This book details the evolution of the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) and shows how it worked with ADB to fund myriad projects designed to improve lives and livelihoods in the Asia and Pacific region over 2 decades. It highlights how JFPR has exceeded $1 billion in project approvals and set up 520 projects across developing member countries ranging from healthcare schemes in Myanmar to small business programs in Bhutan. It explores its critical role during crises such as the Indian Ocean tsunami and COVID-19 and shows how it plans to continue cutting poverty to build resilient communities.

https://www.adb.org/publications/story-japan-fund-poverty-reduction-2000-2021

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Institutional Document | May 2023 This report provides a rundown of ADB's work with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) during 2022 to help developing member countries (DMCs) recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and give stronger social protection and economic support to some of the region's poorest. It highlights ADB-backed projects in countries including Mongolia, Indonesia, and Nepal that focus on issues ranging from gender-based violence prevention, to providing microfinance, rehabilitating coral reefs, and tackling food security.

https://www.adb.org/documents/highlights-adb-cooperation-civil-society-organizations-2022

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Last year's devastating floods in Pakistan affected around 33 million people and caused an estimated $30 billion in damage. This year, the country was rocked again by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake which also affected neighboring Afghanistan and five Central Asian republics. And just this month, blazing forest fires destroyed up to 60,000 hectares of land in northeastern Kazakhstan, killing 14 people. These events are a tragic reminder that Central Asia and its neighbors are highly exposed to natural hazards such as flooding and earthquakes.

https://www.adb.org/news/features/qa-narrowing-flood-and-earthquake-risk-protection-gap-central-asia

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Watch the Asian Impact Webinar. 4 Apr 2023, 01:00 - 02:00 PM (GMT +8) Growth in developing Asia is forecast at 4.8% this year and in 2024, up from 4.2% last year. The People's Republic of China's (PRC) recovery and healthy domestic demand in India will be the region's main growth supports this year and next.​ is forecast to moderate this year and next, from 4.4% in 2022 to 4.2% in 2023 and 3.3% in 2024, gradually moving closer to pre-pandemic averages​. An array of immediate and emerging challenges could still hold back the region's recovery.

https://www.adb.org/outlook

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In 2021, ADB launched the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM), a program aimed at helping confront the issue of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Asia and the Pacific. More than 50% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from our region, which still relies heavily on coal and other fossil fuels as a source of energy. ETM aims to use concessional and commercial capital to accelerate the retirement or repurposing of fossil fuel power plants and replace them with clean energy alternatives.

https://www.adb.org/news/features/update-energy-transition-mechanism-april-2023

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Institutional Document | April 2023   Smart Reader Read the report on your smart device The report summarizes how ADB combined finance and knowledge, and leveraged partnerships to help its developing member countries (DMCs) move on from the COVID-19 pandemic and address new crises and longer-term development challenges. New commitments are presented under the seven operational priorities of Strategy 2030 and are complemented by examples of earlier projects that have improved people's lives across Asia and the Pacific.

https://www.adb.org/documents/adb-annual-report-2022

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Institutional Document | May 2023 The Private Sector Operations—Report on Development Effectiveness series reviews the development effectiveness of operations carried out by the Asian Development Bank Private Sector Operations Department. The 2022 report, which is the 13th edition of the series, highlights a scaling up of commitments for climate action, as well as project and program assistance to address food insecurity, advance gender equality and assist small businesses, particularly those led by women.

https://www.adb.org/documents/defr-2022-private-sector-operations

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Is the world today afflicted with excessive automation? In this lecture, Professor Daron Acemoglu will discuss automation and its consequences, including the potential economic, political, and social costs of the current path of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies. By displacing the developing countries' most valuable resource—labor—with capital and algorithms, the current trajectory of technology adoption may be inappropriate for the needs of the emerging world. Led by Vice President Bambang Susantono, a panel of ADB senior researchers will join Professor Acemoglu to discuss how ADB can help its developing members to redirect technology and limit its damaging consequences for their workers and citizens.

https://www.adb.org/news/events/adb-distinguished-speakers-program-daron-acemoglu-live-webinar

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