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SDG 6 : Clean water and sanitation
No full textThe Asia-Pacific region has made considerable progress on improving economic and social welfare over the last decade. Water resources have contributed greatly to this transformation through water and sanitation hygiene (WASH), provision of basic services, agricultural expansion, food security and nutrition, and ecosystem services. This was most notable during COVID-19 pandemic, where WASH and innovations in WASH service delivery were at the forefront of disease prevention. As a result, since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), progress has been made to elevate water issues at the national and regional levels across the Asia-Pacific region. However, the region is far from being on track to meet SDG 6 targets as outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Access to sustainable water resources is increasingly threatened due to overuse and pollution, growing populations, increasing water demands, water scarcity, a changing climate, rapid urbanisation, inadequate sanitation services and lack of transboundary cooperation. Continuous water availability—both in sufficient quantity and adequate quality—is fundamental to the expansion of safe drinking water services under SDG 6. Despite the urgent need for solutions, it is often challenging to know where to begin. The most notable threat to SDG 6 progress is water stress. In the effort to ensure food security for growing populations, the status of available freshwater resources has largely been neglected in some of the most consequential parts of the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region is currently not on track to achieve any of the SDG 6 targets by 2030, as progress falls short of where the region should be by 2022. The region must take action to reverse negative trends for target 6.6, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, and target 6.b, community participation in water and sanitation management. While there has been a substantial effort to increase aid to the least developed countries for water supply and sanitation, 1.9 billion people throughout the region still lack access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation services, and 1.3 billion people do not have basic handwashing facilities. Despite progress in some components of SDG 6, such as the reduction of open defecation, overall development is not on track to achieve the specific target goals by 2030.</p
2022 : Leaving no one behind : Philippines country brief
No full textDiscover how different circumstances interact to create unequal access to basic opportunities in Asia and the Pacific.
Explore more about our LNOB analysis at lnob.unescap.org</p
Compendium of multi-hazard early warning cooperation
Get PDFLaunched at the G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group
Side Event: Early Warning Early Action, 30 March 2023The UN Secretary-General António Guterres unveiled an ‘Executive Action Plan for the Early Warnings for All’ initiative during the World Leaders Summit at COP 27. This call for a universal early warning system coverage within the next five years is recognizant of key challenges, including that disaster mortality is eight times higher in countries with limited early warning coverage. The Secretary-General noted that “one out of three persons globally, primarily in Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries… lack access to effective early warning systems”.
Investments in early warning systems reduce fatalities and economic losses that are incurred due to disaster events. Since climate hazards do not follow national boundaries, therefore transformative adaptation measures are those that mirror the transboundary nature of disaster risks. Advancing early warning systems, to meet the needs of today and of future generations exposed to intensifying climate hazards, will rely on cooperation.
This compendium of multi-hazard early warning cooperation will capitalize on recent publications1 to identify county-specific challenges and note good practices cooperation arrangements to strengthen forecasting capabilities, early warning coverage, and systems to act on them. This compendium was launched at the G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group Side Event: Early Warning Early Action, 30 March 2023.
Section 1.0 provides a clear outline of what constitutes an effective multi-hazard early warning system (MHEWS) and the current challenges being faced for its implementation. This section is largely taken from the forthcoming publication, Words into Action: Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems.
Section 2.0 presents good practices that demonstrate the cooperation of G20 countries to strengthen early warning systems through: political commitments; innovative financing; service provision and institution building; data and technology exchange; transboundary advocacy and action; and tripartite arrangements.
Section 3.0 proposes a cooperation framework at the global, regional and transboundary, national and
neighbouring levels for deeper engagements among the G20 countries to achieve multi-hazard early warnings system for all. Cooperation should realize a seamless global to local information value chain for early warnings; mobilize proactive, risk-informed, and pioneering investments; scale up appropriate and innovative technological solutions; and incentivize collaboration across all stakeholder groups
2023 : Leaving no one behind : Uzbekistan 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 Uzbekistan 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 Uzbekistan. </p
Gender mainstreaming in sustainable agricultural mechanization in Asia and the Pacific
Get PDFThe Policy Brief discusses why gender matters in the context of sustainable agricultural mechanization, what key barriers women face in the adoption and scaling-up of mechanization-based solutions and how the gender dimension can be better integrated into programmes and strategies for sustainable agricultural mechanization in the Asia-Pacific regio
Readiness to implement the action plan to strengthen regional cooperation on social protection : Georgia
Get PDFAccelerating Progress in SDG 9 (Sustainable Industrialization) in South and South-West Asia Region
Get PDFThe sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9) focuses on industrialisation, innovation, and infrastructure. This goal holds significant relevance for South and South-West Asia (SSWA) since the subregion has not yet fully realized its potential in these domains. Compared to the East Asia and the Pacific, the proportion of manufacturing to GDP in SSWA is noticeably lower. However, it's worth noting that countries such as Bangladesh and India are making commendable progress, predominantly in the textile sector. Despite these advancements, there exist challenges that hamper the swift progression of this goal in the subregion. Among these challenges are the global Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. This paper dive deeper into some of the existing challenges facing the subregion and offers policy suggestions to advance SDG-9 and points out the untapped potential of Regional Value Chains (GVC) in enhancing manufacturing. It further emphasises improving intra-regional trade and optimising transport and border facilities in accelerating progress towards achieving the SDG9. The importance of developing cross-border renewable energy infrastructure and strengthening Science Technology and Innovation (STI) capabilities is highlighted as sustainable path to industrialisation in the subregion. By adopting these approaches and promoting subregional partnerships, the SSWA subregion can achieve sustainable prosperity for its people.
JEL Codes(s): L30, L38, L78, O14, O25</p
Digital trade regulatory review for Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean
No full textESCAP-ECA-ECLAC Initiative on Digital Trade Regulatory IntegrationThis report is part of the collaborative efforts between the three United Nations Regional Commissions (UNRCs): 21 (ESCAP), 28 (ECA), and 20 (ECLAC) under the ESCAP-ECA-ECLAC Digital Trade Regulatory Analysis Initiative. The report provides a preliminary step towards better understanding the digital trade policy environment within and between Asia-Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. The report presents an overview of the digital trade policy landscape in the three regions, based on the regulatory data collections in 2022 from 69 pilot economies in the three regions. The data collection and analysis are based on the ESCAP-ECA-ECLAC common framework of the Regional Digital Trade Regulatory Integration Index (RDTII) 2.0*. The report also proposes recommendations for enhancing digital trade integration within and between the three regions. *Please see the RDTII Version 1.0: A Guide for information about the RDTII framework (The updated guide for RDTII Version 2.0 is forthcoming).</p