Delivering Better Government for Post-Pandemic Recovery

Strengthening Governance and Institutional Capacity

A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, governments in Asia and the Pacific were focused on responding to the enormous challenges of facing and adjusting to life in the “new normal” while keeping in view their other development commitments. ADB and its financing partners continue to support governments in these important endeavors. Maintaining service delivery and sustaining government revenues have been crucial during the pandemic and are the foundation for the recovery.

ADB and its financing partners will continue to strengthen governance and institutional capacities through investments and knowledge work.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed tremendous strain on governments as they simultaneously imposed quarantine measures, supported care and treatment through the health system, organized social safety nets, and procured and distributed vaccines despite the significant stress being placed on health workers.?

In 2021, governments and the broader global development community shifted their focus on how to recover lost ground and reignite momentum behind the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is a broad consensus that real SDG progress is linked to better governance and more effective governments. Accordingly, ADB has stepped up its support for governments in Asia and the Pacific to help them in this endeavor, in line with its Strategy 2030 Operational Priority 6: Strengthening Governance and Institutional Capacity. In 2021, out of 135 ADB cofinanced projects, 109 projects contained design elements supporting the Strategy 2030 governance agenda.

In October 2021, ADB organized its?Governance Forum: Governance Pathways Toward Building a Post-Pandemic Resilient Economy?to introduce four governance themes within its 2030 governance strategy. The forum considered ways that ADB can support its developing member countries to develop or reorient their governance approaches toward a pandemic-resilient economy in the context of the four themes:??

• Quality infrastructure governance ??
• State-owned enterprises
• Domestic resource mobilization ?
• Multi-level governments and localizing SDGs

These four themes are considered to have an intrinsic value to COVID-19 relief, recovery, and adaptation efforts. In line with these themes, ADB and its financing partners will continue to support projects and measures designed to respond to the pandemic and enhance the capacities of governance institutions in delivering services to their constituencies.?

Strengthening tax collection. Domestic resource mobilization highlights safeguarding and enhancing tax revenue collection and compliance. ADB has been working with its developing member countries on how domestic resource mobilization can be revitalized in the aftermath of COVID-19.

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