A Regional Gender Assessment of Energy Policies and Programmes in South Asia

The Asian Development Bank implemented a project that aimed to increase rural poor women’s access to affordable, reliable, and clean renewable energy sources and technologies in its three developing member countries in South Asia: Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. This report presents the findings of the review of national energy policies for the region that combined gender reviews and interactions with stakeholders.

Improving Gender Inclusive Access to Clean and Renewable Energy in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka

Energy is a critical factor in any poverty reduction strategy. It is also essential for generating production, income, and employment. The Asian Development Bank rolled out a project in three of its developing member countries in South Asia—Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka—to help increase rural poor women’s access to affordable, reliable, and clean renewable energy sources and technologies. This paper presents an overview of the project, including its background, key strategies, results, and lessons.

Green Power Development Project: Bringing Benefits to Bhutan and Beyond

The Kingdom of Bhutan is one of a few countries in Asia with large, unexploited hydropower resources. Despite the surplus power, many rural households lacked access to electricity in the early to mid-2000s. The Government of Bhutan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) turned this challenge into an opportunity through the Green Power Development Project, which improved energy access and expanded the country’s revenue base due to income from power exports.

Regulatory Environment in Bhutan: Using a New Institutional Economics Approach

As Bhutan's economy grows, so does the treat of corruption which is one of the biggest deterrents to a country's development. To counter this threat, the Government of Bhutan plans to strengthen its regulatory environment.

Gambhir Bhatta of Asian Development Bank (ADB) presented his analysis on regulatory risks in Bhutan from the new institutional economics perspective in this joint knowledge sharing event organized by ADB's South Asia Department and Governance Thematic Group.

Can Corruption be Tackled? Making the Case for Good Governance

In the recently released Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index for 2015, majority of the developing member countries (DMCs) of Asian Development Bank (ADB) ranked in the bottom half. Combined with weak governance and rising income inequality in the region that continues to be home to half of the world's poor, it serves as a serious threat to the economic growth that Asia and the Pacific has built towards and been experiencing in recent years, and weakens ADB's capacity to effectively achieve its mission of improving the quality of life of people in its DMCs.