The Asian Development Bank’s 57th Annual Governor’s Meeting was held against the backdrop of protests in this year’s host country, Georgia, against the proposed “Russian Law” that will compel foreign-funded organizations to register as “foreign agents” and to disclose their funding; failure to do so may result to high fines.  It was a critical crossroad for developing member countries, civil society organizations (CSOs), multilateral institutions, the private sector, and the bank itself to convene in

At the sidelines of the recently held 11th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD), the Asia Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism (APRCEM) NGO Constituency organized a side-event, “A Localization Roadmap to Reach the Furthest Behind: How localization can contribute in achieving SDG 17 and the 2030 Agenda” last February 23, 2024.  The side-event aimed to develop a roadmap for the localization agenda in the region, which can help advance people’s development priorities, address current

The Reality of Aid-Asia Pacific initiates a sign-on campaign that forwards a CSO critique on ADB’s Draft Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). To join the sign-on campaign, please fill in this form on or before January 30, 2024. RoA-AP will forward the CSO critique to relevant ADB units on January 31, 2024. For correspondence, email roaap_secretariat@realityofaid.org. I. Context The Asian Development Bank (ADB) commits itself to the achievement of a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and

The ongoing violent occupation of Israeli forces in Palestine has exposed the talons of militarization of aid in Asia Pacific and most especially, of US interventionist strategies. With Israel receiving a total of USD 3.8 billion worth of financial assistance from the US alone this year, they persist as the top recipient of US military aid. WIth such a great amount of financing, Israel continues with its brazen acts of violence against the Palestinian peoples.

Today’s development landscape heavily favours the private sector, oftentimes at the the expense of people and the environment. Amid this state of development finance, the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) and The Reality of Aid Network (RoA) sought to examine the increasing role of the private sector in development.   The effort came in the form of the Private Sector Watch, whose Global Synthesis Report 2023 was launched last November 23, and featured nine new

Following severe global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, wars and conflicts, and inflation, the world is now further off-track from attaining the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The private sector has been held up as a ‘silver bullet,’ with private financing touted as a means of filling the gaps in development undermined by national governments and multilateral institutions. In recent years, the sector has emerged as a key development actor, and given