Development Policy Instruments to Support Decentralization and Local Governance Reforms

Policy-based loans (PBLs) are important instruments that address both legal and regulatory policy constraints to develop a more conducive environment. The benefits and challenges of employing PBLs in the Asian Development Banks’ governance work are explained in this presentation. Important lessons learned from the provision of governance PBLs are shared.

Staff Capacity Development Workshop on Integrated Disaster Risk Management

Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s disaster risk management activities are guided by the 2004 Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy. A companion Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRM) Operational Plan was approved in April 2014. The operational plan indicates that periodic staff capacity development workshops will be held on IDRM. The first of these events was run in 2013, prior to the approval of the plan. A second workshop was held in 2014. The third event is planned for November 2015 also to be held in Manila, similar to the first two workshops.

Advancing Transdisciplinary Education

While there are tremendous advances in science and technology, there is slow progress in solving pressing global problems. Inadequate local capacity has partly resulted to a general lack of societal involvement in program development. The use of transdisciplinary approach is essential to achieve efficient implementation and sustainability of programs or projects.

The Cities Development Initiative for Asia: Enhancing the Quality of Urban Infrastructure Investments

The task of Cities Development Initiative for Asia, a regional technical assistance facility established in 2007, is to develop or prepare priority urban infrastructure projects. The focus of the initiative is to bridge the gap between urban infrastructure investment planning and programming.