Natural disasters

Comprehensive and disaggregated enterprise-level data are needed to effectively support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in times of crisis. The absence of a real-time disaggregated financial data collection system at the beneficiary level made it difficult to timely track the status of business recovery of affected MSMEs. The dataset collected and used in reports on MSME lending did not include comprehensive disaggregated enterprise-level data from the start, making it impossible to assess the inclusiveness of the concessional lending.

Data interoperability facilitates beneficiary targetting in times of crisis. Difficulty in consolidating data between federal, provincial, and local-level governments and between sectors affected program implementation and progress monitoring. While Nepal’s social security programs each identify and register beneficiaries, there is no central register for poor and vulnerable populations. Hence, the ward officials identified food support beneficiaries, which led to implementation challenges.

Purposeful selection of outcome Indicators that are easily and regularly monitored is critical in crisis response projects. There is a high level of uncertainty surrounding the duration and impact of a crisis. Thus, choosing outcome Indicators that provide timely and crucial information on the progress of the crisis and the impact of policy measures can help manage a crisis, as it allows to quickly introduce new measures when the situation worsens.

Quick and flexible budget support is essential during times of crisis. The timely availability of the ADB CPRO support greatly contributed to mitigating the impact of the pandemic, particularly for low-income countries and countries in vulnerable situations. Availability of such an instrument is highly relevant for a country in times of crisis.

The One ADB approach is effective in delivering in timely crisis response. A contributing factor to the timely delivery of COVID-19 assistance and support is the One ADB approach in program processing, especially the strong role of the resident mission. With all the relevant departments working as contributors and partners, this approach broke down barriers and improved communications, resulting in faster turnaround and higher-quality outputs. The resident mission played a critical role in the preparation of the program, policy dialogue, and the eventual implementation of the program.

Close and sustained engagement with the government and development is essential to the success of crisis response programs. This program’s design and implementation benefited from the strength of ADB’s close engagement with the government. ADB’s continuous policy dialogues with the government contributed to the government’s response strategy and development financing plan. The resulting close alignment also promoted ADB’s rapid processing, impactful design, and smooth implementation of the program.

Maintaining economic growth and protecting the vulnerable in crisis situations demand timely intervention and sizable stimulus package. The success of the government countercyclical program in maintaining economic growth and protecting vulnerable populations validated the effectiveness of the government’s approach.

ADB's COVID-19 Pandemic Response Option (CPRO) modality was effective. The CPRO program established a model for ADB to channel timely support to developing member countries to address major health and economic challenges. The speed of delivery, efficient implementation, and strong development impact achieved validate the success of this model, which can be deployed to further assist countries in their economic recovery.

While cash support is vital for immediate relief and consumption smoothing during a crisis, which in turn reduces the adoption of risky coping strategies—such as reducing food intake, selling assets, or borrowing—it is important during the post-crisis or recovery period to introduce programs that increase poor and vulnerable households’ resilience to future shocks.

Shock-responsive social protection mechanisms are effective in responding to the severe socioeconomic impact of global pandemics. Topping up existing benefits (known as vertical expansion) and using existing benefit delivery mechanisms allowed the government to respond quickly, ultimately reaching 80% of the population with cash support. This approach has also been adopted for pandemic response in other ADB developing member countries.