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Governance and public sector management, Health, Poverty, Social development and protection, Water

How can the private sector help solve the sanitation challenge?

How can the private sector help solve the sanitation challenge?
The private sector can play a vital role in solving the sanitation challenge. The following four aspects highlight the importance of private sector participation in sanitation in developing countries, including in Asia.

Governance and public sector management, Health, Poverty, Social development and protection

Lessons for the informal sector from COVID-19

Lessons for the informal sector from COVID-19
The informal sector, which employs over 62% of the global population, is a fundamental source of livelihood for over 2 billion people (ILO 2020). Here, “employment” includes self-employment, and the informal sector refers to the part of the economy that is generally not monitored by a tax authority or other forms of government. Before the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the informal sector accounted for 87.7%, 51.5%, and 55.7% of the population in low-, middle-, and high-income countries, respectively (ILO 2018a).

Agriculture and natural resources, Governance and public sector management, Health, Poverty, Social development and protection

Rebooting food systems to achieve the unfinished agenda of global food security

Rebooting food systems to achieve the unfinished agenda of global food security
Food insecurity continues to be a pressing issue worldwide, despite scientific innovation and technological advancements in agriculture. Therefore, food security continues to be at the center of the global development agenda. The burgeoning demand for food due to exponential growth in the world’s population and the mismatch between demand and supply due to factors such as climate change, loss of soil fertility, land degradation, water scarcity, food loss and waste, and inefficient distribution systems, have exacerbated the problem of food insecurity.

Economics, Finance sector development, Health, Social development and protection

Remittance inflows giving resilience to Bangladesh’s rural economy amid COVID-19

Remittance inflows giving resilience to Bangladesh’s rural economy amid COVID-19
While the World Bank has identified Bangladesh as one of only three big economies that had increases in remittance inflows in 2020, along with Pakistan and Mexico (Ratha et al. 2020), and remittances have long made up a substantial share of people’s income in the country, preliminary results from a recent study supported by the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) finds surprising resilience for remittance inflows into the rural economy during the first wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangladesh.

Governance and public sector management, Social development and protection

Social infrastructure to drive sustainable development in Asia beyond the pandemic

Social infrastructure to drive sustainable development in Asia beyond the pandemic
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic discriminates in effect against the poor and the vulnerable, who have weaker immune systems and lack access to treatment and social support due to their economic status. The virus and social-isolation measures have caused a large increase in unemployment for lower-income segments of the population and depressed demand in industries with lower-income workers. It has been estimated that an additional 88 million–115 million people were plunged into extreme poverty in Asia in 2020, a figure that may rise to 150 million by the end of 2021 (Dartanto 2021: 7).

Governance and public sector management, Health, Sanitation, Social development and protection, Water

Top journal articles on sanitation reveal new policy insights

Policy insights from a review of the top journal articles on sanitation
An examination of the published journal articles on development economics reveals a striking pattern—very few are devoted to the analysis of sanitation interventions and development. In a recent systematic review of all sanitation-related articles from the top-12 highest-ranking journals on development economics (Revilla et al. 2021), we attempt to understand the linkages between sanitation and development based on current qualitative and quantitative empirical work.

Capacity development, Health, Social development and protection, Urban development, Water

Making citywide inclusive sanitation a reality through capacity development

Making citywide inclusive sanitation a reality through capacity development
Over a billion people across Asia and the Pacific still lack access to basic sanitation services (JMP 2019). Most low- and middle-income countries in Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia still do not have safely managed sanitation services. Further, only a fifth of the countries practicing open defecation are on track to eliminate this practice around the world. Clearly, business as usual in the sanitation sector has not solved this challenge in the last several decades.

Economics, Governance and public sector management, Health, Social development and protection

Toward a robust economic recovery from COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific

Toward a robust economic recovery from COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has been a truly global shock to public health, causing one of the most severe global economic downturns since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Against this context, the 2020 ADBI Annual Conference brought together leading academics, think tank researchers, and policy makers to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 and its policy implications, with a focus on Asia and the Pacific.

Agriculture and natural resources, Health, Social development and protection

Enhancing agriculture potential in developing countries during the COVID-19 crisis

Enhancing agriculture potential in developing countries during the COVID-19 crisis
Much of the displaced labor force from urban centers is moving back to rural homes due to closures from restrictions put in place to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is important that this displaced labor force is put in a working environment and kept engaged, specifically in the agricultural sector, so that such the young and energetic in the workforce are not left out. A disgruntled labor force without financial support might turn to unwanted or illegal activities.

Health, Poverty, Social development and protection

COVID-19 hitting migration and remittances hard in developing Asia

COVID-19 hitting migration and remittances hard in developing Asia
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has devastated economies worldwide, slashing jobs and incomes. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) (2020a) estimates that employment in Asia and the Pacific will fall by as much as 167 million jobs in 2020 should containment measures last 6 months from when the outbreak first intensified in the respective countries. In turn, wage incomes in the region are projected to fall from $359 billion to $550 billion.