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2022 : Leaving no one behind : Tonga country brief
No full textLeaving No One Behind (LNOB) tool helps discover how different circumstances interact to create unequal access to basic opportunities in Asia and the Pacific. The LNOB country brief for Tonga provides insights into which groups are further ahead and further behind in various SDG indicators and where the biggest gaps are found in terms of access to opportunities or prevalence of barriers between the furthest behind and the furthest ahead groups in Tonga. </p
Asia-Pacific tech monitor. Vol. 39, No. 2, Apr-Jun 2022
Get PDFSpecial Theme: Innovative Technologies for Air Pollution Control Air pollution is one of the critical challenges affecting the health and
wellbeing of people. Globally, air pollution kills nearly 7 million
people every year and is considered the biggest environmental health
risk. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for about 70 per cent of deaths
globally due to air pollution and has recorded some of the highest air
pollution levels in recent times. It is also a major transboundary envir-
onmental challenge that threatens all countries in Asia and the Pacific.
Recognizing the need to improve air quality to protect human health,
the United Nations General Assembly has designated 7 September as the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, which stresses the importance of clean air and the urgent need for efforts
to improve air quality to protect human health. The countries strive to reduce air pollution through technology interventions for source-reduction of pollutants, enabling policy measures, regulations, and incentives. They are adopting action plans to control air pollution, but more needs to be done as they face multiple challenges such as capacity and resource constraints as well as limited awareness and access to effective and affordable technologies. Other limiting factors are inadequate linkages between national strategies and city
level action plans, and limited opportunity for cross-border learning on good practices and collaboration at the regional level. It is important for governments to enact and enforce enabling technologies, regulatory policies and incentives to support industry for monitoring and reducing air pollution. Efforts are required to strengthen regional cooperation and facilitate broader exchange of innovative solutions to control air pollution and good practices, including policies, strategies, data and technologies, and capacity needs. In this regard, the United Nations Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has identified 25 clean air measures in the report titled “Air Pollution in Asia and the Pacific: Science-based Solutions”, which could be widely adopted by countries. Towards strengthening the capacity of member States in the region, the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is implementing a project titled “Enhanced capabilities to adopt innovative technologies for city air pollution control in select countries of the Asia-Pacific”. The project will strengthen the capacity of stakeholders and improve the availability of knowledge regarding innovative technologies, good practices, and better understanding of technology needs and gaps in a few target countries of the region. This issue of Asia-Pacific Tech Monitor discusses the enabling policies, strategies, and best practices for the adoption of innovative technologies to control air pollution in the Asia-Pacific countries.TECHNOLOGY MARKET SCAN
TECHNOLOGY SCAN
SPECIAL FEATURE
- Special Theme: Innovative technologies for air pollution control
- Air pollution control in the Republic of Korea - Enabling Technology and Regulatory Policies to Support SMEs
Dafydd Phillips
- Overcoming Barriers to Clean Cooking in Thailand: A Quantitative Assessment
Kaoru Akahoshi, Eric Zusman, Nutthajit Onmek, and Supat Wangwongwatana
- Networks and Databases related to Air Pollution Control
TECH EVENT
Ex-ante evaluation of India’s trade alliance with Indo-Pacific region : a general equilibrium analysis
Get PDFThis study attempts to analyse the economy wide impact of Indo-Pacific alliance between India and rest of the 45 participating countries. We introduce four simulation scenarios in the general equilibrium model. First scenario is the one in which India bilaterally liberalizes trade in terms of tariffs liberalization alone and then removal of tariffs and reduction of non-tariff
barriers together with all the countries of Indo-Pacific region. Second scenario is when India bilaterally liberalizes trade with all the Asian countries of the Indo-Pacific region. Third scenario is when India bilaterally liberalizes trade with all the countries of the Indo-Pacific
region but excludes China from the region because of the current geo-political constructs. Fourth scenario is the one when free trade is considered among all the countries in the IndoPacific region. The paper uses the GTAP (Global Trade Analysis Project) model simulations
for the analysis and the results reveal that for India the welfare gains in terms of equivalent variation and real GDP are maximum in the third simulation scenario. The article suggests a roadmap for maximum welfare gains for India keeping strategic and economic engagements with other member countries and sub-regions
ESCAP-OSJD joint document on potential of electronic information exchange to streamline customs formalities in international railway transport
No full textBeing one of the more sustainable modes, rail needs to be promoted proactively, to address many of the negative externalities of transport that have recently been exacerbated. The rapid increase in trans-continental freight trains over the last decade have firmly established role of rail in fostering sustainable transport connectivity between Asia and Europe and vice versa.
The resilience demonstrated by rail transport during the pandemic as well as need for digital and electronic information exchange underscored by the pandemic provides yet another opportunity to give big push to rail competitiveness by leveraging use of electronic information exchange for completing border formalities.
Efficient rail border crossings are one of the important elements for enhancing the competitiveness of international railway transport and therefore proactive measures are needed to address inefficiencies. Railway border crossings have complex environment with many competing stakeholders. All of them however need information to complete their task and therefore electronic information interchange at rail border crossing is important to improve the efficiency.
Electronic information exchange between railways and among railways and control agencies is, however, fragmented due to diverse legal and regulatory frameworks underpinning them. OSJD provides a comprehensive guidance on many aspects of electronic information exchange among railways through its agreements and various leaflets. The initiatives on electronic information exchange between railways and among railways and control agencies should precede with simplification and standardization of information requirements.
This recommendatory document has been prepared jointly by ESCAP and OSJD to provide railways and border agencies with insight into potential of electronic information exchange to streamline border crossing formalities.
The document has been drafted according to the recommendation of the International Inter-Agency Conference of the OSJD member countries "Practice of border crossing by rail" that took place in September 2021.
It is based on inputs received and wide ranging consultations that ESCAP carried under the project on harmonization of rules of regulations for facilitation of international railway transport (2016-2018) that culminated in the development of a draft framework on enhancing efficiency of railway border crossings along the Trans-Asian Railway network and beyond.
The draft framework was presented to the Committee on Transport at its fifth session that took place in November 2018 in Bangkok. As reflected in its report, the Committee welcomed the framework and took note of issues identified in the framework the foremost among them was electronic information exchange between railways and among railways and control agencies.
Areas where electronic information exchange can support streamlining border crossing processes include integrated risk assessment, use of new technologies, and joint execution of control measures both behind and across the borders. Customs formalities associated with rail transit can be simplified through electronic information exchange. A joint electronic interface between railways and other relevant stakeholders can provide for efficient exchange of information required for commercial, operational, and regulatory purposes
Female labour force participation and the care economy in Asia and the Pacific
Get PDFIn 2015, the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) target 5.4 “recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate” calls States to take action and promote equal distribution of paid and unpaid work in households to achieve gender equality and sustainable development. The care economy, which has gained significant attention in political agendas in the last years, consists of both paid and unpaid care work. Care work involves direct care tasks such as caring for dependents – children, family members who are sick, older persons and persons with a disability – as well as indirect care tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, domestic work and the collection of fuelwood and water. While females participation in the labour market has increased in Asia and the Pacific, women continue to spend four times more on unpaid care work compared to men.
This policy brief examines the low rate of female labour force participation in Asia and the Pacific and its correlation with persistent inequalities in the distribution of care responsibilities between men and women as well as the society and the State. The research presented here highlights the critical role of unpaid care work in the promotion of female participation in the labour market. It focuses on a care economy lens to shed light on the benefits that increasing female labour force participation represents for sustainable economic growth in Asia and the Pacific. It concludes with a call for action to invest in the care economy to build a more equal society in which care responsibilities are equally shared in households and care-related policies, services, infrastructure, and employment policies are promoted to positively affect economic growth and GDP in the region.
Three key findings emerge from this policy brief. First, an overview of females’ labour force participation rates shows the relation between low women’s labour participation and gender bias and segmentation in the formal and informal sectors in the region. Second, a care economy lens is crucial for the analysis of gender gaps in labour force participation in the region. Women’s time allocation in unpaid care work is a key source of inequality between women’s and men’s participation in the labour market. And so is the motherhood penalty that women encounter in the labour market and the lack of care-related policies which emphasise cultural and social expectations of women as family caregivers. Third, the centrality of the care economy to enhance female labour force participation is not only significant to redress gender inequalities but also to promote economic growth. Investing in the care economy is a transformative measure to increase female labour force participation while boosting economic growth and GDP. In doing so, the priorities for action should enhance policy measures based on four care-sensitive policy categories: care infrastructure, care-related social protection, care services and employment-related care policies to expand family-friendly arrangements, avoid motherhood penalties, and engage more women in quality jobs in the labour market.
The strong correlation between promoting labour force participation and investing in the care economy calls into question the effectiveness of past and current care-related policies, social and cultural norms, gender division of labour, and the role of more gendered-economic measures for inclusive and sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.</p
Digital and sustainable trade facilitation in East and North-East Asia 2021
Get PDFThis report presents results of the 2021 United Nations Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation for four countries in East and North-East Asia, namely China, Japan, Republic of Korea and Mongolia, reviewing the progress of trade facilitation reforms. It presents a detailed analysis based on 58 trade facilitation measures that are classified into four groups (“General Trade Facilitation”, “Digital Trade Facilitation”, “Sustainable Trade Facilitation” and “Other Trade Facilitation”) and a further 11 sub-groups covering both binding and non-binding WTO TFA measures, as well as measures beyond the scope of WTO TFA.
The analysis presented in this report, based on the latest data available, confirms that digital trade facilitation measures can result in significant benefits to the countries in the subregion. Full implementation of binding and non-binding WTO TFA measures could decrease trade costs by 2.8%. In contrast, digital trade facilitation measures, enabling the seamless electronic exchange of trade data and documents across borders, will help significantly reduce trade costs by 7.5% for East and North-East Asian countries in a full implementation scenario.
In this regard, the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (CPTA) could support countries in gradually moving to “less-paper” and then to paperless and cross-border paperless trade by providing a dedicated, inclusive and capacity-building focused intergovernmental platform.</p
Evaluation of the project “Developing a Public‐ Private Partnerships (PPP) and Infrastructure Financing Network in Asia and the Pacific”
Get PDFCommissioned by Trade, Investment & Innovation, ESCAPThe project, “Developing a Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and Infrastructure Financing Network in Asia and the Pacific”, sought to establish a network of public authorities, financiers, and market participants in Asia and the Pacific who are currently implementing or planning to implement PPP. By enhancing countries' capacity to effectively use public-private partnerships to bring in private sector investment for public infrastructure projects, the network aimed to boost infrastructure development and financing in the region.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................................................... I
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................................... IV
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... V
INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT ................................................................................................................ 2
2.1 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................... 2
2.2 LINK TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS) ........................................................................................ 2
2.3 PROJECT THEORY OF CHANGE ............................................................................................................................... 3
2.4 PROJECT STRATEGIES .......................................................................................................................................... 5
2.5 INNOVATIVE ELEMENTS ....................................................................................................................................... 5
2.6 BENEFICIARIES, TARGET COUNTRIES AND KEY PARTNERS............................................................................................. 5
2.7 RESOURCES ...................................................................................................................................................... 5
EVALUATION OBJECTIVES, SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 6
3.1 EVALUATION OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 EVALUATION SCOPE ........................................................................................................................................... 6
3.3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................................ 7
EVALUATION FINDINGS ......................................................................................................................... 10
4.1 DESIGN.......................................................................................................................................................... 10
4.2 RELEVANCE .................................................................................................................................................... 11
4.3 EFFICIENCY ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
4.4 EFFECTIVENESS................................................................................................................................................ 18
4.5. PARTNERSHIPS AND COHERENCE ........................................................................................................................ 23
4.6. SUSTAINABILITY .............................................................................................................................................. 25
4.7. GENDER, HUMAN RIGHTS MAINSTREAMING AND DISABILITY INCLUSION ..................................................................... 27
CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 30
LESSONS LEARNED/GOOD PRACTICES ................................................................................................... 32
RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 33
ANNEXES ....................................................................................................................................................... 34
ANNEX 1: TERMS OF REFERENCE.............................................................................................................................. 34
ANNEX 2: DOCUMENTS REVIEWED........................................................................................................................... 41
ANNEX 3: LIST OF INTERVIEWEES ............................................................................................................................. 43
ANNEX 4: DATA COLLECTION TOOLS ........................................................................................................................ 44
ANNEX 5: RESULTS/ LOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE EVALUATION ............................................................................ 46
ANNEX 6: EVALUATION FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, LESSONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS (SUMMARY TABLE) .............. 47</p
RCEP, FDI and the 2030 Agenda : how the RCEP investment chapter could help achieve the SDGs?
Get PDFThe conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a
milestone for regional economic integration in the Asian-Pacific Region. It is of interest
to study whether and how the RCEP, especially its investment chapter and investment
facilitation provisions could help its members realize the sustainable development
goals (SDGs). This report first reviews the relevance of international investment
agreements (IIAs) to sustainable development, and discusses the RCEP preamble and
the relevant substantive, procedural and exception provisions for assessing the
compatibility of the RCEP with sustainable development. It then focuses on RCEP
investment facilitation provisions, analyzing their potential roles and inadequacies in
helping RCEP members pursue the SDGs. It concludes that, despite the merits of
RCEP Investment Chapter and the investment facilitation provisions, further legislative,
institutional, capacity building and implementational efforts are needed to fully realize
the potential of the RCEP Investment Chapter in promoting sustainable development
Assessment, analysis and redesign of civil registration and vital statistics processes - Maldives : report on the implementation of stage 1: assessment, analysis, and redesign of the CRVS
Get PDFThis report documents the results of the work of the Maldives Core Team in the implementation of the “Assessment, analysis, and redesign” stage of the CRVS System Improvement Framework. Using the methodology and the tools defined by the CRVS System Improvement Framework, the Core Team, supported by a Country Coordinator and a Senior Adviser, organised a range of online and in-person consultations to apply the Framework tools. The consultations enabled the Core Team to provide detailed descriptions of existing birth and death registration business processes, analyse aspects of the processes affecting performance, and design a vision for improving registration business processes, overcoming performance bottlenecks, and increasing overall efficiency.
The report is organised into four distinct parts. The first part introduces the key characteristics of the Maldives CRVS system, as well as background information on the CRVS System Improvement Framework and the methodology for implementing the Framework implementation in the context of Maldives CRVS business processes. The second part of the report provides a detailed description of birth and death registration business processes as presently operated in Maldives. The third part of the report documents the analysis conducted by the Core Team to determine existing business processes, performance bottlenecks and their root causes, as well as redesign suggestions and how best to prioritize improvements. Finally, the fourth part of the report envisions the processes that would emerge after improvement policies are implemented.</p