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ESCAP Presentation Harnessing regional cooperation for building back better in Asia and the Pacific Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Monday, 19 October 2020 [10:00 am– 12:00 pm, EST] DIALOGUE OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES OF THE REGIONAL COMMISSIONS WITH THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SECOND COMMITTEE, 75TH Session of the UNGA 1 SDGs Progress and COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific Region 2 ESCAP priority areas for Building Back Better 3 Regional cooperation and inclusive multilateralism 2 Mobilizing support for 2030 Agenda 1 SDGs Progress in Asia-Pacific 2000 2019 TARGET 2030 Pre COVID-19 1 No poverty • Asia-Pacific is not on track to 2 Zero Hunger meet any of the Goals, but is 3 Good health and well-being making good progress on 4 Quality education Goals 4 and 7 5 Gender equality • There is great concern with 6 Clean water and sanitation regard to regress in Goals 12 7 Affordable and clean energy and 13 8 Decent work and economic growth 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure • Environmental Goals 11, 13, 14 10 Reduced inequalities and 15 are particularly 11 Sustainable cities and communities concerning 12 Responsible consumption and production • Data gaps for many of the 13 Climate action 14 Life below water globally agreed SDG indicators 15 Life on land (Goals 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 in 16 Peace, justice and strong institutions particular) 17 Partnerships for the Goals Good progress Slow progress Regression Insufficient data Evidence strength Source: ESCAP SDG Gateway 3 Understanding of COVID-19 Socio-economic impacts in Asia-Pacific region MIDDLE EAST-CENTRAL WORLD DEVELOPING ASIA ASEAN-5 ASIA EURO AREA • Most countries 8.0 experienced 6.2 contraction in GDP 5.2 5.2 3.0 growth -1.7 • Millions of people -3.4 -4.4 -4.1 potentially pushed -8.3 into extreme poverty GDP projections , % change % , projectionsGDP 2020 2021 • Jobs losses and increased $1.90 $3.20 $5.50 2020 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 vulnerability of the informal sector, 19 - 34 17.3% 63 15.20% SMEs and migrant 12.1% workers hours losses hours - 10.70% 138 percentage induced poor induced 10 102 7.30% Millions, COVID Millions, 5.6% 42 Working South Asia East Asia & Pacific World Asia and the Pacific Source: IMF, World Bank and ILO 4 Priority areas for Building Back Better 2 Working with member States in charting a Pathway to a New Normal ESCAP Resolution on COVID-19: Call for action Regional cooperation to address the o Theme Study for the 77th session socioeconomic effects of pandemics and crises in Asia and the Pacific of the Commission in 2021: (ESCAP/RES/76/2) • Building back better from crises through regional • Reaffirmed the importance of cooperation in Asia and the international and regional cooperation Pacific. to strengthen resilience to pandemics like COVID-19, emphasized that • Four priority actions for regional cooperation: recovery from COVID-19 provides an I. Protecting people​ opportunity to build back better in II. Ensuring economic recovery​ Asia and the Pacific and underlined III. Restoring and building resilience in supply the need for the UN system to work as chains and connectivity​ one to support all governments. IV. Protecting and restoring ecosystems 5 I Protecting people Priority actions • Increasing social protection, anchored in domestic resources. • Establishing a universal health care system covering all persons within a country. • Supporting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), with a focus on women-led enterprises. Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Madrid International Plan of Action on Regular Migration [Bangladesh, Ageing Cambodia, Indonesia, the [China, Fiji, Republic of Korea, Beijing Platform ASEAN] Philippines, and Thailand] for Action [China, Philippines, Pacific & South Asia] Incheon Strategy: Make the Right Programme of Action of the Real Persons with Disabilities [China, International Conference on Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Population and Development Bhutan] [Fiji, Philippines] 6 ESCAP offer: Protecting people Strengthen regional cooperation on social protection • Consolidate national experiences. • Develop a regional platform to facilitate peer learning and the sharing of good practices. • Provide technical advice and capacity-building support, especially to identify Leaving No One Behind and Asian and Pacific CRVS Decade for 2015-2024. Catalyzing Women Entrepreneurship • Advance women entrepreneurship and market participation. • Implement activities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal, Samoa and Viet Nam. • Foster Women ICT Frontier Initiative (WIFI). • Implement E-Commerce capacity-building of women-led MSMEs activities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal. 7 II Ensuring economic recovery Priority actions • Improving fiscal space and managing debt distress. • Promoting sustainable recovery consistent with Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda. • Supporting regionally coordinated financing policies. Economic assessment, including Financial resilience, local currency bond COVID-19 policy simulation model Infrastructure financing market [Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, [Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, [30 member States] Samoa, Sri Lanka ] Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan ] LDCs sustainable graduation Digital finance SDG Investment Needs [Indonesia, [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, [Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Kazakhstan ] Myanmar, Lao PDR, Nepal, Solomon Bhutan, Samoa ] Island, Timor-leste, Vanuatu] 8 ESCAP offer: Ensuring economic recovery Innovative financing instruments, including digital finance • Support in diversifying financial sources, first sovereign bond launched in Bhutan (September 2020). • Leverage Financial technology (fintech) to increase financial access to MSMEs by launching Women MSME Fintech Innovation Fund & to launch Women MSME Recovery Fund. • Conduct policy-oriented research and provide technical assistance for Fintech in Remittance, Digital Finance on G2P & G2B, and Digital Finance on Tokenization. Build capacities for public private partnerships • Facilitate Infrastructure Financing and Public Private Partnership (PPP) Network of Asia and the Pacific. • Develop InfraPPPnet Web Portal to consolidate PPP institutions, regulatory framework and viable project pipeline, and market environment. • Build technical capacities to finance infrastructure projects in over 30 member States in the Asia-Pacific region. 9 III Restoring and building resilience in supply chains and connectivity Priority actions • Synergizing Digital, Resilient and Decarbonized Supply chains • Integrating cross-border trade and transport facilitation. • Accelerating sustainable connectivity instruments for transport, trade, energy and technology. Framework Agreement on Facilitation Asia-Pacific Information Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) Intergovernmental Agreement of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Superhighway [Azerbaijan, [Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, on the Asian Highway Network Asia and the Pacific [Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Republic of Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Sri [30 countries in Asia-Pacific] Bangladesh, China*, Iran IR, Korea, Russian Federation, Pacific Lanka] Philippines] islands, Central Asia] Intergovernmental Agreement North-East Asia on the Trans-Asian Railway Intergovernmental Agreement on Dry Power Interconnection & Network [21 Parties : entry into Ports [16 Parties with 2 new Special Programme on Economic Cooperation [Mongolia, China, force for Myanmar in December ratifications in 2020] Cooperation of Central Asia (SPECA) Republic of Korea and Russian 2020] Federation] 10 ESCAP offer: Restoring and building resilience in supply chains and connectivity DIGITALIZED RESILIENT DECARBONIZED/GREEN • Smart infrastructure • Multimodality • Railways • Affordable broadband • Operational • Waterborne transport for all connectivity • SDG 7 roadmap, energy • Intelligent • Trade policy efficiency, renewable transport/logistics • Disaster risk energy and NDCs • Digital trade reduction and facilitation / paperless geospatial data trade applications • 2021-2026: Next Regional Action Programme on Sustainable Transport Connectivity • 2016: Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade • 2018: Regional road map on power system connectivity • 2017: The Pacific and the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway Initiative 11 IV Protecting and restoring ecosystems Priority actions • Enforcing air quality standards. • Strengthening cooperation to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans. • Building resilience for disaster risk reduction strategies. ESCAP Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Tsunami, Disaster and Climate Preparedness [Donors: Bangladesh, India, North-East Asia Clean Air Japan, Nepal, The Netherlands, Partnership platform Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Germany, [China, Mongolia, Republic of Korea] ESCAP Resolutions 76/1: Oceans, Sweden, Switzerland; 20 beneficiary seas and marine resources for member States] sustainable development [Indonesia, Pacific] Plan of Action on Space Applications [Japan, India, Tackle Marine Plastic Pollution Indonesia, Russian Federation, Republic [ASEAN, Japan] of Korea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand] 12 ESCAP offer: Protecting and restoring ecosystems MARINE PLASTIC OCEAN STATISTICS AIR POLLUTION DISASTER RESILIENCE • SDG 14 progress • Ocean accounts for • Monitor air quality • Multi-hazard early warning • Technical support and sustainable ocean • Share technological systems promote sustainable development know-how and • Geospatial data alternatives to plastic • National capacity- solutions information applications
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