The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on November 9 a new poverty reduction strategy to help the Asia-Pacific region to eradicate extreme poverty.

Announcing the bank's new strategy, ADB President Tadao Chino said: "Despite the development of gains of the past few decades, Asia is still home to 900 million extremely poor people. This is unacceptable."

"Public policy and action can change this and we are re-focusing our work with the single, over-arching goal of eliminating poverty from the region."

The ADB's poverty shift will affect every aspect and level of its operation, the bank said in a press statement.

The bank said it is setting up a new poverty reduction unit by the end of this year to spearhead of the drive.

The Manila-based bank, which finances roughly 6 billion US dollars worth of projects and programs yearly, will readjust its project focus, it said.

"At least 40 percent of all public sector lending will be for poverty interventions," said the bank.

The ADB's new strategy will concentrate on the rural and social sectors, and will also invest more to provide the poor, especially women, access to essential services.

With emphasis on economic growth in earlier years, ADB financed Asia's urgent need for physical infrastructure -- electricity, roads, irrigation systems, school building and health centers. In later years, the bank expanded its focus to include human development, gender equity and environmental protection.

"However, the Asian crisis, which reversed decades of development in some countries, underscored the fact that Asia has a massive under-class which has been untouched by the general rise in prosperity," said ADB Vice President Peter Sullivan.

The bank said that governance is crucial to the success of the strategy, especially in the rural areas, where government institutions are frequently the weakest in capacity, commitment and accountability.

"The ADB will also use new tools to bring its operations closer to the poor. These include lending directly to local governments, promoting social and investment funds and supporting non-governmental organizations with proven track records for helping the poor," it said.