Disclaimer: This post is quite technical and uses ADB jargon.
29 September 2010, another board approval date for one of SANS' projects. By the way, SANS is abbreviation for the division where I belong, it stands for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Social Sector Services of South Asia Regional Department, quite long huh? Anyway, by next month, November 16 to be exact, is my first year in this division, so far I have learned a lot of new things and I am very happy to get to learn how the heart of ADB operations work. Well, I still have to learn so many things, especially now that new procedures, better procedures are being introduced. For almost a year, what is more rewarding is, I gained new friends in this division, I am very thankful that my colleagues here are very kind and always willing to help and to teach me everything that I need to know, plus my direct supervisor is also very kind to me and he is independent and very easy to work with.
The last two quarters of the year are exceptionally busy for our division and to the whole bank as a whole. Most projects are set to be approved, or if I may say, most projects "should be" approved. A division's standing and rating will depend on how many projects it was able to get approved so the pressure is tough especially to the directors, project officers (and the assistants). To give you a background, a particular project undergoes several stages from its conception up until its approval, signing, effectiveness and finally its administration/implementation. The most critical stages are from its conception until board approval which takes at least six months on average or if the project is complicated, it takes more than six months before it gets approved. Words are not enough to describe how tedious and stressful it is for the (director), project officer and the assistant to get all the documents in order before board circulation which is 21 days before the board approval. As the assistant of the director, I have very little contribution, I have to make sure that the documents get circulated on the specified date by asking the Project Officer's assistant about the progress of the documents and if the necessary clearance from the Secretary and the Counsel and approval from the Director General, Vice-President and President have been obtained, I am given a copy of the draft RRP (Report and Recommendation of the President) to check on data consistencies, grammar and formatting. Before I joined this division, the RRP is a very thick document, ranging from 60-70 pages (appendices included), but after the introduction of the new Streamlined Business Processes (SBP) in January 2010, the RRP is now down to 10-pages (good for me, appendices not counted)!!! Well, the rest of the pages are transferred to another equally important document which is called Project Administration Manual (PAM) [Facility Administration for MFF projects (FAM)] including other linked documents, which are not required to be submitted to the board except for the list (but the listed linked documents have to be uploaded online). Before you get really bored with these entire unfamiliar jargons, let's fast forward to the board approval date. The approval date is when the Director General, the division's Director and the Project officer are on hot seat to answer and clarify whatever the Board of Directors have to ask about the project. I have no idea how this is done, I have not witnessed it but would like to if I will be given a chance. If I may add, the concerned Vice-President and the President are also there to chair the meeting.
After the board meeting and the project is agreed to finally get approved, it is now party time for the division! The project officer, after all the stress and pressure, will have to treat the whole division for a merienda. ;)
These photos were taken 29 September, Rica brought her camera that's why we were able to "document" the celebration for another approved project. The first one was approved last 16 September, an India MFF project, the second, a Nepal Grant project, was on 27 September, so this is the third celebration for the year, another India MFF project. The first two were not documented because there's no camera. Thanks to Rica (a colleague and friend who is so good in photography and videographpy) for bringing her camera, though not mainly for this purpose (I think), we were able to take photos of this celebration, an atypical day in SANS' life. There are two more projects to be approved for our division so two more celebrations before the end of the year!;)
From L-R: Cris, Rica, Angela (project officer's assistant), Fe, Myrna, Rezaul (the Project Officer), Shanny, Takashi (my supervisor)and LJ
I have to commend all the assistants (also my dear friends) for their incomparable hard-work, unfathomable dedication and knowledge-by-heart of the procedures, thank you so much and keep up the good work ladies! ;)
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