The Decentralized Rural Infrastructure and Livelihood Project (DRILP) used a community-driven approach to bring much needed road and community infrastructure to Nepal's hill and mountain districts. It likewise built capacity for centralized governance.

Three years after the project's approval, however, a resident filed a complaint against Asian Development Bank (ADB), claiming that local leaders and project staff coerced their family to sign the land transfer document. They threatened to file a case against ADB and other development partners if the project continues.

Women in the rural areas of Sri Lanka are traditionally engaged in some income generating activities like food processing, sweet making, dairy, dress making, and agriculture. An Asian Development Bank-supported project built on and expanded these traditional income sources and included energy-based livelihoods, which helped in increasing the awareness of reducing electricity consumption as well.

Nepal faces significant challenges in rural electrification, with less than 35% of the rural population electrified. Much has been done to address this such as increasing the grid-connected electrification rate in areas without electricity and empowering Electricity Users Cooperatives (EUCs). This case study presents an example of the process and results of the capacity building support provided to EUCs by an Asian Development Bank-supported project that aimed to increase rural poor women’s access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy sources and technologies.

Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can participate to determine priority data that will be provided by the government, resulting to a more responsive data provision. Increasing the capacity of CSOs to use open data and improve the quality of service information to the government also boosts the confidence of CSOs.

Transport is a big chunk in the operations of Asian Development Bank (ADB)--about one-third of its lending in most years goes to this sector. While modern transport systems improve social and economic activities, the need to combat its negative effects such as pollution and congestion remains. ADB works with various partners to promote sustainable transport, particularly in its developing member countries.

Knowledge partnerships provide opportunities for organizations to gain knowledge, leverage strengths, and augment resources. The Asian Development Bank continues to expand its own network of knowledge partners, guided by a set of defined and transparent principles.

As the pre-eminent network in Asia on air quality management issues, the Asian Development Bank’s Clean Air Asia initiative examines the interface between climate change and local air pollution. It is a successful model of knowledge networking and how knowledge can be translated into policy dialogues, capacity development, and investment.

Toxic pollution affects the health of millions of people in developing countries. In 2009, the Asian Development Bank, through assistance from its partner Blacksmith Institute, joined the Global Inventory Project to build a database that catalogues, assesses, prioritizes, and estimates costs for remediation of critical toxic sites. The database now provides policymakers better information and possible cleanup solutions.

Viet Nam’s agriculture, science, and technology sector faces many challenges, but a recent project by the Asian Developmebnt Bank adopting a bottom-up approach made a dent. By linking training, research, and extension services, the country was able to foster natural resource management that the poor can participate in, with practical and sustainable results.

A new railway connecting Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, a project supported by the Asian Development Bank, has increased the reliability and efficiency of Afghanistan's trade routes, lowered cost of goods, and linked the country to new business opportunities in Asia and Europe. Effective project management ensured that railway construction took less than a year, and operations started soon after.