Asian Development Fund: Helping the poorest. Changing lives. Working for results

Abstract

Since 1973, the Asian Development Fund (ADF) has been a major instrument for enabling equitable and sustainable development for the Asia-Pacific region through concessional financing. ADF, funded by ADB's donor member countries, offers grants and loans at very low interest rates to help reduce poverty in ADB's poorest borrowing countries. Since 2001, ADF has provided more than $1.5 billion a year for programs that help poor families escape poverty. During 2006-2007 alone, 95 loan and grant projects totaling $4 billion were made to 21 developing member countries, and projects were put in place that would affect several countries simultaneously. In this publication, we tell the stories of people whose lives have been improved, thanks to the ADF.