Disasters

An integrated approach to sustainable recovery is necessary to enhance the development impact of the CARES program. While the CPRO’s primary purpose was to deliver emergency assistance to support the government’s pandemic response, it also supported overall measures to keep the government on track in pursuing structural reforms that would enable a sustainable recovery from the pandemic. Such measures cohere around an integrated approach to meet Cambodia’s medium- and long-term recovery needs, including an improved investment environment and sound fiscal governance.

A government-led program with coordinated support from development partners, is effective in enabling a rapid, timely, and highly relevant emergency response to pandemics. ADB’s COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support (CARES) program proved efficacious in channeling support for the Cambodian government to address the adverse social, health, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important to maintain some degree of flexibility to effectively respond to crisis situations. Perhaps the most important quality of Thailand’s CARES program was its ability to rapidly mobilize demand-driven support in a crisis; highlighting the importance in future crisis responses of maintaining some degree of flexibility in both program design and implementation. ADB was able to process and approve the program within 3 months of the government’s initial request for support. Events in Thailand necessitated loan signing to take place about 4 months after ADB approval.

It is important to target monitoring at end-state outcomes. Due to the lockdowns and mobility restrictions; early difficulty in the speed of PEN disbursements was unavoidable. Although the government recognized the need for urgent rollout; poor infrastructure raised the risk of leakage through corruption and led to a slower and more cautious approach than would otherwise have been optimal. A lesson to be drawn from the experience involves the need to target monitoring activities at end-state outcomes.

The urgency of the lending produced outcomes that, while unavoidable, are nevertheless instructive. For example, target setting was difficult because the contours of the pandemic were fluid. Liaising with the government was also challenging. The timeline for initial response was tight, and ADB worked with a small number of government teams in the interest of speed. This concentrated approach to planning was complicated by the pandemic affecting government officials’ health and well-being personally.

The program reinforced the need for flexible targeting in pandemic situations. The Indonesian government was quick to recognize the tension between sustaining economic activity and minimizing the spread of disease through physical distancing and quarantine. At times; the National Recovery Program (PEN) was modified to strike a better balance. For example; the government increased its support for ultra-microenterprises midway through the program; pivoting its assistance program to more than 1 million street vendors who were economically displaced by restrictions on mobility.

It is important to digitalize government services in times of crisis. This effort is best pursued through collaboration with the private sector in Indonesia. The collaboration can strengthen the country's defense against future outbreaks and improve the targeting of social assistance. Digitalization including ithe financial sector should remain a focal point of ADB’s policy dialogue with Indonesia.

Incorporating nature-based solutions in flood and drought risk management projects, as appropriate, will enhance project outcomes. The project adopted a holistic approach to reducing flood and drought risks by incorporating multiple infrastructure options, such as embankments, roads, drainage channels, navigation, and pumping stations, together with an early warning system. Not relying on just one type of infrastructure added value by delivering better project benefits.

Donor and implementing agency collaboration is critical to the successful implementation of the sectoral, build back better approach to disaster reconstruction. Even while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was separately managing its own bilateral funding and reconstruction works in another area of the Nuku’alofa electricity network, the planning and technical teams for this project and that of the ministry worked in close collaboration to ensure that the civil works in both areas were meeting quality standards and target timelines.

The success of the program highlights the importance of the government’s continuing commitment to improve disaster risk management (DRM), including disaster preparedness and response. Adopting a country-led set of policy actions, developed in an open, participatory manner, ensured strong ownership and commitment from the government and reinforced policy dialogue and coordination with various stakeholders.