Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Quickening e-Governance in Myanmar

E-governance is a potent enabler of effective, transparent, and accountable institutions and also raises the level of participation available to citizens in the governance process—all essential if Myanmar is to assure a prosperous future.

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Monday, July 7, 2014

Knowledge Database Helps Policy Makers Identify and Assess Toxic Waste Hot Spots

Toxic pollution affects the health of millions of people in developing countries. In 2009, ADB joined the Global Inventory Project to build a database that catalogs, assesses, prioritizes, and estimates costs for remediation of critical toxic sites. The database now provides policymakers better information and possible cleanup solutions.

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Partnership Increases Productivity and Profits in the Lao PDR

In Lao PDR, farmers banded together into production groups rallying around specific homegrown products. Through the support of ADB, the government, and private sector, their productivity improved and their incomes grew, encouraging more groups in the country to replicate their success.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Developing e-Health Capabilities in Bhutan

The improved e-Health service in Bhutan’s remote Bumthang District successfully uses television white space, which allows internet connection to penetrate difficult terrain and thick foliage. Through this technology, rural health patients in Bumthang can now avail of much-needed low cost yet quality health care.

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How Tobacco Taxes Can Expand Fiscal Space and Benefit the Poor

Without intervention, cigarette smoking could kill about 267 million smokers in the People's Republic of China, India, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Raising tobacco taxes in these countries can deter smoking, reduce the number of smoking-related deaths, and generate revenues to help meet healthcare costs for the poor.

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Lanzhou's Bus Rapid Transit System Brings Quick Relief to Busy City

Bus rapid transport system in Lanzhou, People’s Republic of China, brings quick relief to urban commuters, fosters a livelier local economy, and promotes sustainable development.

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Viet Nam's Poor Gains from Participatory Agriculture Research and Extension

An ADB project linking training, research, and extension services encouraged Viet Nam’s poor farmers to tackle agricultural issues. This helped increase value addition, exports, and productivity in the country’s agriculture sector. It has also contributed to a decline in rural poverty and improved natural resource management.

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Tackling Corruption through Civil Society-led Information and Communication Technology Initiatives

The use information and communication technology by civil society to fight corruption is trending—development agencies can help sustain this trend by funding programs and fostering institutional environments that foster greater participation and mobilization in anticorruption efforts.

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Monday, February 24, 2014

Fostering Better Communication and Participation in Projects

Effective and planned communication helps avoid concerns, mitigates risks, leads to improved project outcomes, and promotes sustainable benefits to project beneficiaries.

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Innovative Project Management and Coordination Speed Up Afghanistan Railway Project

The Hairatan–Mazar e Sharif railway was constructed in record time due to effective project management, teamwork, and integrated project planning. Governments, ministries, agencies, contractual service providers, and ADB staff members at headquarters and resident missions collaborated to execute the comprehensive plan.

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Flexibility Fixes Land Acquisition, Payment Concerns in Bangladesh

The communal land system in Chittagong Hill Tract makes land acquisition complex. This case is the first successful application of consensus-based compensation under ADB's Safeguard Policy Statement.

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Clean Air Scorecard Helps Clear the Air in the People's Republic of China

ADB's application of the clean air scorecard in the PRC's Hangzhou and Jinan enabled the cities to assess and address their air pollution problems and spurred replication in other Asian cities.

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Affordable Pay-As-You-Go Solar Power for India's Energy-Poor Homes

ADB's $2 million equity investment in Simpa Networks aims to provide rural households in India with affordable energy using pay-as-you-go solar home systems.

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Former Foes Restore War-torn Sri Lankan Infrastructure and Livelihood Together

This publication gives an overview of how Sri Lanka's internally displaced people worked together to rehabilitate infrastructure and restore livelihood destroyed by twenty-six years of civil war.

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Decentralized Loan Management Improves Infrastructure for Rural Productivity

This publication gives an overview of ADB's Philippine Infrastructure for Rural Productivity Enhancement Sector Project, which improved access to infrastructure, potable water supply, and communal irrigation for the rural poor.

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Shanxi Farmers Embrace Modern Irrigation Methods to Adapt to Climate Change

The Shanxi Province in the People’s Republic of China has been experiencing declining groundwater tables since 1956. From 2000 to 2007, overall water availability decreased by about 5% annually from 8.2 billion cubic meters to about 7 billion. Changing climate conditions have further compounded the issue, with unsustainable groundwater use and outdated agricultural practices threatening food production in the province.

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Thorough Planning of Solar Park Mitigates Risk for Investors, Locals

This publication gives an overview of the solar power park in Charanka in India, which has provided local employment, empowered communities, and transformed a desert into a tourist attraction.

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