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2022 : Leaving no one behind : Thailand 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 Thailand 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 Thailand. </p
Digital technology and applications insights from the bureau of working group 2 of the Asia-Pacific information superhighway
Get PDFThis Policy Brief consolidates selected country examples of Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway's Working Group 2 bureau members (India (Chair), Armenia (Vice Chair) and the Russian Federation (Vice Chair)) on the use of digital technologies and applications for socio-economic development. The objectives of the Policy Brief are to facilitate sharing of countries’ practices on digital technologies and applications with other Asia Pacific economies, as well as highlighting the aspirations of the Working Group 2 bureau members on future work for collaboration. The Policy Brief also highlights the linkages between various national initiatives discussed and the 25 actions of the AP-IS action plan. The Policy Brief is expected to inform and promote future regional dialogue between governments officials and other stakeholders in Asia Pacific economies on the role of digital technologies and applications for an inclusive digital society
Catalyzing financial innovation for women : evidence-based financial solutions for women entrepreneurs
Get PDFIn late 2020, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship (CWE) Programme, partnered with Kiva to conduct primary research on women entrepreneur financial sector borrowers in the region. The CWE research agenda is centered around exploring the nuanced challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in accessing and using financing at different stages of their enterprise journey. The research is designed to be applied towards identifying innovative financial solutions that can be developed or tailored to best address the needs and demands of women entrepreneurs of all sizes and populating different sectors of the economy.
To better understand the needs, challenges, and constraints of women borrowers, this study focused on three main research questions:1. What challenges do women micro-entrepreneurs face in maintaining and growing their businesses?2. How can financial service providers improve their services to better fit the needs of women customers?3. How has COVID-19 specifically impacted women micro-entrepreneurs and how have they adapted?</p
Vaccine Research and Development (R&D) in the Asia-Pacific : the economics of vaccine R&D and policy recommendations to overcome market failures and promote R&D cooperation
Get PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted both the strengths and weaknesses of national, regional, and global vaccine research and development (R&D) systems. Translating public and private R&D efforts into effective vaccines in a timely manner requires not only sufficient financial and scientific resources but also a policy-driven R&D ecosystem that fosters innovation, public-private partnerships, and international cooperation. This paper outlines several supply-side and demand-side factors behind vaccine R&D that generate economic disincentives for pharmaceutical firms to invest in vaccine R&D and can lead to a market failure for vaccines targeting diseases in low-income countries. Most developing countries in Asia-Pacific not only lack the financial and technological resources to invest in vaccine R&D, but it is also not sensible to develop and replicate R&D capabilities in each country. Consequently, low-income countries are dependent on vaccines researched, developed, and manufactured by other nations that they must obtain through trade and international cooperation. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest share of global R&D spending and large shares in publications and patents on vaccine R&D. The region is home to dozens of state-owned and private pharmaceutical firms and contract research organizations that conduct vaccine R&D. Global pharmaceutical firms have not only offshored part of their vaccine manufacturing to Asia-Pacific but also transferred some of their R&D activities. Countries in Asia-Pacific have used several supply-side and demand-side approaches to incentivize investments in vaccine R&D. For instance, high-income countries are major contributors to product development partnerships and philanthropic foundations and have launched programs to boost university-industry R&D ties. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many high- and middle-income countries in the region established advanced market commitments for vaccine doses. The COVID-19 pandemic also showed the possibilities and challenges of international cooperation in vaccine R&D. Pharmaceutical firms in some developing countries built their vaccine R&D capabilities through technological transfer from high-income countries. Regional institutions and intergovernmental organizations in Asia-Pacific have also helped promote and coordinate regional cooperation in vaccine R&D. This paper proposes policy actions to stimulate investments in vaccine R&D and promote regional cooperation along four dimensions, namely a) on the prioritization of targets in the vaccine R&D pipeline; b) on how to overcome market failures in vaccine R&D; c) on fostering partnerships between relevant stakeholders at the national and regional levels; and d) on increasing the preparedness and response of national and regional vaccine R&D systems.</p
G20 Toolkit for measuring digital skills and digital literacy : a compilation of reports
Get PDFPriority Issue 2 – Digital Skills and Digital LiteracyDigital literacy and skills are essential for people to participate in digital economies and societies, for example, by enabling them to benefit from digital products, services, and content. In order to leave no one behind in digital economy development, it is essential to equip the population of a country with essential digital skills and digital literacy.
This document contains three separate reports, relevant to the deliverable “G20 Toolkit for Measuring Digital Skills and Digital”, which is the second priority issue: Digital Skills and Digital Literacy, of the G20 DEWG during the Indonesian Presidency
Be prepared : by reducing disaster and crises risk
Get PDFGlobal warming of 2°C is likely to be exceeded during the twenty-first century. A warmer world would be riskier not only in terms of more frequent extreme weather and climate, but also the experience of systemic risks. Asia Pacific is the world’s most disaster-prone region. Countries here are close to reaching a tipping point beyond which – fueled by climate change – they are bound to exceed their capacity to respond.
Public health is a key driver of responses to the cascades of disasters. Hence, strengthening health sector resilience, its interlinkages with emergency response systems are key preparedness strategies for responding to major crises. This working paper reviews the existing practices related to health emergency, infrastructure resilience and smart ways of crisis response and prevention.
Another major lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is to better anticipate and prepare for large-scale crises amidst uncertainties. The paper also highlights the enablers to this approach. It also presents strategic foresight for short, medium- and long-term and suggests a collation of regional and subregional actions to better prepare Asia-Pacific for major risks of disasters, climate change and pandemics.</p
Beyond GDP : the idea of global sustainability accounting
Get PDFTo illustrate the idea of global sustainability accounting, we propose a new ledger that shows a highly aggregated and inclusive approach. With this, we respond to the call for new measures to complement GDP by the UN Secretary General. Our approach highlights the tension between human-centered and ecosystem-centered value systems. The ledger is also explicit about disservices the environment may provide to humans, and services that humans may provide to the environment (both can easily be absent in sustainability indicators). We believe that this approach will support debates that are inclusive of diverging environmental value systems and of diverging attitudes toward ecosystem restoration and technology. Most of all, it delivers an account that can compete with the seductive simplicity of GDP
Preferential contracting for persons with disabilities : approaches to improving employment opportunities and outcomes for persons with disabilities and disability inclusion in business practices
Get PDFESCAP has commissioned two studies on public procurement to better understand how it can
be used as a tool to promote social and economic equality for persons with disabilities. In 2019,
ESCAP published a policy paper focusing on using public procurement to promote universal
design and accessible products and services. This study complements that research by
focusing on another tool governments can use to advance specific economic and social justice
issues for persons with disabilities, namely preferential contracting through public
procurement.
The introduction section of this study provides general background information and explains
the methodology, scope and limitations of the study. The second section defines and clarifies
the meaning of key terms.
The third section looks at the status quo with respect to the employment of persons with
disabilities, presenting data, an overview of international and regional mandates and
commitments, and some existing approaches to address disability gaps.
The fourth section presents an overview of the prospect of preferential contracting for closing
gaps in employment. It underscores why preferential contracting is important, presents data
on the size of public procurement, and shows how preferential contracting has been used for
other disadvantaged populations.
The fifth section presents the case for why and how the use of preferential contracting for
persons with disabilities in public procurement is an important tool for governments as part
of their development plans.
The sixth section returns to the five questions from the introduction and discusses the main
findings. The final two sections offer conclusions and recommendation