Development Asia

We are inviting development professionals and members of the academe to join our Viva Engage #online community. Share ideas and potential solutions to help reach the #SustainableDevelopment Goals. Network with professionals from the public sector, academe, civil society, and international #development. 🟠 To JOIN, email [email protected].

To help mitigate #climatechange impacts, central banks in countries such as the Netherlands and Republic of Korea have started considering environmental, social, and #governance (ESG) factors in portfolio #management. Central banks in developing nations can also promote #sustainable investing by choosing projects based on their impact to #energy and the #environment, and by ceasing to invest in companies whose #ESG scores fall below the acceptable level. 🟠 READ https://buff.ly/3LGzdpP #SDG13 #SDG17 Yoonsok Lee, Korea Institute of Finance

#SriLanka is a biodiversity hotspot, but its tourism industry has not fully capitalized on #wildlife and nature-based tourism. This ADB online session explores the potential for higher-value #tourism in Sri Lanka by adopting an approach similar to that being implemented in South Africa as well as strategies to foster #sustainable tourism and #biodiversity. 🟠 WATCH https://buff.ly/3zB31Bi #SDG8 #SDG15 Hasitha Wickremasinghe, Vince Shacks, Savithri Rodrigo, Chandana Sooriyabandara, Priantha Fernando, Sumith Pilapitiya, Asha de Vos

In the #Philippines, local governments are frontline responders to disasters. But mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and #management (DRRM) at the local level is hampered by factors such as #policy implementation challenges, lack of technical capabilities, and low utilization of local DRRM funds. With a focus on decentralizing DRRM functions and services to local governments, the Philippine #government formulated its DRRM reform agenda, identified courses of action to strengthen DRRM at the local level, and outlined their implications for disaster #resilience. 🟠 READ https://buff.ly/4f2Judi #SDG11 #SDG13 CDIA - Cities Development Initiative for Asia, Kathleen Jovellanos, Gizella Marie (Gina) HERRERA, Agence Française de Développement in Southeast Asia

This forum gathered #policy makers, practitioners, and project implementers from ADB developing member countries for solution-seeking discussions, #training, and knowledge sharing to improve #projectmanagement processes and results in ADB-supported projects. It covered topics such as project cycle and readiness, project quality enhancement, #procurement, #gender mainstreaming, and environmental and social safeguards. 🟠 Access the presentation materials at https://buff.ly/4d4qPMB #SDG17 Shaista Hussain, Nilufar Nurkuzieva, César Llorens Alvarez, Nathan Rive, Jose Tiburcio Nicolas, Mary Alice Rosero, Samina Sabir, Bisma Husen, Mohsen Islam Khan, Musaddiq Shaikh, Arjun Guha, Frances Lynette S., Dinesh S., Nishimura Masahiro, Khurram Ghafoor, Catherine Santiago, Manjula Amerasinghe, Aziz Haydarov, Omer Bin Zia, ivylaine europa

Extending reliable #water services to the public requires water utility firms to secure long-term access to #land for water resources. This ADB #webinar presents innovative legal and social approaches adopted by water utilities in the #Pacific, such as a shareholding agreement with landowners and payment for services to protect watersheds. 🟠 WATCH https://buff.ly/466x2p1 #SDG6 Pacific Water and Wastewater Association, Robert Iromalefo, Mark Ellery, Sinéad Lehane, Maria Tran

ADB-supported #infrastructure projects in the #Philippines aimed to adequately address women’s needs in the community by including female representatives in a stakeholder group. The projects equipped #women with the tools and knowledge to take part in the urban resilience #planning process, and community #resilience officers ensured women’s active participation. 🟠 READ https://buff.ly/3xWuZah #SDG5 #SDG11 Myrah Butt, Dr. Virinder Sharma, Helen Jeans, Marino Deocariza

Bolstering the supply chains of critical minerals that are inputs in low-carbon #technologies is necessary to meet the expected high demand for such minerals in the worldwide transition to #cleanenergy. An ADB #policy brief outlines 1️⃣ the projected demand for minerals used in clean energy technologies under three scenarios 2️⃣ the risks facing the supply chains of such minerals, from extraction to processing and price volatility 3️⃣ the economic #opportunities for developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, and 4️⃣ policy recommendations to realize these opportunities in a #sustainable manner. 🟠 READ https://buff.ly/3xNRK0a #SDG7 #SDG9 Cyn-Young Park

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up the majority of businesses in developing countries, but they face challenges in developing their human resources compared with large firms. In the Republic of Korea, the #government introduced a program that helped SMEs organize, launch, and manage the in-service #training of their workers. The program saw a surge in #SME employees trained—from 6,573 in 2001 to 229,000 by 2011. It raised SME workers’ #productivity, addressed skilled worker shortage, and helped prevent unemployment. 🟠 READ https://buff.ly/4cIBvke #SDG8