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NGOs to boycott ADB’s South Asia Consultation

Special Correspondent

Urge ADB to re-write draft
Express concerns about proposed framework approach

NEW DELHI: International non-governmental organisations and various groups in Asia and within South Asia have decided to boycott the Asian Development Bank’s South Asian Consultation on the draft Safeguard Policy to be held in New Delhi between January 16 and 18.

National and international civil society groups conveyed to the ADB that the draft policy that included safeguard principles related to environment, involuntary resettlement and indigenous peoples was flawed and lacked transparency.

The draft was unacceptable and not suitable as a basis for public consultation. “We urge the ADB to withdraw this draft and re-write it, prior to continued public consultation to comply with existing ADB environmental and social protection measures and international best practices,” a statement issued by the NGO Forum on the ADB said here on Friday. The South Asian groups which called for the boycott included the Indian Social Action Forum, Ghati Morcha, National Hawkers Federation, National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers, Urban Research Centre, and River Basin Friends.

They expressed concerns about the proposed framework approach which “is turning back the clock in development lending by taking environmental and social mitigation measures out of project design to appease its member country government and facilitate private sector participation.”

The groups cited “fraudulent EIAs and environmental clearances, suppression of information, gross violation of human and indigenous rights in Lafarge mining [Meghalaya], Phulbari [Bangladesh], STDP in Sri Lanka, [and] West Seti in Nepal.”

Since 2005, civil society organisations affiliated to the NGO Forum have engaged in discussions with the ADB as it proposed a process for redrafting existing policies designed to provide safeguards for project-affected peoples and the environment.

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