The African Development Bank aims at contributing to equitable human and social development on the continent with a view to helping African countries attain the MDGs. Specifically, the Bank is working in areas such as basic education (primary and secondary), tertiary education, science and technology, health, social welfare and poverty reduction operations. The Bank's objective in the area of human development is to strategically re-position itself to be a partner of choice for social sector operations in its Regional Member Countries (RMCs).

Human Development Operations Guiding principles in the mid-term include:

• increased country focus
• improved quality at entry
• greater selectivity
• enhanced donor effectiveness
• intensified work across sectors
• more rigorous analytical work
• gender mainstreaming.

Education

The Bank provides targeted support to RMCs to build and upgrade its educational infrastructure in an environmentally sustainable manner in order to accommodate the increased enrolment in primary and secondary education.  The Bank is also exploring possibilities of upgrading national and regional centres of excellent to provide quality Higher Education, Science and Technology (HEST) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).  Although most RMCs possess the basic infrastructure needed for HEST, investments are necessary to upgrade the existing infrastructure or rehabilitate facilities, especially in countries emerging from conflict.  The Bank is working with other partners, in particular the private sector, to design and implement strategic interventions for sustaining economic and social growth in the RMCs.  The Bank is also supporting technical and vocational education and training operations to build skills to address the chronic unemployment rates present in many RMCs.

Read more about Education

Health

The Bank aims to provide targeted support to RMCs in the building and upgrading of health infrastructure necessary to strengthen health systems and services to achieve the health MDGs.  In order to address the severe shortages of health care professionals in many of the RMCs, the Bank supports RMCs to increase the quantity and quality of health care professionals to meet the growing demand for health services.  Furthermore, in spite of the proliferation of vertical funds targeting specific diseases, there is a large gap in financing available to support regional disease control and surveillance.  The Bank therefore provides financial support for regional disease control and surveillance where financing gaps exist.

Read more about Health

Social Protection

In addition to health and education operations, the Bank supports social protection projects targeting the poor and vulnerable, with an emphasis on fragile states.  For example, the Department contributes to the reconstruction of socio-economic infrastructure in post conflict settings, with an emphasis on labor-based public works, skills building and employment/income generation. The Bank also works in close collaboration with other development partners in contributing to selected demobilization, demilitarization and reintegration efforts to create opportunities for those most affected by conflict.  In addition, the Bank supports communities to better manage local development efforts and demand greater accountability and transparency from service providers. 

Read more about Social

Collaboration within Departments and Complexes

The Bank is also encouraging collaboration among its departments and complexes to ensure that social development is incorporated into a large number of operations.  For example, in collaboration with the Governance Department, the Human Development Department assists Ministries of Health and Education to develop evidence-based policies, plans and budgets tailored to the needs of individual countries to better enable them to achieve the MDGs. The Human Development Department also collaborates with the Infrastructure Complex to ensure transport, water and power operations increase access to health and education services, and includes strategies to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Read more about the Bank