This guide describes how to implement a system of community-based rural road maintenance involving groups of women, specifically in Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. It was written as part of a pilot project supported by the Gender and Development Cooperation Fund of the Asian Development Bank. This pilot project aims to show that women can effectively participate in the maintenance of rural roads, resulting in improved road conditions and better access for those who rely on roads, and in creating employment opportunities and incomes for women. It also serves to identify specific issues in the participation of women in rural road maintenance, while defining solutions that facilitate their involvement. This guide is complemented by a manual that was developed under the same Gender and Development Cooperation Fund pilot project.

Road asset management is one of the top priorities of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy 2020. The implementation of performance-based road maintenance contracts (PBCs)—an essential element of road asset management—promotes effective and efficient maintenance of road networks. Well-designed PBCs keep roads in predefined good condition at relatively low cost. This guide aims to help policy makers in CAREC member countries understand and implement PBCs. After a brief history of the development of PBCs, it discusses the various types of PBCs and their relative advantages and disadvantages. It highlights PBC implementation in selected developed, developing, and transitional countries, including CAREC member countries, to illustrate best practices.

Rural Road Engineering in Developing Countries provides a comprehensive coverage of the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of rural roads in developing countries and emerging nations. It covers a wide range of technical and non-technical problems that may confront road engineers working in the developing world, focusing on rural roads which provide important links from villages and farms to markets and offer the public access to health, education, and other services essential for sustainable development. Most textbooks on road engineering are based on experience in industrialised countries with temperate climates or deal only with specific issues, with many aspects of the design and construction of roads in developing regions stemming from inappropriate research undertaken in Europe and the USA. These approaches are frequently unsuitable and unsustainable for rural road network environments, particularly in low to middle income countries. This book takes on board a more recent research and application focus on rural roads, integrating it for a broad range of readers to access current information on good practice for sustainable road engineering in developing countries. The book particularly suits transportation engineers, development professionals, and graduate students in civil engineering.

The purpose of this manual is to assist maintenance groups in Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China, in organizing and carrying out the routine maintenance of unpaved rural roads.

This tool kit assists staff and consultants of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and partner governments in conceptualizing and designing gender-responsive programs and projects in transport sector operations. It aims to help users identify gender equality issues and to develop practical design elements into transport operations. It guides users on key questions to be asked and data to be collected during project preparation, and provides a menu of entry points for designing gender-inclusive transport projects. The tool kit presents the rationale for why gender equality issues are important in transport sector operations and provides guidance and suggestions for integrating gender in key transport subsectors. Case studies from ADB projects have been included to illustrate good practices in mainstreaming gender concerns in transport sector operations.

In 2011, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved $21.72 billion in financing operations, representing a 14.5% increase on 2010 financing, according to the latest Annual Report of the Board of Directors to the Board of Governors. The 2011 Annual Report highlights how ADB has helped developing member countries in Asia and the Pacific make progress toward inclusive growth. It includes a comprehensive discussion on ADB’s operational, administrative, and financial activities in 2011, complete financial statements and opinions of the independent auditors, and a separate report on the activities of the Special Funds of ADB. It also contains chapters on regional, sectoral and thematic highlights.