RECENT NEWS

Asian CSOs Urge Leaders to Reject ADB’s Strategy 2020 Framework

Civil society organizations from Asia urge their leaders attending the 41st Governors’ Meeting to reject the pro-privatization and anti-poor Strategy 2020- the new long-term strategic framework of the Asian Development Bank- which is part of the agenda of the meetings in Madrid, Spain, from May 3-6.

Contrary to its corporate vision of ‘An Asia and Pacific Free of Poverty’, the Strategy 2020, which replaces the long-term strategic framework 2000-2015, will actually lead to increased poverty, debt, hunger and environmental plunder in the region.

The strategy aims to create a business-friendly environment and increase public-private partnerships to at least 30% of total activities by 2020. The strategy also aims to scale up private sector development and private sector operations to 50% by 2020 in core areas such as environment, finance sector development, regional cooperation and integration, education, and infrastructure (including water, sanitation and waste management).

According to Ahmed Swapan of VOICE, Bangladesh and a member of the Water for the People Network (WPN), ADB's Strategy 2020 will only pressure governments of member countries to open up their public services to corporate interests. By giving out loans, the ADB is putting a higher price tag on basic social services such as water, electricity, among others due to loan conditionalities such as privatization, increased rates and application of the full cost-recovery principle, as in the case of the Melamchi Water Supply in Nepal wherein ADB is the lead financier.

Unfortunately, privatization of basic services has not led to better services and poverty alleviation in the region. Janaka Withanage of the Green Movement of Sri Lanka and WPN says, ‘The loans have so far been almost completely wasted with very marginal positive impact on the citizens’. Withanage adds that ADB-funded water projects such as the Upper Watershed Management Project caused great environmental and social damages to the areas where it was implemented in Sri Lanka. The ADB allocated US16.6 million concessional loan to rehabilitate the upper watersheds in Uma Oya, Walawe Ganga, Kirindi Oya and Kalu Ganga suffering from forest degradation. But instead of increasing forest cover, raising crop productivity and contributing to poverty alleviation in the affected communities, the project was plagued with corruption issues and was not successful in addressing the deforestation and soil degradation problems.

Ava Danlog of the IFI Water Watch, takes note of the US$10.1 billion disbursed loans in 2007, a 37% increase from 2006 and the highest in ADB's 41-year history. Danlog adds, ’What has this increased lending got to show but a trail of displaced communities, increased water tariffs, corruption and environmental plunder? Strategy 2020 will only double or even triple the disaster that ADB has brought to the region so far’.Danlog also says that ADB is taking advantage of the current crisis in food, water, oil and even climate change to bring forth a false solution.

Ahmed Swapan says that ADB, despite numerous protests, has consistently turned a deaf ear on the demands of CSOs in the region such as an alternative financial mechanism, equal and fair economic governance structure, compensation for communities affected by ADB-funded projects, consultations, and accountability. Withanage adds that ADB must implement better safeguard policies and stop the privatization of basic services.

‘The welfare and future of the poor and marginalized in Asia are at stake. CSOs and communities must unite and urge their leaders to oppose the Strategy 2020 and instead, bring to the table genuine pro-poor policies,’ Danlog says. She adds, ‘For an Asia and Pacific free of poverty to materialize, we need an Asia and Pacific free of debt, hunger, corruption, soaring prices and privatized services. We need an Asia and Pacific free of ADB’.

Poor are left unconsidered by Asian Development Bank

The Annual General Meeting of the Asian Development Bank's is currently being held from 3rd to 6th May 2008 in Madrid, Spain. The Bank has failed to meet its poverty reduction targets for more than four decades, leaving millions of poor in developing countries.

The Bank is emphasizing private sector development, to which it is allocating 50 per cent of its budget without considering the social protection and human security of the poor. Economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration are now the priority areas, while the lending agency continues to ignore public service support.

ADB’s strategy for 2020 puts the private sector in control over a country, leaving public services open for the multinational corporations. Also, the Bank has put pressure on the government to cut down spending on public services, and has been advocating for blanket privatization and commercialization while the poor suffer the worst due to reduced state responsibility. Whom does the ADB serve? The corporate bias of ADB ensures private sector making profit over life, while millions of poor suffer from malnutrition and lack of proper access to land, water, and common resources.

ADB’s strategy for 2020 and its policies do not guarantee anything in the service of the poor, but guarantee the private sector as their ally in business. Although private sector development can promote growth, rather than promoting poverty reduction,it helps to widen the gap between the rich and poor and create social injustice and insecurity.

What will be the role of the developing countries’ governments in Madrid? If they feel any responsibility towards the poor of their own countries, they must question the Bank's policies and strategy. Governments of developing countries should hold ownership of the policy and should hold the Bank accountable for their actions.

Ahmed Swapan Mahmud from Madrid

Hear the Unheard: A Reality Check on the ADB’s Operations in Bangladesh: A National Consultation on the Impacts of Policies and Projects on People’s Life and National Economy

A National Consultation was held today (April 26, 2008) at the National Press Club in Dhaka as part of an advocacy campaign to raise awareness on the issue of the ADB in Bangladesh, just a week before the ADB Annual General Meeting in Madrid at the beginning of next month.

VOICE completes the first Bangla-language translation of the Paris Declaration

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness was endorsed on March 2nd, 2005, by more than one hundred signatories such as ministers, heads of agencies and senior officials, including all major donor and recipient governments. It presents a road-map intending to improve the efficiency of international aid. Along with giving the developing countries more power in the formulation and implementation of their policies, the Paris Declaration is based on 5 major principles: ownership, alignment, harmonisation, managing for results, and mutual accountability, to help achieve development outcomes that are more aligned with the developing countries' realities and needs.

For the first time and thanks to a dedicated effort by VOICE, the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness has been translated into Bangla, for the benefit of the Bengali community in Bangladesh and abroad.

International CSOs Present Letter to Asian Development Bank (ADB) Opposing Phulbari Coal Project

64 International civil society organizations including VOICE stated to ADB Board of Directors in a joint statement to discontinue it's involvement with the Phulbari Coal Project, Bangladesh. The project has already raised serious concerns among the people about displacement, human rights violations, environmental degradation, as well as the violation of several ADB policies. The project is scheduled for approval by the ADB board on 3rd June 2008.

A Seminar was held on January 30, 2008 at the Women’s Voluntary Association auditorium in Dhaka titled ’Reclaiming People’s Rights to Public Services and Natural Resources,’ as part of the programs scheduled for the 2008 Global Economic Justice Forum currently taking place.

Press Conference: January 24th, 2008
From Paris 2005 to Accra 2008: Will Aid Become More Accountable and Effective?

A Press Conference was held on January 24, 2008 at the Dhaka Reporters Unity titled ’From Paris 2005 to Accra 2008: Will Aid Become More Accountable and Effective?’ in the context of the Paris Declaration and the upcoming High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana in September 2008. The conference was organized by the Aid Accountability Group to examine the perspectives of civil society regarding Aid Effectiveness.

VOICE recently published three new English-language reports on the topic of international aid and its consequences on the Bangladesh economy.

• Revealing PSI: People’s resistance against policy conditionalities of the IMF.
• Global Capital vs. Local Economy: Conditionalities of the IMF and Fiscal Reform
• Breaking the Cycle of Neo-Liberal Economy: How the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund Stand Against the People

Membership:

VOICE is associated with various national and international networking to link local people’s struggle with international movements. It has the voting membership with World Association for the Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), Association for Progressive Communication (APC), One World South Asia, NGO Forum on ADB, Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN), International Food Sovereignty Network (IFSN), Asia Pacific Food Sovereignty Network (APNFS), Alliance for Economic Justice, Bangladesh, Alliance against WB’s Immunity, Campaign for Good Governance, People’s Alliance Against WTO, etc.

It is a member of CRIS campaign and also works as a Secretariat of Communication Rights in Information Society (CRIS) Bangladesh. Voice also coordinates a countrywide network ‘Right to Food Movement’ as a secretariat.

VOICE is also accredited by the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in WSIS process and was a founding member of the Bangladesh Working Group on World Summit on Information Society (WSIS).