Thursday, May 3, 2018

ADB delivers strong climate and gender results: Report

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is delivering on its goal to increase development finance to the Asia and Pacific region and is making good progress towards achieving its development and operational targets, especially in climate change and gender, according to a new ADB performance review.
The 2017 Development Effectiveness Review (DEfR) was released in Manila, Philippines at the 51st Annual Meeting of ADB's Board of Governors. The report measures how well ADB is executing its corporate strategy, Strategy 2020, and the strategic priorities of the midterm review of the strategy across 85 results indicators. It is the first report under the 2017–2020 transitional results framework.
“The report clearly shows that ADB is delivering on its commitment to helping the Asia and Pacific region reduce poverty and achieve more inclusive and sustainable growth,” said director general of ADB’s Strategy, Policy, and Review Department Tomoyuki Kimura. "ADB continues to focus on its operational and organizational effectiveness, while scaling up its operations.”
The 2017 DEfR found that the share of ADB operations supporting climate change mitigation and/or adaptation rose to 49 per cent in 2015–2017, exceeding the 45 per cent 2020 target. Climate change finance, including external sources mobilised by ADB, reached a record $5.16 billion in 2017. This puts ADB in a good position to achieve its $6 billion annual climate financing target by 2020.
Gender was another area where ADB exceeded its targets. Nearly half or 48 per cent, of all ADB projects supported gender mainstreaming last year. The share of ADB projects successfully delivering gender equality results has increased to 77 per cent, above the target of 70 per cent.
During the 2015–2017 period, ADB-financed operations connected 2.7 million new households to electricity and installed 1,400 megawatts (MW) of energy generation capacity. This includes 340 MW from renewable sources through projects in Bhutan, Thailand, and Viet Nam, which will achieve an annual greenhouse gas emission reduction of 4.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent.
In the same period, ADB’s transport projects helped build or upgrade 7,100 kilometers (km) of roads, including 5,300 km in rural areas. ADB also provided 205,000 households with new or improved water supply and more than 142,000 households with new or improved sanitation. In addition, ADB provided 1.6 million students with new or improved educational facilities and trained 73,000 teachers.
ADB committed a record $20.1 billion in its own financing in 2017, nearly $7 billion more than in 2016. A total of $11.8 billion of direct value-added cofinancing was signed in 2017, while disbursements were $11.4 billion.
The 2017 DEfR also noted that the strong growth in commitments has contributed to challenges in meeting certain targets. Commitments for private sector operations reached $2.3 billion in 2017, but they accounted for only 13.3 per cent of overall signed regular ordinary capital resources financing. Cofinancing was almost unchanged from the previous year, but the share declined to 59 per cent of ADB financing, down from the 2014–2016 average of 71 per cent and below the ambitious 2020 target of 100 per cent. Performance on some strategic alignment indicators, such as health and education financing and support for social protection, will require additional efforts to reach 2020 targets.
ADB has taken concrete steps to ensure that it maintains its strategic alignment during this period of growth. ADB has also been focusing on ensuring the quality of its operations through, for example, expanding its quality review function and increasing staff resources in resident missions, operations departments, and operational support departments.
ADB has started to work on a results framework that is aligned with Strategy 2030. The framework will have targets that reflect the priorities of the Strategy 2030 and will be aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. It will also rationalise the number of indicators and use innovative methods to more accurately assess ADB’s performance.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members; 48 from the region.

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