Baku, Azerbaijan – AgriCord, represented by Mr. Noel Monteyne, Programs Coordinator  and, Ms. Marlene Ramirez, Board Member and AsiaDHRRA Secretary General, attended the ADB’s 48^th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors on 2-5 May 2015 at Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Mr. Monte served as resource person during civil society’s side panel discussion on “Inclusive Growth and Food Security.” He talked about AgriCord’s Farmers Fighting Poverty model with emphasis on mobilizing farmers organizations for effective utilization of development financing.  Ms. Ramirez, Secretary General of AsiaDHRRA, acted as Moderator for the said session, which was co-organized with Oxfam.
She was also invited to speak in the panel session organized by Plan International and OISCA with a theme: “Lessons in Disaster: Creating Resilient Communities.” In her presentation, Ms. Ramirez discussed AsiaDHRRA’s experience in the establishment of Post-Haiyan Fund Facility in the Philippines to respond to the huge requirements to rebuild agricultural livelihoods and farms of smallholders in the areas damaged by super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Through the Facility with leveraged funds from AgriCord and Fondation de France, farmers’ organizations and local associations have had direct access to financing not as beneficiaries but as direct proponents and implementers of their own projects.  
 
The 48^th ADB Meeting was participated by approximately 3,000 government officials, business leaders, academics, journalists, and representatives from civil society and development organizations.