JPIC staff meet with Asian Development Bank

August 19th, 2008

Washington DC – The Oblate JPIC staff met with Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials on August 13. Oblate JPIC Director Fr. Seamus Finn, Tomas Vyhnalek (Oblate visiting from the Czech Republic), Fr. Aaron Rosario (Bangladeshi Oblate) and George Ngolwe (JPIC staff) met with ADB Deputy Resident Director, Robert M. Schoellhammer at the ADB office in Washington.

The purpose of the meeting was to receive an update on Asian Development Bank operations in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It was also an opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges faced by the Indigenous peoples in those countries – particularly in accessing quality education – and to get a sense of the Bank’s commitment to promoting sustainable development for local communities.

The ADB is a major donor to Bangladesh and its principal foci are energy, urban development, water and sanitation, education and transport infrastructure. The ADB is the major donor to Bangladesh for education programs, and operates through the ministry of education. Primary education has been the focus for the Bank believes better education will lead to poverty reduction and economic development for Bangladesh. ADB assistance to Sri Lanka focuses on roads, secondary education and water supply.

The ABD believes in a negotiated plan of action with the host country and makes recommendations regarding technical assistance to nations during policy development and implementation. Some of the challenges presented to the ADB by the Oblate JPIC staff included the problem of development policy that fails to recognize the presence of indigenous people in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Indigenous peoples in both countries unfortunately remain outside much of government-funded projects. Hence the ADB needs to engage not only governments but religious and civil society groups who work closely with the local communities.

On the crucial point of human rights, the ADB takes no positions – rather the organization looks at human rights as access to water, health and education. The JPIC office argues that abuses of human rights in both nations is of great concern and believes that financial donors should promote respect for human rights in order to promote broader peace and stability. The ADB does not see a role for itself in condemning human rights, but rather sees this as a choice for individual member countries.

The JPIC Office was given information on how to access the ADB draft on Indigenous people (IP) and will be told whether such an IP policy will apply to all members of the donor consortium in Asia.

NGO forum on the ADB

Asian Development Bank

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