 The Asian Development Bank is in the final stages of its "Safeguard Policy Update" (SPU), a process which threatened to eliminate hard-won protections for local communities and ecosystems. IAP is active in the campaign to ensure that the SPU will improve protections, justice and opportunities for vulnerable populations across Asia.
Updates
- ADB Board approves new Safeguard Policy Statement, July 2009. After three years of campaigning, the final policy is a vast improvement over earlier drafts, and may contain some stronger protections than the prior policy, depending on the content of the accompanying Operations Manual, to be disclosed in early 2010. Read more>>
- IAP submits commentary upon ADB's Second Draft Safeguard Policy Statement: December 2008 - IAP submitted a detailed analysis that provided clarity on the science, economics and law behind successful involuntary resettlement and the necessary structural changes that must be made to the Second Draft. Read the Analysis.
- Financial Times reports on ADB's efforts to weaken safeguards: November 2008 - Two highly critical articles in the Financial Times came out during the week of the multilstakeholder consultation in Manila, due to efforts of IAP and colaition partners. Read the articles.
- IAP and partners shape agenda for Consultation: July 2008 - In response to sustained pressure from IAP and partners in NGO Forum on ADB, the Bank has agreed to produce a second draft of the Safeguard Policy Statement and to collaborate with NGO Forum in organizing a multi-stakeholder public consultation. Read more at Bank Information Center.
- IAP participates in high-level panel at ADB Annual Meetings: May 2008 - Representatives of multiple organizations from NGO Forum on ADB presented on the importance of strong safegaurds, at the ADB annual meetings, held this year in Madrid, Spain...more >>
Overview The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a multilateral development bank that funds development projects in the Asia Pacific region. The institution’s mission is to reduce poverty in Asia, but civil society groups and local affected peoples have long questioned the ADB’s effectiveness in achieving this mission. These same groups have often expressed concern and outrage for the many destructive and unsustainable projects financed by the ADB. Furthermore, the ADB has been criticized for its secrecy and limited transparency, and for its failure to provide opportunities for meaningful citizen participation in development planning and decision-making. Read more about the ADB.
The ADB Safeguard Policy Update (SPU)
In July 2005, the ADB announced it would update its three “safeguard” policies: Environment Policy (2002), Policy on Involuntary Resettlement (1995), and Policy on Indigenous Peoples (1998). The ADB states that the objective of this Safeguard Policy Update is “to enhance the effectiveness of the safeguard policies.” However, during the process, the ADB has often seemed most concerned with simplifying requirements for borrowers as a means of making the ADB more competitive and attractive as a bank, rather than enhancing ADB’s effectiveness in alleviating poverty in the region.
Concerns
 Civil society organizations are concerned that the Safeguard Policy Update will eliminate hard-won protections for project-affected peoples and ecosystems. This concern was heightened with the release of a new draft Safeguards policy in October 2007 that was a significantly weakened version of the earlier, already-problematic policy. This draft was deemed “unacceptable” by civil society groups across Asia and internationally, and also caused contention within the ADB. Four key ADB staff resigned from their positions working on the Safeguards Update, stating that they "regard this document not to be of sufficient quality for disclosure to the public.” Read the Financial Times article reporting on the resignations. ADB was subsequently pressured to re-write a new draft, released in October 2008.
 The standards for social and environmental protection set by ADB through their Safeguard Policies have enormous importance for people and ecosystems across Asia. These Safeguard Policies are important not only because they apply to the high volume of projects directly financed by the ADB, but also because ADB policies influence national legislation of countries in Asia, as well as private sector practices in the region. It is thus vitally important that ADB put in place revised safeguard policies that reflect the best international practices on human rights and environmental protection.
Instead of a participating in a global “race to the bottom” in terms of who has the least onerous constraints for ensuring social and environmental sustainability, the ADB should affirm the importance of strong safeguards, and in doing so encourage other funders to raise their standards as well. ADB can play a leadership role in highlighting that safeguard policies were adopted because they make social and economic sense in the long term, and that prioritizing such safeguards is a wise investment.
Our Approach
Since October 2006, IAP has played a lead role within the NGO Forum on the ADB--an international coalition of civil society organizations monitoring the ADB's Safeguard Policy Update. We have engaged in policy analysis; advocacy with ADB and U.S. government representatives; media and communications work; and regional organizing and skill-sharing events with our partners in Asia.Read more about civil society activities and achievements in the campaign around the ADB safeguard policies.
 - In 2006 IAP completed a comparative analysis of the ADB's existing safeguard policy on Involuntary Resettlement, highlighting gaps with international best practice. IAP also submitted in-depth comments to the ADB’s Operations Evaluation Department (OED) on their recent Special Evaluation Study on involuntary resettlement. (See links to both analyses below.) IAP also presented at a strategy meeting in Bangkok, Thailand in December 2006 that brought together diverse civil society groups to coordinate and strategize about advocacy efforts around the ADB safeguard policy.
- In December 2008, IAP and partners submitted detailed comments
on the second draft, and participated in extensive advocacy efforts
with ADB officials and finance ministries (including US Treasury) to
ensure our concerns and input were reflected in the final draft.
- In March 2007 and 2008, IAP participated in the annual meeting of the NGO Forum on ADB, in Manila, Philippines, and helped lead several days of lobbying meetings and Board briefings with key officials at ADB headquarters in Manila.
- IAP and partners presented at the last two Annual General Meetings of the ADB (the 2007 meeting in Kyoto and the 2008 meeting in Madrid) on high-level panels exploring safeguard importance and implementation.
- IAP is coordinating a Postcard Advocacy Campaign, in which communities in Asia affected by ADB projects are making their voices heard to the ADB Board of Executive Directors. ...more >>
- IAP has prepared a number of analysis and articles on the ADB SPU; provided below.
Learn More...
IAP documents on the ADB SPU:
Civil society documents on ADB SPU:
Multimedia links:
Related Websites:
ADB SPU documents:
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