ESCAP Repository (United Nations ESCAP)
Not a member yet
8868 research outputs found
Sort by
Broken down by age and sex : why reliable and timely population statistics are more important than ever
Get PDFThe current pandemic has highlighted the acute need for reliable and timely population statistics. This brief lays out the importance of sex and age disaggregated population data for addressing the Covid-19 crisis. Available resources and support are presented to allow national authorities to better access, analyse and disseminate these data
Summary assessment of the Committee on Statistics, Seventh session 26-28 August 2020
No full textThe seventh session of the Committee on Statistics took place from 26-28 August 2020 as a hybrid meeting due to on-going COVID-19 related travel restrictions in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Committee session discussed matters of strategic importance to regional statistical development, regional cooperation and the formulation of regional positions to advance official statistics in line with existing commitments, including the Collective Vision and Framework for Action by the Asia-Pacific statistical community adopted by the Committee in 2016 and the Declaration on Navigating Policy with Data to Leave No One Behind adopted by the Commission in 2019. This year two new initiatives, seminar sessions and electronic consultations, were introduced to enable interactive dialogue on priority issues of relevance to statistical systems in Asia and the Pacific.</p
Policy provisions for women-owned small and medium enterprises in the draft small and medium enterprises development policy and Five-Year Implementation Plan (2020-2024)
Get PDFThis note presents a set of policy recommendations that the Ministry of Industry, Science, echnology and Innovation (MISTI), Royal Government of Cambodia may consider adding to its Draft Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Development Policy and FiveYear Implementation Plan (2020-2024). This note is prepared by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s (ESCAP) “Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship” Programme in Asia and the Pacific.
The note specifically addresses recommendations for women-owned SMEs (WSME). It is divided into two sections. The first section reviews the current opportunities and constraints for WSMEs in Cambodia. It also establishes that policymakers need to account for some unique and a different set of challenges that WSMEs face, rather than develop a blanket policy covering all SMEs. The second section lays out policy interventions that may be considered for WSMEs in Cambodia. This section will draw on the framework of the abovementioned draft SME policy that is to be released end of October 2019. </p
ICT good practices of a smart city : Incheon Metropolitan City
No full textRecognizing Incheon Metropolitan City as one of the world’s leading smart cities, this Case Study delves into its Smart City Integrated Platform and illustrates the good practices of its Smart City infrastructure and services, followed by a review of its performance and challenges.
On the whole, it provides perceptive insights into the development and utilization of a smart city as the solution to the challenges facing urbanization.</p
What role should connectivity play in reenergising South Asia?
Get PDFSouth Asia could unleash its full potentials, provided, it improves the infrastructure facilities, which are at present not sufficient to meet the growing demand of the region. The renewed and shared agenda of the South Asian regional cooperation should aim to reduce both intra- and inter- regional trade facilitation gaps as well as to expand the connectivity. South Asia has to enact its own connectivity and trade facilitation arrangement to take forward the agenda of South Asian integration. The analysis of this paper indicates that South Asia may gain enormously if they reduce the conflicts across the border and secure improvement in both hard and soft infrastructure. Facilitating business beyond border means an enhanced trade facilitation and connectivity in the region. South Asia connectivity needs a new vision to compete globally. This paper examines the determinants of connectivity in the region with a view to making appropriate policy choices
Evaluation of the North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC)
Get PDFCommissioned by the Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia, ESCAPInitiated in 1993 as a voluntary intergovernmental cooperation framework to address environmental challenges in the subregion of North-East Asia (NEA), the “North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) operates under the overall guidance of its six member States and is subject to oversight and accountability stemming from its association with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from which it also derives administrative and financial benefits. Through NEASPEC, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Japan, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the Russian Federation have been promoting environmental cooperation in the subregion with respect to Nature Conservation, Transboundary Air Pollution (TAP), Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Low Carbon Cities (LCCs), Desertification and Land Degradation (DLD). These five themes, which have a transboundary orientation in varying degrees, provide entry points for collaboration amongst the member States and relate to Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................................. iv
Acronyms and Abbreviations.................................................................................................................. v
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................... vii
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Background .............................................................................................................................1
1.2 Objective, Use, and Scope of this Evaluation..........................................................................2
The Object and Context of Evaluation ................................................................................................2
2.1 NEASPEC’s Institutional Arrangements...................................................................................2
2.2 Current Strategic Plan (2016-2020) ........................................................................................3
2.3 Accountability Framework and Resourcing ............................................................................4
2.4 NEASPEC’s Theory of Change..................................................................................................2
Methodology.......................................................................................................................................3
3.1 Data Collection to Allow for Triangulation of Findings...........................................................3
3.2 Data Analysis to Assure Rigour and Evidence Base ................................................................4
3.3 Ethical Concerns and How These were Addressed.................................................................4
3.4 Limitations on the Evaluation and How These were Mitigated..............................................4
Findings...............................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Relevance................................................................................................................................5
4.2 Effectiveness...........................................................................................................................8
4.2.1 Nature Conservation ....................................................................................................................9
4.2.2 Transboundary Air Pollution.......................................................................................................10
4.2.3 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).................................................................................................11
4.2.4 Low Carbon Cities (LCCs) ............................................................................................................13
4.2.5 Desertification and Land Degradation (DLD)..............................................................................15
4.3 Efficiency...............................................................................................................................16
4.4 Mainstreaming of Gender Equality and Human Rights (GE/HR) ..........................................17
4.5 Sustainability, Resource Mobilisation, and Partnership Arrangements...............................18
4.6 Strengths and Challenges of NEASPEC’s Institutional and Organisational Set-Up ...............23
Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................26
Recommendations............................................................................................................................31
ANNEXES ...............................................................................................................................................35
Annex 1 - Evaluation Terms of Reference.........................................................................................35
Annex 2 - List of Documents and Other Resources Consulted .........................................................47
Annex 3 - List of Stakeholders Consulted .........................................................................................49
Annex 4 - Profile of Stakeholder Survey Respondents .....................................................................52
Annex 5 - Management Response ....................................................................................................54</p
Impact of covid-19 on agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region and role of mechanization
Get PDFThe impact of the coronavirus disease pandemic on the agricultural sector has brought unprecedented challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. At this juncture, it is important to undertake a closer analysis of the effect of the pandemic on agriculture in the region, with particular attention to resource-poor smallholder farmers and low-wage migrant agricultural workers. In addition, it is vital to identify solutions that can help member States ‘build back better’ the agricultural sector. The wide-ranging impacts of the pandemic on the region’s agricultural sector include decrease in production in some areas, disruption in marketing and sales of agricultural produce, shortages in supply of agricultural labour and other inputs, decrease in farmers’ and farm labourers’ income, and worsening of food security. At the same time, many examples of positive and timely government interventions have emerged which have helped to contain and alleviate adverse effects
