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Handbook on provisions and options for inclusive and sustainable development in trade agreements
Get PDFThis Handbook is developed as part of the Initiative on Mainstreaming Sustainable Development Provisions in Trade Agreement Trade can significantly contribute to sustainable and inclusive development. This has been increasingly recognized, and trade agreements are expanding in scope to address various aspects of development more directly. As the inclusion of sustainable and inclusive development provisions becomes more systematic, it will be important that the new provisions meet the needs of both developed and developing trade partners and to design them so that they have a real impact on advancing the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). ESCAP, in cooperation with ECA, ECLAC, ESCWA, UNECE, UNCTAD and other partners, launched the Initiative on Mainstreaming Sustainable Development Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements (IMSDP) to build the capacity to design and negotiate sustainable development provisions tailored to specific situations of different economies. This handbook, prepared in close collaboration with the Centre on Inclusive Trade and Development at Georgetown Law, is a first deliverable under this new initiative.
The objective of this “Handbook on Provisions and Options for Inclusive and Sustainable Development in Trade Agreements” (Handbook) is to present an overview of existing law in different areas and to share options for negotiators, particularly from developing economies, for RTA provisions that could enhance the contribution of trade to inclusive and sustainable development. It covers five key issue areas of sustainable development: (1) micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), (2) gender, (3) environment, (4) labour, and (5) investment, drawing upon different RTA models from around the world. For each issue area, this Handbook presents example options for trade negotiators to incorporate inclusive and sustainable development consideration, accompanied by explanatory notes to guide negotiators in weighing different approaches and tradeoffs. Most options are presented ranging from the lowest to the highest level of commitment, with exceptions explained. Where possible, the degree to which these approaches are more common or less common is also noted.
More information about the Initiative is available HERE.
This publication has been issued without formal editing. It is a living document expected to be modified from time to time based on feedback from users.</p
Quick guide and compendium on designing and retrofitting inclusive parks
Get PDFParks form an essential part of any city, providing a green lung for the benefit and welfare of its citizens. Any park should therefore be inclusive and accessible for everyone to enjoy, including children and their families, expectant women, older persons, and persons with disabilities.
In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, target 11.7 specifically calls for the provision of universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.
Making parks inclusive involves a number of agencies, from government decision-makers and providers, as well as property developers in the case of private parks, to the designers and builders, aided by the collective advice of civil-society user groups to ensure an optimal outcome.
This quick guide is intended as a manual to aid in the decision-making, planning and design detailing of parks of any size or in any setting, both for new builds and the upgrading of existing parks, both public and private.
Part I of the guide provides technical content on how to design inclusive parks. Part II showcases a variety of parks in different cities to demonstrate good practice and make suggestions for cost-effective improvements that could be applied when upgrading to higher standards of universal design.</p
Evaluation of the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT)
Get PDFThe purpose of the evaluation is to provide the Commission with an impartial and reliable body of evidence regarding APCTT's performance. This will facilitate the deliberations during the 80th session of the Commission in May 2024 on APCTT's continued relevance and financial viability. The evaluation also provides ESCAP management with forward-looking actionable recommendations to improve the results orientation and performance of the Centre. The specific objectives of the evaluation are to: (a) assess the results achieved and performance of APCTT using the standard evaluation criteria, including impact, relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and gender mainstreaming; (b) determine ways to enhance the results-orientation of APCTT and identify specific outputs and delivery modalities that are most relevant to the member States, based on needs expressed by relevant stakeholders: and (c) recommend actions for improving the results orientation and performance of the Centre</p
Efforts towards measuring the gender-environment nexus in Asia and the Pacific
Get PDFThis paper builds on previous work to advance the measurement of the gender-environment nexus in the Asia-Pacific region, undertaken by UN Women and ESCAP. It examines methodological advances that have taken place since and proposes a revised set of regional gender-environment indicators, based on consultations with experts and national agencies in the region. The paper also describes country experiences to generate gender-environment data and outlines some next steps to advance the production and use of gender-environment statistics, across the region and beyond.
The indicators presented in this paper will help shape further methodological developments to better measure and understand the connections between gender and the environment. These were presented at an official COP28 event entitled Counting on a Sustainable Future: Global Conference on Gender and Environment Data. They also helped inform the Call to Action that resulted from this conversation, which calls for: Promoting and prioritizing the production of gender and environment data in an ethical and transparent way; accelerating the use and uptake of gender-environment data for decision-making, programme development, monitoring, research and advocacy; financing and investing in gender-environment data production and use; ensuring global, regional and national statistical and data governance processes are inclusive; and creating and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for gender and environment data.I. Introduction (4)II. Comprehensive set of gender-environment indicators for the Asia-Pacific region (5)III. Filling gender-environment data gaps: Methodological guidance (8)IV. Supporting national gender-environment data production (9)Annex: Gender-environment indicators for the Asia-Pacific region (July 2022) (11)</p
Energy transition pathways for the 2030 Agenda : sustainable energy transition road map for the City of Ormoc, the Philippines
Get PDFThe Road Map presents three core scenarios (BAU, CPS and SDG) and one ambitious scenario (towards net zero carbon by 2050) that have been developed using local data, which consider existing energy policies and strategies and reflect on other development plans. The net zero carbon scenario by 2050 offers policymakers a strategic viewpoint on how Ormoc could plan for a carbon-free energy pathway in alignment with the global race to net zero carbon. These scenarios are expected to enable the city authority to make an informed decision to develop and implement a set of policies to navigate through the sustainable energy transition pathway
Feasibility study on cross-border electronic exchange of trade data : Nepal
Get PDFThe draft report was used as the basis for the discussions during the South Asian Subregional Stakeholder Consultation Workshop and the Inception Meeting of the Ad-Hoc South Asian Subregional Task Force on Cross-border Electronic Trade Data ExchangeThis report aims to study the feasibility of and establish a stepwise approach for engaging in cross-border electronic exchange of trade-related data and documents by Nepal with its neighbouring and partner countries. Particularly, it focuses on identifying feasible trade documents and data exchange systems for initiating cross-border electronic exchange of trade data.
The report provides an overview of Nepal’s current status, including legal environments, in relation to the electronic exchange of trade-related data and documents. It also discusses Nepal’s trade procedures in general and with neighbouring countries in particular.
The report notes that collaboration with neighbouring countries to assess mutual benefits and efficiency, as well as the feasibility and action plans for pursuing cross-border electronic exchange of trade data, would be essential to advance cross-border trade facilitation forward.
In order to enable electronic data exchange with partner countries, Nepal needs to be fully aware of the benefits of such activities. Political will and dedication to materializing electronic data exchange are crucial for the implementation of the electronic data exchange system. Nepal may face challenges, such as a lack of experience and experts, in establishing a development plan for electronic data exchange with partner countries. Therefore, Nepal may pursue further capacity development programmes on these issues as well as take initiatives for establishing electronic data exchange mechanisms with its neighbouring countries.The financial support from Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) to conduct and disseminate this study
Pacific internet exchange point : internet service providers online survey
Get PDFAccording to ESCAP studies, the Internet traffic routes in the Pacific can be divided into two groups, one in the North and the other in the South. Countries in the North Pacific group tend to be interconnected by subsea cables converging in Guam, which has traditionally (along with Hawaii) been used as a regeneration point and hub location, and increasingly as a point of interconnection for cables in this North Pacific region. Several existing IXPs operate in Guam, enabling Internet providers of North Pacific island countries around Guam to interconnect and exchange traffic.
Countries in the South Pacific group, by contrast, have traditionally been poorly served by subsea telecommunications cables until recently. In many cases, trans-Pacific cables between Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii have been laid that bypass smaller Pacific island nations without landing, so they cannot be used. International Internet service in most of these South Pacific island countries has traditionally been achieved using satellite technology, which has struggled to keep pace with increased demand for reliable, low-cost and high-capacity connections.
South Pacific Island communications traditionally uses satellite links, which is a high-latency solution that doesn’t provide local interconnection. In recent years, several subsea optical fibre cables have been built amongst the southern Pacific islands, and trans-Pacific cables increasingly link the islands to global Internet hubs in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The Pacific-IXP proposal is to utilize these cables to enable every Internet provider in every Pacific island nation a low- latency connection point to interconnect with all other member networks, while minimizing the number of subsea ‘cable hops’ required to connect