Asian Development Bank

Friday May 4 to Monday May 7 2007 the 40th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be held in Kyoto. The meeting will be attended by some 3,000 people including finance ministers and central bank governors from 67 countries and regions. Discussions at the meeting will focus on issues relating to the future of the Asia-Pacific region including the widening gap between rich and poor, environmental problems, and the furthering of regional cooperation.

Activists from countries around Asia are gathering for a People's Forum at Doshisha University Imadegawa Campus, Kyoto.

The NGOs feel they have brought some modest yet significant gains since founding the NGO Forum on ADB. Their ADB campaign has contributed to changes in the Bank’s policy in terms of:

* improved social and environmental guidelines for projects
* new Bank-wide lending priorities
* Bank initiatives in defining sectoral priorities on forestry, energy, population, involuntary resettlement, and information disclosure,
* a more open attitude to dialogue with NGOs and communities,
* and more recently, the Bank’s shift to poverty reduction as its “overarching framework.”

Yasuaki Yamaura from Consumers Union of Japan will speak on issues close to the heart for Japanese farmers and consumers on May 6.

NGOs that are active on ADB issues in Japan include:
Attac
JACSES Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (English website here)
Kansai NGO Council
ISEP Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (English website here)
AMNet (English website here)

Updates:

Yomiuri: ADB confab kicks off in Kyoto
Mainichi: Asian Development Bank opens meeting under attack from environmentalists
Mainichi: Asian Development Bank under fire from 'disadvantaged' nations
The Japan Times: Large-scale ADB projects draw critisism
Yomiuri: Govt to set up 2 ADB funds

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