Strengthening safeguard capacity in the Pacific: evaluating ADB’s technical assistance

In this seminar, Mr Ari Perdana, an evaluation specialist at the Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank, discussed the outcomes of an evaluation focussing on environmental, involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples safeguards. The evaluation assesses eight of the ADB’s safeguard projects across five Pacific countries: Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu.

The evaluated projects were overall found to be unsuccessful in relation to safeguards, with issues raised in regard to their achievement and sustainability of outcomes. Mr Perdana explained what went wrong and what can be done about it.

Mr Ari Perdana is an evaluation specialist at the Independent Evaluation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Previously he worked on the Government of Indonesia’s National Team for Accelerating Poverty Reduction and for the World Bank in Indonesia. He was also a former economic researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, and a lecturer at the Department of Economics, University of Indonesia.

Susanna Price of the ANU School of Culture, History and Language, and former lead in Resettlement Safeguards at the ADB, also provided comments.

This seminar was co-hosted by the Development Policy Centre and the ANU Department of Pacific Affairs.

Download the presentation here.

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