7/22/2019 ADB Social Development and Poverty Community of Practice Newsletter - July 2013

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July 2013 sdpcop@adb.orgTwitter: @ADBSocial

 What’s New?.......................................................................................CoP in Action.......................................................................................Calendar.......................................................................................Learning Opportunities.......................................................................................Knowledge Products.......................................................................................

 Web Picks

In this issue

....................................................................................... What’s New?

Social Spending in Asia: Asia’s Emerging Welfare States SpreadThemselves Thinly

This Economist article presents an overview of patterns in social spendingacross countries observed from ADB's Social Protection Index.

Social Protection Program for Migrant Workers in Sri Lanka

Over 1.7 Sri Lankan migrant workers will benefit from a new andcomprehensive social protection program jointly organized by theSri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, Sri Lanka Red Cross andThe Finance Company. The new program will provide financialassistance through loans, as well as training programs on first aid andhandling emergencies for migrants and foreign job applicants.

Six Asian Insurance Regulators Unite to Help Low-income Families

Representatives of Indonesia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand andViet Nam have signed the Cebu Declaration on Inclusive Insurance on 24

May in Cebu, Philippines. The declaration recognizes the importance of inclusive insurance as a tool for poverty reduction and social and economicdevelopment. It is also designed to show the importance of the insuranceindustry supervision in fostering inclusive insurance markets.

Additional Measures to be taken for Social Protection of Citizensin Kazakhstan

President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Republic of Kazakhstan instructed theimplementation of additional measures for the social protection of citizens,especially of the pre-retirement age of women. The measures also includeproviding maternity leave pension payment for working women, as well asthe further modernization of the pension system until 2030.

7/22/2019 ADB Social Development and Poverty Community of Practice Newsletter - July 2013

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Nepal Plans to Reduce Poverty to 18% in Three Years

Nepal's National Planning Commission is finalizing its 13th plan for thefiscal year 2013/14 to 2015/16. The planning body is targeting to reducethe share of the population living below the national poverty line to18 percent from existing 23.8 percent by July 2016, as well as lift thecountry into developing nation category (from least developed category) bythe year 2022.

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CoP in Action

On 5 June, CoP members gathered to discuss possible contributions to thereview of Strategy 2020. Members identified topics to explore and agreed toassemble suggestions regarding methodology and useful references to sub-mit to the review team in SPD. It was also agreed to carry out a survey of the broader CoP membership to solicit suggestions for the review. This wascarried out later in June, with the summary results to be submitted shortly.

Also on 5 June, the CoP hosted a brownbag with Transport CoP featuringAustralia’s Accessibility Guide for persons with disability. The documentprovides practical guidance that development practitioners can

consider when applying universal design for persons with disability,especially for health, education, transport and rural development projects.

On 17 June, Leigh Linden, professor at University of Texas at Austin andMember of the MIT Jameel Poverty Action Lab, answered staff questions onpractical concerns of evaluating impact in existing ADB projects.

Professor Linden also presented in the afternoon the results of an impactevaluation on mobilizing private companies to increase enrolment in PakistanResults showed that there is a significant difference in parents’ aspirations forthe child’s future when a child is part of a community that housed the privateschools. See the presentation. Both activities with Professor Linden were

 jointly organized by the Education and Social Development and Poverty CoPs.

Calendar 

Brownbag: Risk Attitude and Vulnerability to Poverty10 July, 10 a.m., 4120E 

Hermann Waibel, professor of Development and Agricultural Economicsat University of Hannover, will share the results of a survey that examineswhether the experience of shocks influences individual risk attitude,compiled from more than 4,000 households in Thailand and Vietnam.

Innovative Ways to Engage NGOs

26 September, 10 a.m., kHub

Lainie Thomas, Social Development Specialist (Civil Society andParticipation), SERD, will discuss less commonly utilized processesin the bank that may also be opportunities for engaging NGOs in theimplementation of projects.

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Insight Thursday: CSR Asia Summit 20133 October, 8:30 a.m., kHub

Marzia Mongiorgi, Principal Portfolio Management Specialist, OSFMD, and SDPCoP Committee Member, will share highlights gathered from the CorporateSocial Responsibility Asia Summit 2013, which will focus on how businessescan contribute to growth and innovation as it addresses Asia’s social andenvironmental challenges.

Other non-CoP activities of interest 

Poverty and Social Analysis (PSA) Training14-16 August, Annex 1 and 2

RSDD is conducting this training for ADB staff, particularly those in operationsinvolved in project design and implementation. The training - which is offered3 times per year - addresses poverty, social, gender, participation, and socialrisk aspects involved in preparing the IPSA and SPRSS as a part of projectdesign. The next PSA training will take place in November, and is beingorganized primarily for Resident Mission staff.

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Learning Opportunities

How can Social Enterprises Contribute to a SustainableGlobal Economy?15-16 July, Berlin, Germany 

The Asia-Europe Foundations Public Health Network and the British Councilwill bring in Asia-Europe senior policy influencers for a two-day policydialogue to share experiences in the Social Enterprise sector in the tworegions. The objective of the event is to enhance the capacity of governmentofficials to provide policy support to social enterprises.

International Training Course on Integrating a Value ChainPerspective in Rural Development23 July - 1 August, Cavite, Philippines

This field-based learning course from International Institute on RuralReconstruction covers value chain assessment and how it feeds intoplanning for development interventions. Participants may expect practicalexercises, market assessments, field visits to agricultural enterprises andthe development of an action plan that may be applied to their respectiveorganizations. Course fee: USD 1,800. Email dulce.dominguez@iirr.org  for more information.

World Social Security Forum10 - 15 November, Doha, Qatar 

This forum will provide over 1,000 social security professionals a venue toshare knowledge, good practices and successful strategies for administeringexcellence in social security that will address major challenges in the contextof complex economic, demographic and social realities.

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Counting the Poor: Methods, Problems and Solutions Behind the$1.25-a-day Global Poverty Estimates

Examines poverty analysis and how to accurately count the number of peopleliving in poverty around the world. Explores weaknesses in data centering onthree core problems: the reliability of household surveys; adjustments forprices; and timeliness and frequency issues. Concludes by looking at data

solutions and the ways in which the scope of poverty data are changing.

Information Note: Recognizing the Linkages between SocialProtection and Agriculture

Presents opportunities for synergies and complementarities that strengthenlivelihoods of poor rural households, given that social protection andsmallholder agricultural interventions often cover the same geographic spaceand target the same households.

Does India’s Employment Guarantee SchemeGuarantee Employment?

Presents data from India’s National Sample Survey for 2009/10 and findsthat there is considerable unmet demand for work in all states in theimplementation of the 2005 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme. Also finds that labor-market responses to the schemeare likely to be weak. The scheme attracts poor women into the workforce,although the local-level rationing processes favor men.

The Future of Global Poverty in a Multi-Speed World: New Estimatesof Scale and Location, 2010–2030 - Working Paper

Estimates the possibility of the decrease of the $1.25 and $2 global povertyscale by 2030. Introduces a new model of growth, inequality, and poverty

that allows comparison of a wide range of input assumptions.Also recommends that policymakers consider where the poor will reside,as the authors find little compelling evidence that global poverty will bebased in low-income fragile states.

Review of Community-based Health Insurance Initiatives in Nepal

Analyzes existing community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes usinga number of common standards and indicators (e.g., coverage, resourcegeneration, pooling and purchasing, quality of delivered health services,patient satisfaction). Determines whether or not CBHI schemes improvetheir members’ access to health services and the quality of health care, and ifthese are technically and financially viable.

Measuring Absorptive Capacity

Describes absorptive capacity as the amount of foreign aid and attention thatrecipient communities, institutions, or societies can receive without sufferingsignificant social, economic, or political disruptions. Examines absorptivecapacity in foreign assistance to better understand adverse social andeconomic effects to recipients.

Knowledge Products

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Web picks

Send your links and announcements for events, papers, articles and slides of best practices/ lessons learned related to social development and poverty reduction to s d p c o p @ a d b . o r g  .

If you have colleagues who you think may be interested in joining the CoP, please forward this newsletter to them.

The Social Development and Poverty CoP Newsletter is prepared by Kat Olivares for the CoP Secretariat.

Website: CSIS

CSIS scholars provide strategic insights and policy solutions forglobal development.

Website: Project Syndicate—Growth and Development

This Project Syndicate subsite provides commentaries on developmentstrategies, fiscal and regulatory policy, trade and corporate governance byesteemed leaders and thinkers from around the world.

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Old Age, Disability and Mental Health: Data Issues for a Post-2015Framework

Points out that inequalities associated with old age, disability and mentalhealth issues did not feature in the MDGs and should be considered salientsources of group-based difference, given the number of people affected,their marginalization and vulnerability, and their relative neglect ininternational agreements to date.

Food Aid for the 21st Century: Saving More Money, Time, and Lives

Looks for solutions to do more with less, since the same amount of aid todaybuys only half what it did a decade ago. Also recommends the updating of an aid system designed more than half a century ago.