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Reports

Asian Development Bank

A Citizens Guide to the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (November 2008) (PDF 2.2MB)
This guide by Oxfam Australia provides an easy-to-understand overview of the Greater Mekong Subregion Program (GMS). The program influences and facilitates significant development activities in the Mekong region. Some of these activities, such as large-scale infrastructure development can be detrimental to local communities. The guide provides information on the GMS program, giving local and national NGOs in the Mekong region ideas and resources to influence the GMS program through the Asian Development Bank who initiated the program.
Hidden Costs: The underside of economic transformation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (September 2007) (PDF 1.4MB)
This report by Oxfam Australia highlights the high price being paid by ethnic minorities in the region's rapid development. It shows that rising average incomes do not always translate into a better quality of life for the poor.
AusAID’s Mekong Subregional Strategy - Oxfam Australia Submission
Oxfam Australia's submission on the development of AusAID’s Mekong Subregional Strategy.
AusAID’s Draft Mekong Water Resource Strategy 2006-2010 (February 2007)
Comments and recommendations by Oxfam Australia.
Development debacles: A look into ADB’s involvement in environmental degradation, involuntary resettlement and violation of indigenous people’s rights (September 2006)
Published by the NGO Forum on ADB.
Unpacking The ADB: A Guide To Understanding The Asian Development Bank
The ADB toolkits series is intended to help those unfamiliar with the Asian Development Bank to gain an understanding of the institution, the work it does, and why it is important for civil society groups to be aware of its operations. An NGO Forum on ADB and Bank Information Center publication.
Can the Asian Development Bank save the Tonle Sap from poverty? (April 2006) PDF 724KB
In Cambodia, the Tonle Sap Basin is a high-profile area for the Asian Development Bank; in 2005 alone it approved eight new projects. Oxfam's paper evaluates the bank's operations in the Tonle Sap Basin against its stated goal of reducing poverty.
Bank Watch - the official publication of the NGO Forum on the ADB (May 2005) PDF
This issue documents the actions taken by NGOs at the Asian Development Bank's 38th Annual Governors' Meeting in 2005.

Asian Development Bank safeguard policies

Concerns regarding the ADB's Draft Safeguard Policy Statement (29 January 2007)
Oxfam Australia's submission to ADB's SPU process.
Safeguarding or disregarding? Community experiences with the Asian Development Bank's Safeguard Policies (February 2007)
This Oxfam Australia report finds that despite the Asian Development Bank's safeguard policies, ADB-funded projects continue to have negative impacts on communities. This is revealed through a number of case studies that are used to analyse the safeguards' effectiveness.
Fact sheet: NGO concerns about the Asian Development Bank's safeguards update (PDF 24KB)
Letter to President Kuroda (April 2006) (PDF 103KB)
The Asian Development Bank's Southern Transport Development Project is a major highway project in Sri Lanka. This project has resulted in forced resettlement and environmental degradation and breached ADB policies according to its own policy accountability department. Affected communities are calling on the ABD to get the project back into compliance and award them due compensation.
Sri Lanka – Southern Transport Development Project (April 2006) (PDF 33KB)
The Asian Development Bank’s response to our letter which raised concerns about the bank’s Southern Transport Development Project in Sri Lanka.
'No to Weakened Standards, Yes to Accountability' (March 2006)
On 16 March 2006, an open letter endorsed by 48 civil society organisations, including Oxfam Australia, was sent to the President of the Asian Development Bank expressing concerns about the bank's approach to its safeguard policies review.
The Asian Development Bank's review and update of its safeguard policies (January 2006) (PDF 64KB)
Correspondence from Oxfam Australia to the President of the Asian Development Bank.
The Asian Development Bank's review and update of its safeguard policies (October 2005) (PDF 63KB)
Correspondence from Oxfam Australia to the Asian Development Bank.

Development banks – general

Dams, Rivers and People 2006: Spreading the Water Wealth, Making Water Infrastructure Work for Poor People (March 2006)
This report by the International Rivers Network, funded in part by Oxfam, says that a resurgence of major 'multi-purpose' hydropower and water diversion projects will have unacceptable environmental and social impacts and divert funds away from investments that would significantly reduce poverty.

World Bank and IMF

World Bank “Post Crisis” Multi-Donor Trust Funds, An independent research report by Dr. Thomas Davis, Oxfam Australia, Occasional Paper No. 1, March 2008
This research paper is a desk study that critically assesses the governance and operational arrangements of World Bank-administered 'post-crisis' Multi Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) in regard to their openness of the MDTFs to influence from non-governmental agents outside the World Bank. The paper fills a gap on independent research into MDTFs, as most studies to date have been conducted by the World Bank or official donors.

The report (PDF, 1.2MB)
Appendix (PDF, 216kb)
Kicking the Habit: How the World Bank and the IMF are still addicted to attaching economic policy conditions to aid (November 2006)
Despite numerous commitments to reform, The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are still using their aid to make developing countries implement inappropriate economic policies, with the tacit approval of rich-country governments. These economic policy conditions undermine national policy-making, delay aid flows, and often fail to deliver for poor people.