weakness of the consultation draft. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3714.aspx Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:36:25 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3714.aspx Representatives of the U.S. Senate judiciary and House financial services committees, urge Hank Paulson, the U.S. Treasury secretary, to demand that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stick to tougher environmental and social criteria. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3696.aspx Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:36:12 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3696.aspx Groups from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma have refused to attend the Asian Development Bank's safeguard policy update consultations held this week in Hanoi, citing weakness of the draft. As a result, only three (3) NGOs attended the consultation adding another blow to ADB's beleaguered efforts to pass off the consultation process as credible. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3692.aspx Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:39:35 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3692.aspx Burmese civil society groups have sent an open letter to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stating that the ADB's weak Safeguard Policy Statement draft will cause not only social and environmental harms but may also lead to human rights violations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3691.aspx Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:14:12 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3691.aspx Directors from several non-governmental organizations in Vietnam have sent a letter to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stating their refusal to participate in upcoming ADB consultations in Hanoi on March 5-6, 2008. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3682.aspx Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3682.aspx In a press release, members of the Manila-based NGO Forum on ADB ask the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to stop its public consultations and revise the draft document known as the Safeguards Policy Statement (SPS) released in October 2007. The coalition demands ADB re-draft the policy before resuming consultations because the SPS is an “unacceptable and unsuitable basis for public review and consultation.” http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3675.aspx Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:46:16 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3675.aspx BIC and Oxfam Australia have closely followed the review of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Safeguards Policies since it was first announced in August 2005. Both organizations believe the dilution and weakening of the October 2007 Consultation Draft of the Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS) contradicts assurances the ADB publicly made on several occasions, and both have stated that unless revised, the current consultation process is not worthy of further engagement. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3670.aspx Wed, 06 Feb 2008 17:08:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3670.aspx Close to fifty people representing social movements in India and other parts of South Asia delivered a boycott statement to Asian Development Bank officials in New Delhi on January 16th, at the start of the Bank's consultations on its Draft Safeguard Policy Statement. The organised protest consisted of slogans and plackards, one of which read: "End to Lending." http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3644.aspx Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:24:50 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3644.aspx Civil society groups from South Asia are planning to boycott the Asian Development Bank's consultation meeting on its safeguards policy update, to be held in New Delhi, India tomorrow. The groups, from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh state that the ADB's consultation draft, released in October 2007, greatly dilutes the Bank's earlier policies on Environment (2002), Involuntary Resettlement (1995) and Indigenous Peoples (1998), and is opposed to indigenous peoples’ rights and subverts environmental considerations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3643.aspx Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:04:40 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3643.aspx The NGO Forum on ADB, on October 24 and 25, raised several issues with the ADB around the review of its Safeguard Policies. The ADB responded by agreeing to change dates of two regional consultations and to provide Vietnamese and Bahasa translations of the Consultation Draft. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3562.aspx Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:04:31 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3562.aspx In a letter to the Asian Development Bank's Environment Division, non-governmental organizations raised substantial concerns about recent developments with the Safeguard Policy Update (SPU) process, calling into question the possibility of genuine participation by civil society organizations. It reminds the ADB to honour its previous commitments about the process of these consultations. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3548.aspx Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:17:16 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3548.aspx The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has issued a consultation draft of its safeguard policies and is seeking comments on the draft during a 90-day public comment period. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3533.aspx Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:37:52 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3533.aspx Civil society groups monitoring the Asian Development Bank's "safeguard" policies find that the ADB needs to make substantial improvements to catch up with international standards and peer institutions. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3494.aspx Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:17:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3494.aspx Four members of the team tasked with revising the ADB project "safeguards" have resigned in protest against management's efforts to dilute the bank's policies on environment, resettlement and indigenous people. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3487.aspx Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:08:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3487.aspx Project affected people and civil society organizations highlight problems with current ADB policies aiming to protect the environment and human rights at a BIC and Oxfam Australia-hosted panel. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3356.aspx Thu, 17 May 2007 16:04:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3356.aspx At the 40th Annual Asian Development Bank (ADB) AGMs, CSOs outlined major gaps in existing ADB standards and discussed what the ADB should do to meet and surpass the highest international standards as ADB gears up to revamp its Safeguard Policies. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3354.aspx Thu, 17 May 2007 12:47:41 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3354.aspx The Asian Development Bank (ADB) celebrated its 40th anniversary in Kyoto, Japan signaling its close relationship with one of its largest shareholders (the other being the USA) and using the 10th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol an occasion to promote its new focus on climate change and clean energy. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3304.aspx Mon, 07 May 2007 10:55:24 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3304.aspx The consultations were originally scheduled for March 2007. New consultations are tentatively scheduled for the late second quarter of 2007. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3152.aspx Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:22:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3152.aspx An ADB Safeguard Policy Consultation was scheduled to take place on March 8, 2007, in Hanoi, Vietnam. This has now been postponed and a new date has not been announced. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3139.aspx Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:42:02 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3139.aspx A letter, endorsed by 40 of civil society organizations from 14 countries, points to weaknesses around transparency and participation in the ADB's ongoing Safeguards Policy Update (SPU). http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3135.aspx Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:48:26 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3135.aspx The consultation, whose date is yet to be determined, will collect the opinions of stakeholders from eight countries. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3122.aspx Wed, 31 Jan 2007 14:01:27 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3122.aspx The upcoming consultation aims to collect the opinions of stakeholders in eight countries. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3121.aspx Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:43:56 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3121.aspx In an open letter to Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Kuroda and the Board of Directors, over forty civil society organizations warned against the approach outlined by the ADB in the review of its Environment, Indigenous Peoples, and Involuntary Resettlement Policies, highlighting the potential for drastically weakened standards of social and environmental protections. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2687.aspx Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:16:33 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2687.aspx The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has issued its much delayed Discussion Note for the Safeguard Policy “Update” it publicly initiated in July 2005. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2481.aspx Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:34:07 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2481.aspx The Asian Development Bank acknowledged civil society recommendations for its Safeguard Policies update process and highlighted some important issues for the review. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2365.aspx Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:00:59 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2365.aspx Independent assessment of Safeguard Policies implementation also recommended. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2241.aspx Mon, 01 Aug 2005 15:07:44 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2241.aspx Asian Development Bank announces plans to review policies on Involuntary Resettlement, Indigenous Peoples, and Environment. http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2234.aspx Mon, 01 Aug 2005 11:46:22 GMT http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2234.aspx