The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is conducting a comprehensive review and update of the 2009 Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS). Stakeholder engagement will be guided by a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP). The SPS review and update will be done in three phases. Phase 1 was completed after reaching out to key stakeholders. The second phase featured a series of stakeholder consultations informed by key analytical studies, and their implications on policy revision. The final stage of consultations will gather comments on the working paper towards finalizing the safeguard policy. 

Phase 2 features consultations with key stakeholders. The Regional Consultations are organized by thematic areas related to environment and social safeguards. Technical studies examine implementation challenges and best practices to strengthen the safeguard policy. Based on feedback from regional consultations, country-level dialogues and focus group discussions on key technical areas will be conducted. 

In-country stakeholder consultations will tackle the recommendations for the revised safeguard policy. It will focus on a set of proposed Environmental and Social Policy Standards based on recommendations from analytical studies and feedback from regional consultations. 

Consultations with project affected people (PAPs) will provide deeper understanding of the views and experiences of individuals and communities who were directly or indirectly impacted by completed or ongoing ADB projects. PAPs consultations will focus on what worked and what needs to be improved based on stakeholder experiences in the implementation of the 2009 Safeguard Policy Statement.