The objective of this paper is to work towards a consensus among UN agencies on how to best support countries to achieve progress towards universal social protection in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To this end the paper investigates 1) lessons learnt from past joint UN work on social protection 2) priority areas for social protection engagement 3) recommendations for improving UN collaboration and 4) next steps for the way forward.

This book presents an overview of the key debates that took place during the Economic and Social Council meetings at the 2007 High-level Segment, at which ECOSOC organized its first biennial Development Cooperation Forum. The discussions also revolved around the theme of the second Annual Ministerial Review, "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development."--P. 4 of cover.

The Statistical Yearbook presents data for the 58 regional Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) member countries, as well as world, regional, sub-regional and economic aggregates for comparison. It offers current trends and emerging topics in the Asia-Pacific, grouped around the themes of people, the environment, the economy and connectivity. It provides the international and regional community with key indicators, objective analyses of the current trends and emerging issues, along with data and charts. In order to maximize the comparability, the Yearbook data is sourced exclusively from international agencies that adhere to the official global statistical standards.

This publication is the first Asia-Pacific report that comprehensively maps out the intersections between gender and environment at the levels of household, work, community and policy. It examines gender concerns in the spheres of food security, agriculture, energy, water, fisheries and forestry, and identifies strategic entry points for policy interventions. Based on a grounded study of the reality in the Asia-Pacific region, this report puts together good practices and policy lessons that could be capitalized by policymakers to advance the agenda of sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.

The global financial and economic crisis beginning in 2008 has highlighted and reinforced the need for effective social protection mechanisms that prevent households from falling into poverty while also being sustainable, thus helping families to improve their earnings permanently. Meanwhile, social protection policies must be consistent with labour market mechanisms and with employment policy in order for either or both to be as beneficial as possible. This volume, using a broad definition of social protection, takes an in-depth look at selected programmes and their interaction with employment generation and growth in India, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Peru and Tajikistan. It focuses on poverty and aims to explore how social and economic policies can be better integrated to simultaneously advance social welfare, employment outcomes and inclusive growth.

This publication reviews the region's inequality trends, challenges and achievements and identifies policy gaps across the three dimensions of inequality--inequality of outcome, inequality of opportunity and inequality of impact. It also discusses the potential impact of rapid and disruptive technological advances, such as machine learning, and puts forward a broad set of policy recommendations for reducing all forms of inequality for the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its core tenant of ""leaving no one behind"".

This title was first published in 2000: Since 1998, there have been many diagnoses, studies and theories attempting to explain the East Asian economic crisis and the impact on major economic and financial sectors. This text aims to fill a gap in the literature by examining the effects on small and medium-sized enterprises. From early 1998, unemployment figures in the region rose rapidly although large enterprises were not as yet engaged in corporate restructuring. Registered small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and microenterprises were a major source of this unemployment, especially among unskilled and seasonal workers. This volume covers the debate in five ways. An introductory chapter presents an overview of the SME international experience both in OECD and developing economies. Part I looks at the economic and social contribution of SMEs in Thailand before and after the 1997-1998 crisis and Part II reviews government policy and SME promotion initiatives. Part III explores the assumption that local SMEs linked to large firms have been more resilient, while the concluding chapter suggests a range of policies which have been derived from experiences in places other than Thailand.