Asia and the Pacific’s low-income countries have recently enjoyed moderate economic growth, made tangible progress on poverty reduction, and kept income inequality largely in check. However, they still have relatively high proportions of poor people, have struggled to meet the non-income Millennium Development Goals, and remain highly vulnerable to shocks – in particular climate-related disasters. Renewed and more effective development efforts—including by the region’s major development partners—are urgently needed to narrow the gap, as noted in a recent ADB Independent Evaluation study. Development projects financed by ADB’s concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF) have for many years underperformed in these countries. Over the past decade, the aggregate success rate for these projects was 62%. Performance has improved, with the rate now ranging in the upper 60s based on a three-year moving average... — blogs.adb.org/blogs