Universal access to safe, reliable energy is a necessary condition for providing the poor with safe water and sanitation, for maintaining adequate standards of living, and for achieving any of the Millennium Development Goals. The Asian Development Bank recognizes the importance of electricity and water access for the poor and has committed to providing such access by establishing the Energy for All and Water for All initiatives. While broad efforts aimed at regulatory reform and increasing energy and water access may be helpful, targeted interventions, measures, and approaches are often needed to ensure that the poor benefit from these efforts. This publication identifies specific infrastructure and utility service reform measures that can be taken to advance the interests of the poor.

The 2015 Development Efectiveness Review (DEfR) is the ninth in a series of yearly reports by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on its performance in achieving the priorities of Strategy 2020, its long-term strategic framework for 2008-2020. The 2015 DEfR tracks recent development progress in Asia and the Paciic, assesses ADB’s development efectiveness, and identiies areas where ADB’s performance needs to be strengthened.

This publication presents new case studies of recent Asian Development Bank projects in Bangladesh, the Cook Islands, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and the People's Republic of China. The case studies highlight innovative interventions and effective approaches used to reduce poverty while ensuring equality and inclusion, caring for the environment, securing food for all, and sustaining prosperity through access to finance. The publication builds on the first volume of poverty reduction case studies published in 2019.