ESCAP Executive Secretary visits India South... · 2015-06-11 · Prof Parni Dua, Director of Delhi...

3202015 ESCAP South and SouthshyWest Asia Development Monitor Numbers 28

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South and SouthshyWest Asia Development MonitorNumber 28 (15 October 2014shy14 February 2015)

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Promoting regional cooperation for inclusive and sustainable development inSouth and South‐West Asia

ESCAP Executive Secretary visits India

Dr Shamshad Akhtar United Nations UndershySecretaryshyGeneral and Executive Secretary of ESCAP in herfirst official visit to India from 3shy5 February 2015 called on a number of senior officials in the Government ofIndia namely HE Ms Sushma Swaraj Minister of External Affairs HE Mr Suresh Prabhu RailwayMinister HE Ms Maneka Gandhi Minister for Women and Child Development Mr Rajiv Kher CommerceSecretary Dr Shailesh Nayak Secretary Ministry of Earth Sciences Dr Vijayraghavan Secretary (DSIR)Ministry of Science amp Technology and Prof TCA Anant Secretary Ministry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation She also addressed a number of public events as reported elsewhere

Read more

Policy Options for SustainableUrbanizationHE Mr Venkaiah Naidu Honorable Minister of Urban Development and Housing and Urban PovertyAlleviation Government of India inaugurated aRegional Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Urbanization in SouthAsia convened by ESCAP in New Delhi on 17shy18 December 2014 in partnership with the National Institute of



Urban Affairs The twoshyday regionalmeeting brought together over 120policymakers representatives fromacademia international organizations andcivil society from seven countries in theregion to reflect on the challenges ofsteering the rapid urbanization taking placein South Asia in a more sustainable mannerRead more

Strengthening transport connectivity forregional integration in Southern Asia

Mr Rajiv Kher Commerce SecretaryGovernment of India and HE ProfGowher Rizvi International AffairsAdviser to Prime Minister of Bangladeshjointly inaugurated the Policy Dialogue onStrengthening Transport Connectivity inSouthern Asia organized by ESCAP jointlywith the Asian Institute of TransportDevelopment on 19shy20 November 2014 inNew Delhi Ambassadors seniorgovernment officials transport expertslogistics operators heads of thinkshytanksand subregional groupings and

development banks were among 120 participants of the Policy Dialogue

Read more

India MDGs ReportLaunched Dr Shamshad Akhtar United Nations UndershySecretaryshyGeneral and Executive SecretaryESCAP Dr TC A Anant SecretaryMinistry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation and Chief StatisticianGovernment of India Mr LouisshyGeorgesArsenault UNICEF Representative andResident Coordinator ai and Dr NageshKumar Head UNESCAPshySSWA at the launch

World Economic and SocialProspects 2015 Launchedalong with ESCAP SurveyYearshyend Update 2014Dr Nagesh Kumar of UNESCAPshySSWA amdProf Parni Dua Director of Delhi School ofEconomics launched the World Economicand Social Prospects 2015 along with theESCAP Survey Yearshyend Update 2014 at an



of India and the MDGs Towards aSustainable Future for Allrdquo a report preparedby UNESCAP in New Delhi on 4 February2015 The highshyprofile launch was followed bya panel discussion

Read more

event organized by the UN InformationCentre moderated by its director Ms KiranMehrashyKerpelman in New Delhi on 20January 2015

Read more

ESCAP at major forums in South Asia SDGs amidst wealth and income disparities15th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 5shy7 February 2015 New Delhi

During her visit to New Delhi Dr

Shamshad Akhtar took part in a highshy

level panel on SDGs in a World of

Wealth and Income Disparities at

the 15th Delhi Sustainable

Development Summit (DSDS) held in

New delhi during 5shy7 February 2015

She stressed that inclusive growth

was the best means to tackle

inequality and underscored the role of

the SDGs in advancing this agenda

ldquoFully integrating sustainability into our development discourse is ever more urgent as evidence

grows of pervasive inequalities and wealth concentrationrdquo Dr Akhtar stated ldquo Inequality is the

nemesis of sustainable development It undermines both the pace and durability of growth which

in turn retards progress on poverty and access to servicesrdquo said Dr Akhtar The session was

chaired by Mr Yvo De Boer DirectorshyGeneral Global Green Growth Institute

Pathways to Sustainable Development complex butattainable Dr Akhtar17th Sustainable Development Conference 9shy11 December 2014 Islamabad

ldquoNew leadership across South Asia

has a unique opportunity to

mainstream the sustainable

development agenda to ensure

effective development outcomes for

all peoplerdquo stated Dr Shamshad

Akhtar United Nations Undershy

SecretaryshyGeneral and ESCAP

Executive Secretary delivering the

Keynote Address to the Seventeenth

Sustainable Development



Conference Organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute the Conference was

held from 9 to 11 December 2014 in Islamabad Pakistan under the overarching theme

lsquoPathways to Sustainable Developmentrsquo

Read more

ESCAP also coshyhosted a session on Regional Economic Cooperation and Connectivity in South

Asia at the SDC In addition Dr Nagesh Kumar delivered a key presentation at the session on

Materializing the SDGs in South Asia

ESCAP delivers key messages on SDGs regionalcooperation for food security amp connectivity at the 7th SouthAsia Economic Summit7th South Asia Economic Summit 5shy7 November 2014 New Delhi

As a partner organizer ESCAP

contributed to three plenary sessions at

the 7th South Asia Economic Summit Dr

Nagesh Kumar chaired the plenary

session on Postshy2015 Development

Agenda and SDGs A South Asian Perspective with distinguished speakers from Bangladesh

India Nepal Pakistan rerpresenting thinkshytanks and the governments

ESCAP coshyhosted the plenary session on

Regional Cooperation for Food

Securityin South Asia It brought together

experts involved in ESCAP project on the

subject to share the findings of their work

Dr Nagesh Kumar of ESCAP delivered a

special address at the plenary session

on Regional Transport Connectivity in

South Asia based on the work done by

ESCAP in the transport connectivity in

the subregion and beyond

Read more



Role of Business Enterprises in Sustainable TransformationDr Shamshad Akhtar Executive

Secretary of ESCAP delivered a well

attended special lecture at Imperial

Hotel under the auspices of the

Global Compact Network India

(GCNI) on 4 February 2015 on

Sustainable Transformation of India

and the Role of Business

Enterprises ldquoPostshy2015 sustainable

development has the potential to break new ground as a wideshyranging and transformational

new development paradigmrdquo stated Dr Akhtar underscoring the critical role that business

enterprises can play in implementing the sustainable development agenda in terms of resources

necessary for implementation and the need for business enterprises to realign their priorities and

adopt sustainable business practices Full speech here

Seamless Transport Connectivity for shared prosperity inAsiashyPacificDr Shamshad Akhtar Executive

Secretary of ESCAP delivered a

keynote speech on Seamless

Transport Connectivity for shared

prosperity in Asia and the Pacific at

the India International Centre New

Delhi under the auspices of the

Asian Institute of Transport

Development (AITD) on 3 February

2015 at a dinner hosted in her honour by Mr KL Thapar Chairman of AITD Dr Akhtarrsquos speech

focused on transport and trade connectivity in South Asia intermodal transport systems as key to

improved connectivity rail corridors the Asian Highway and TransshyAsian Railway networks and

a roadmap for future action on subregional connectivity

Regional brainstorming on Employment and SocialProtection in South Asia

ESCAP is a part of the South Asia Research Network on Employment and Social Protection for



Inclusive Growth (SARNET) established jointly with the ILO South Asia Decent Work Team and

the Institute for Human Development and supported by IDRC SARNET organized an

international conference on Meeting the Challenges of Employment and Social Protection in

South Asia on 15shy16 December 2014 in New Delhi Dr Nagesh Kumar delivered opening

remarks at the conference besides making a presentation at the first plenary session on

employment creation through manufacturing oriented structural transformation of South Asian

countries

5th Technical Workshop on Afghanistans WTO AccessionThe Fifth Technical Capacity BuildingWorkshop on Afghanistanrsquos WTO Accessionjointly organized by ESCAP and theInternational Trade Centre Geneva wasinaugurated in New Delhi on 1 December2014 by HE Mr Shaida Mohammad AbdaliAmbassador of Afghanistan in India Thethreeshyday programme which brought together25 officials from the Government ofAfghanistan and representatives of the countryrsquos Chamber of Commerce also covered field visitsto export promotion organizations Read more

Bhutan explores trade policy choicesThe Trade and Investment Division of ESCAP (with support from ESCAPshySSWA Office) in

collaboration with the Department of Trade Ministry of Economic Affairs Government of Bhutan

organized the National Workshop on Trade Policy Choices Accession to WTO and APTA from 8

to 10 December 2014 in Thimphu The threeshyday workshop sought to build the capacity of

government officials and business leaders in trade policy choices The workshop covered a

broad range of topics from trade and sustainable development to regional trade agreements in

AsiashyPacific accession procedures of APTA and challenges and opportunities related to

Bhutanrsquos accession to the WTO Several trade policy making tools were also presented

The workshop inaugurated by Honrsquoble Secretary Mr Dasho Sonam Tshering Ministry of

Economic Affairs Bhutan brought together over 30 Government officials and trade experts from

the Royal Government of Bhutan

Standing Committee meeting of the AsiashyPacific TradeAgreement



Mr Ravi Ratnayake Director Trade and Investment Division ESCAP and Dr Nagesh Kumar

addressed the inaugural session of the 45th Standing Committee meeting of APTA held at the

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade New Delhi from 10 to 12 November 2014

UN SecretaryshyGeneral meets with the UN Country Team inIndia

The United Nations Secretary general Mr Ban Ki

Moon during his visit to India on 11shy13 January

2015 delivered a public address at the Indian

Council of World Affairs besides calling on

dignitaries in the Indian Government He also

addressed the UN staff at a town hall meeting

and held a breakfast meeting with the Heads of

UN Agencies Dr Nagesh Kumar Head of

ESCAPshySSWA was invited by the UN Resident

Coordinator among the three heads of agencies to brief the SecretaryshyGeneral and his delegation Dr Kumar in

his briefing highlighted the Indiarsquos possible role and potential in the sustainable development agenda especially

through its unique frugal engineering capability its regional and SouthshySouth Cooperation activities and ESCAPrsquos

work in support of regional cooperation and connectivity

Dr Shamshad Akhtar visits ESCAPshySSWA and APCTT



Dr Shamshad Akhtar Executive Secretary of ESCAP took time out of her very hectic schedule of meetings and

engagements during her first official mission to New Delhi to visit the ESCAP South and SouthshyWest Asia Office

and the the Asia Pacific Centre for the Transfer of Technology (a regional institute of ESCAP) coshylocated in

Qutub Institutional Area in New Delhi and interacted with staff members

Outreach and networking Post Disaster Need Assessment in South AsiaA fiveshyday SAARC Training Programme on PostshyDisaster Needs Assessment was conducted in SriLanka from 13 to 17 October with participants from all SAARC countries ESCAPshySSWA supported theprogramme by providing a resource person through APCICT at the request of the SAARC DisasterManagement Centre main organizer of the event The course objective was to support theprofessionalization of damage and loss assessment in postshydisaster scenario in order to assess the realimpact of disaster and assist timely sustainable recovery

Role of ICTs for People with DisabilitiesESCAP (Social Development Division and ESCAP South and SouthshyWest Asia Office) participated in theInternational Conference lsquoFrom Exclusion to Empowerment shy The Role of ICTs for Persons withDisabilitiesrsquo held in New Delhi from 24 to 26 November 2014 The event built on the United NationsConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and sought to promote the human rights ofpersons with disabilities and encourage all stakeholders to take concrete measures for theempowerment of persons with disabilities through the effective applications of ICTs

Railway Freight Corridors for Shared Prosperity Dr Nagesh Kumar addressed the Rail Infrastructure Summit 2014 organized by the PHD Chamber ofCommerce and Industry held on 21 November 2014 in New Delhi Dr Kumar presented highlights fromthe recent ESCAP Connectivity Policy Dialogue at the Summitincluding ESCAP proposal of extendedcontainer train corridor for Southern Asia

Technology Access for Postshy2015 Development Agenda



Dr Nagesh Kumar addressed the first plenary

session of the 25th Anniversary Conference ofthe United Nations Universityshy MERIT as aformer staff member of the University TheConference lsquoFuture Perspectives on Innovationand Governance in Developmentrsquo was held from26 to 28 November 2014 in Maastricht theNetherlands Dr Kumar made a presentation onGlobalization of Innovative Activity TechnologyTransfers and the Postshy2015 DevelopmentAgenda Trends Patterns and Some Issues for Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Theprogramme of the event along with presentations are availablefrom httpwwwmeritunuedu25yearsprogramme

Ms Ivana Brnovic Associate Economic Affairs Officer ESCAPshySSWA and Ms Swayamsiddha Pandaconsultant participated in a twoshyday seminar organized by Eurostat and the Government of India onldquoQuality Matters in National Accountsrdquo Ms Brnovic chaired Session 1 of the seminar on Quality in theEuropean Statistical System (ESS) and internationally

Mr Joseph George Consultant ESCAPshySSWA participated in the conference on Trade Transport andTransit Facilitation in South Asia organized by the Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS)International on 29shy30 October 2014 in Kolkata India The presentation by ESCAPshySSWA focused onTransport connectivity corridors

Further to the launch of the India and the MDGs report Dr Nagesh Kumar participated in the LokhSabha TV programme Insight on 6 February 2015 to discuss key findings from the study Otherpanelists incuded Dr Amitabh Kundu Institute for Human Development and Dr Santosh MehrotraJawaharlal Nehru University The programme was moderated by Shalini Verma

SSWA News Digest The South and SouthshyWest Asia Development Monitor looks at newscoverage of the ESCAP South and SouthshyWest Asia Officersquos activities as wellas items from news outlets in the subregion and beyond related to theoffices broad priority areas

Inclusive Growth and Achieving the MDGsSDGs

Private sector must foster inclusive growth Shamshad AkhtarEven as Asia Pacific strives for prosperity inequality poses a threat to the regionrsquos economic dynamism saysAkhtar who identifies reducing inequality and eliminating extreme poverty as key to the regionrsquos sustainablefuture The private sector has the power and potential to lift people out of poverty and income deprivation andcan take steps such as impact investing creating job opportunities and offering social protection and benefits todo so she adds [Inclusive growth] is important for the private sector because addressing income inequality willlead to more business opportunities and expansion of markets Rising incomes are already driving a significantexpansion of the middle class in Asia which creates more demand for goods and services Fundamentallywhether related to income opportunity or power we need to reduce the inequalities in Asia through action thatsupports and promotes human rights and which eradicates the structural causes of inequality This could involvestrengthening social protection and creating decent and productive work for all ensuring universal access topublic services such as education and healthcare and guaranteeing civil and political freedoms This is especiallyimportant to empower women and youth across our region (Source EcoshyBusiness)

Postshy2015 development agenda must create inclusive growth Asoke Mukherji



India will be the real battle ground for the success of postshy2015 development agenda which must createconditions for rapid and sustained inclusive economic growth in developing countries a senior Indian diplomathas said This agenda we believe is a unique opportunity for the international community to redouble itscommitment to ending poverty and hunger and to set the world on the path to sustainable development withbalanced emphasis on the social economic and environmental dimensions he said at a session on Role ofIndia as a vibrant democracy in the postshy2015 development agenda Speaking on the occasion National VicePresident of the BJP Vinay Sahasrabudhe said that India and the US the two main democratic countries of theworld have a distinct responsibility in leading a global plan of action towards promoting democracy and protectingpluralism (Source The Economic Times)

Bangladesh is a growth model for its resilienceBangladesh is a model country for the rest of the world thanks to its resilience and the continuous economicgrowth in the face of crisis said the secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)Bangladesh is no longer a test case for development as suggested by economist Just Faaland a few decadesago John Danilovich said Faaland had said if Bangladesh can develop any country could In the recoverypath of the global economy from recession the Asian nations especially Bangladesh played a vital roleDanilovich told The Daily Star in an interview in Dhaka recently For a balanced global economic growth the gapbetween the developed countries and the least developed countries (LDCs) has to be narrowed through theapplication of different trade tools As part of the measure to trim the gap trade facilitation an agenda that wasadopted by the member states of the WTO in its ninth ministerial conference in Bali last year can be a good toolto boost economic growth in the LDCs he said (Source The Daily Star)

G20 Leaders Pledge Inclusive Growth for Women More Promises or Real Possibility Under the blazing heat of Brisbane on Sunday November 16 leaders of the 20 countries with the highest GDPsin the world released a joint communiqueacute focusing on economic concerns highlighting plans to increase globaleconomic growth create jobs increase trade and reduce poverty One of the important highlights of this yearrsquoscommuniqueacute is article 9 which declared a commitment to reduce the gap in participation rates in the workforcebetween men and women in the G20 countries by 25 percent and pledged for 100 million more women in thelabor force by 2025 Reducing the gap in womenrsquos workforce participation rate and increasing job creation willinarguably contribute to improving the status of women across Asia where labor participation rates range from ahigh 80 percent in Nepal and 79 percent in Cambodia to a low 16 percent in Afghanistan and 24 percent inPakistan Women make up more than half of the population in Asia and the UN estimates that the AsiashyPacificeconomy would earn an additional $89 billion annually if women were able to achieve their full economic potentialin these countries (Source The Asia Foundation)

Natureshybased development policies can bring inclusive growth in Himalayan regionIn a recent policy dialogue held in Kolkata representatives of four countries of the eastern Himalayas and theneighbourhood have stressed on the need to include the value of natural capital in national accounts Thedialogue titled lsquoNatural Capital for Inclusive Growth Options and Tools for South Asiarsquo brought together morethan 40 senior policy practitioners ecologists economists and statisticians from Bhutan Myanmar Nepal andstates in north east India Participants also included forestry officers statistical officers economic planningofficials and representatives of influential NGOs The experts called for greater efforts to make policies that takeinto account the full value of ecosystem services This message of the policy dialogue was ldquoWe now need to thinkbeyond GDP as traditional indicators are limited to measuring social progress and fail to account for wellbeingand sustainabilityrdquo (Source The Echo of India)

World leaders call for sustainable and inclusive growth at Vibrant Gujarat summitWorld leaders got up together to call in one voice for the inclusive and sustainable development for a bettertomorrow at the Vibrant Gujarat platform While the host Prime Minister Narendra Modi spelled the vision ofinclusiveness of small with big and poor with rich the international leaders invited for the seventh edition ofVibrant Gujarat Global Summit shy 2015 at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar showed togetherness in dealing withglobal poverty and economic woes The Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay termed the summit as aneconomic pilgrimage for him I will be going for a religious pilgrimage later this week to Varanasi and BodhaGaya But first I have come to the economic pilgrimage here he said This is the worlds largest platform toexchange ideas and innovation What is discussed here by political leaders influences not just entire country oreconomies in South Asia but the rest of the world he said at the gathering which included representatives fromover 100 countries including political and business leaders (Source The Hindu Business Line)

Private players role important in South Asias urban systemUnion Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said recently that the role of private players was crucial inthe growth of South Asias urban systems The minister [attending the Regional Policy Dialogue on SustainableUrbanization in South Asia organized by ESCAP] said that given the rapid rise in urban population in the regionthe gigantic urban demographic transformation needs to be managed in a manner that is more sustainable interms of environment and more inclusive in economic and social terms He called for thoughtful actions strategicplanning and harnessing of new technologies so that there is a smarter more inclusive and sustainabledevelopment pattern Naidu said that real growth of the regions urban systems can come through innovativeplanning effective governance and dependable funding He said that the role of the private sector is crucial inthese efforts as it can provide new knowledge and technology for enabling development of sustainableinfrastructure and also for raising the financial resources required to bring about the change (Source IndiaGazette)

President [of Pakistan] for joint efforts by South Asian States for sustainable developmentPresident of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain called for joint efforts by the South Asian countries to eliminate povertyand inequality and to achieve the global development goals Addressing the inaugural session of 17thSustainable Development Conference in Islamabad the President called the need for developing a mechanism toaddress the challenges that were impacting the process for a prosperous and developed region PresidentMamnoon said that Pakistan gives high priority to the goals of sustainable development He stressed thatresources should be used for the betterment of lives of people by taking steps for sustainable development ratherthan taking temporary measures President Mamnoon said sustainable development would ensure stability in theregion and would promote economic progress social justice and environmental protection (Sourcebrecordercom)

Pakistans urbanization A challenge of great proportionsIn about 10 years nearly half of Pakistans 188 million people are set to live in cities compared to only a thirdtoday But how can the country cope with such migration levels The inadequate provision of shelter to the urbanpoor continues to be one of Pakistans most immediate problems People are moving from the countryside tourban areas in droves and for various reasons One is to seek better livelihoods and access to (relatively) betterservices such as education and healthcare A second reason for migration shy one with troubling consequences forstability and security shy is war and conflict The third chief factor for Pakistans rapid urbanization is naturalpopulation growth Rapid urbanization is both a blessing and a curse for growth and development Pakistan has a



flourishing yet underappreciated IT sector and urban growth can strengthen this sector shy which has urban rootsAt the same time the economy will suffer if you have a potentially large and young urban work force that cant beproductive because it does not have access to water and energy and schooling necessary to keep it healthy andeducated Also it is important to keep in mind that Pakistani cities are already quite unsafe and having morepeople pouring into them will only make the situation more volatile (Source DW)

Regional Cooperation and ConnectivityChina in Nepal Increasing Connectivity Via RailwaysChina is planning to extend the QinghaishyTibet Railway to Nepal by 2020 The rail link is expected to be extendedto the borders of India and Bhutan as well Through QinghaishyTibet Railway China connected its existing railwaysystem to Tibetrsquos capital Lhasa in 2006 ndash which passes through challenging peaks on the Tibetan highlandstouching altitudes as high as 5000 meters as part of government efforts to boost economic development in theneglected region In August 2008 six additional rail lines were proposed to connect to QinghaishyTibet railway ndashsuch as the LhasashyNyingchi and LhasashyShigatse in the Tibet Autonomous Region the Golmud (Qinghaiprovince)shyChengdu (Sichuan province) Dunhuang (Gansu province)shyKorla (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region)and the Xining (Qinghai Province)shyZhangye (Gansu) The project is expected to be completed before 2020 whilethe LhasandashShigatse segment was completed in August 2014 (Source Eurasia Review)

SAARC countries negotiating on railways motor vehicles deals SAARC countries are negotiating regional agreements on railways and motor vehicles with a view to improvingconnectivity in the region Bangladesh has sent three senior officials to New Delhi to attend the fifth SAARCIntergovernmental Group on Transport to be held today where they will discuss transport corridor and how toimplement the recommendations of SAARC Regional Multimodal Transport Study said sources in the foreign andcommunications ministries ldquoNew Delhi is very much interested in connectivity It hosted an expert group this monthwhere they discussed an agreement on motor vehiclesrdquo said an official of the Foreign Ministry There were otherexpert group meetings where they also negotiated an agreement on railways An official of the CommunicationsMinistry said SAARC has already developed a multimodal transport study ldquoIt is still under negotiation to have acomprehensive policy on multimodal transportrdquo he said The Asian Development Bank carried out a study onSAARC Regional Multimodal Transport where it identified five areas of cooperation such as road rail aviationmaritime and transport facilitation (Source Dhaka Tribune)

PakistanishyAfghan agree to further promote bilateral tradePakistan and Afghanistan here on Thursday [1 January] agreed to further strengthening of bilateral trade andeconomic relations by addressing bottlenecks in way of promoting trade and investment between the twocountries The twoshycountries also agreed to facilitate the trade and commerce sectors of their respective countriesbesides starting negotiation on Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and trilateral trade agreement for benefit ofthe people of both the countries (Source Daily Times)

Food amp Energy SecurityIndia Australia sign landmark civil nuclear dealIndia and Australia inked a significant civil nuclear agreement in [on 5 September 2014] which will allow Canberrato supply uranium to the energyshystarved country even as the two countries discussed ways to enhancecooperation in key areas of security and trade The nuclear pact was signed after a meeting between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott during which the two leaders discussed crucialbilateral regional and international issues including the situation in Iraq and Ukraine India and Australia whichhas about a third of the worlds recoverable uranium resources and exports nearly 7000 tonnes of it a yearlaunched talks on uranium sales in 2012 after Canberra lifted a longshytime ban on exporting the valuableyellowcake to Delhi to meet its ambitious nuclear energy programme (Source Zeenews)

Vulnerable to climate change South Asia at risk of food water insecurityEnvironment and food security experts said that better water management is essential to ensure food security inSouth Asia Prakash Tiwari a professor at Uttarakhandrsquos Kumaun University said that the Himalaya had some ofthe biggest glaciers of the planet which constitute headwaters of some of the largest transshyboundary river basinson earth He said that climate change was likely to cause disruption of hydrological regimes of the Himalayanwatershed and change the discharge volume and availability of water which will increase frequency and severityof extreme events both in mountains and lowland He suggested restoring watershed through integrated landforest and water management in groundwater recharge that improved availability of access to water for drinkingand food production Babar Shahbaz of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad in his presentation on climatechange agriculture and food security in the highlands with Kaghan Valley of KhybershyPakhtunkhwa as case studysaid that South Asia was highly vulnerable to climate change SDPIrsquos energy analyst Maha Kamal whilediscussing the watershyenergyshyfood nexus said that by 2050 the South Asiarsquos population was likely to exceed 22billion from the current 15 billion ldquoWith an estimated 600 million people subsisting on less than $125 a day inSouth Asia even small climate shocks can cause irreversible losses and tip a large number of people intodestitutionrdquo (Source The Express Tribune)

Pakistan overhauls its solar industry for the betterA series of revolutionary new policies designed to increase the development of solar PV have been introduced inPakistan The government has announced that it is to approve net metering program in an effort to increase solardeployment and ease the burden on the nationrsquos strained grid [] Further the Pakistani government hasapproved the use of gridshyconnected solar energy as it aims to plug an energy shortfall that regularly plunges partsof the country into darkness Many rural areas often face 11shyhour blackouts daily with the national power shortfallcalculated at around 6 GW Another interesting policy announced was the introduction of mortgageshybackedfunding for PV installations For the first time the State Bank of Pakistan and the Alternative Energy DevelopmentBoard will allow home owners to leverage their mortgage to pay for a rooftop system up to the value of five millionrupees ($50000) This scheme has been labeled the Green Market Domestically Pakistanrsquos solarmanufacturing sector has so far struggled to meet demand producing just 10 MW of local PV content in2014 (Source PV magazine)

Disaster Risk ReductionTsunami a decade laterA decade ago a magnitude 91 earthquake struck beneath the Indian Ocean near Indonesia generating amassive tsunami The worlds worst recorded natural disaster claimed the lives of 227000 people in 14 countriesand deprived about 14 lakh survivors of livelihoods The immediate economic cost was estimated at $99 billion



but the longshyterm cost of environmental damage was immense According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk thereare more efficient early warning systems better evacuation procedures in place and a greater awareness globallyof the broad damage that disasters can inflict on our societies A positive that emerged out of the destruction wasthat the tsunami acted as a wakeshyup call The sheer magnitude of the disaster spurred the internationalcommunity into immediate action The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) was set up Processes andstandard operating procedures have been put in place but a lot remains to be done (Source The Tribune)

AsiashyPacific better poised to respond to disasters as experts agree on statistics standardsA United Nationsshybacked group of experts agreed [on 30 October 2014] on core principles for establishing acommon basic range of disastershyrelated statistics while marking a milestone towards better disaster riskmanagement in Asia and the Pacific Speaking at the opening of the conference Kilaparti Ramakrishna Directorof ESCAPrsquos East and NorthshyEast Asia Office (ESCAPshyENEA) underscored the significance of the grouprsquos firstmeeting ldquoWith climate change the frequency and severity of extreme weather events are expected to riserdquo hesaid ldquoThis means there is a tremendous need for better disaster risk management for society and theenvironmentrdquo he added Almost 12 million people in Asia and the Pacific have lost their lives to disasters duringthe past three decades and efforts to manage disaster risks in the region ndash as well as in the rest of the world ndashhave been hampered by a lack of timely reliable and comparable statistics mainly due to the absence ofcommon standards the group stressed0020ldquo (Source UN News Centre)

Global Partnership for Building Productive Capacity in LDCsBangladesh nominated as LDCs coordinator again Bangladesh has been nominated as coordinator of the LeastDeveloped Countries (LDCs) at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for the year 2015 ldquoThe LDCs nominatedBangladesh as their coordinator at WTO again for the year 2015 due to its vital role in bargaining with thedeveloped world on behalf of the LDCsrdquo according to a press release shared yesterday Bangladesh earlierserved as the coordinator of LDCs several times after it was formed in 1995 Bangladesh was first elected as thecoordinator for LDCs in 1996 when the then Industries and Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed attended the firstWTO Ministerial conference in Singapore At the first WTO ministerial conference Bangladesh earnedappreciation from LDC for raising the demand of dutyshyfree and quotashyfree market privileges (SourceDhakaTribune)

Sri Lanka starts work on global consumer complianceSri Lanka has begun compliance work on the global consumer end of its exports basket on 18 September and []top experts from Genevarsquos WTO are in town to facilitate the pioneering effort ldquoToday more countries around theworld continue to reduce their border tariffs either unilaterally or through an increasing number of free tradeagreements called as RTAs ndash Regional Trade Agreements Nonshytariff barriers such as SPS and TBT measureshave begun to create a significant impact on international trade Unfortunately most of these measures appear tobe highly complex and increasingly challengingrdquo said Ministry of Industry and Commerce Secretary Anura Siriwashyrdene Department of Commerce DG RDS Karunaratne addressing the event said ldquoWith increasing tradeamong WTO members come growing health concerns about the goods crossing their borders as a result of useof SPS increasing At times they serve to protect the importing country and other times they act as nonshytariffbarriers Sri Lanka is facing a number of SPS related tariffs when it comes to exports For Sri Lanka which tryingto expand exports this issue is a serious obstacle At the same time as a net food importer and as a country withliberal trade regime Sri Lanka too needs to learn of the SPS measures to protect its own consumersrdquo (SourceDaily FT)

Poor countries must undergo economic transformation to beat povertyUNCTAD urges least developed countries to innovate upgrade skills and focus on more sophisticated productsand activities The report ndash Growth with Structural Transformation A Postshy2015 Development Agenda ndash says theinternational community must learn from the ldquoLDC paradoxrdquo most of these countries look certain to fall well shortof the millennium development goals (MDGs) which expire next year despite growth exceeding 7 before 2008and averaging 57 after the 2008 financial crisis Complicating the task for LDCs ndash a group that includescountries as diverse as Cambodia Sierra Leone and Bhutan ndash is the uncertainty surrounding export prices amidthe financial crisis and less aid from cashshystrapped donor countries UN member states are drawing upsustainable development goals (SDGs) to replace the MDGs The new targets will be introduced from September2015 A draft set of 17 SDGs with 169 targets cover the broad themes of the MDGs including ending povertyand hunger and improving health education and gender equality(Source the Guardian)

AsiashyPacific LDCs issues 24shypt declarationA threeshyday Ministerial Meeting of AsiashyPacific LDCs on Graduation and Postshy2015 Development Agenda endedwith the issuance of a 24shypoint Kathmandu Declaration for Sustainable Graduation of AsiashyPacific LDCs Themeeting has concluded with emphasis that graduation should not be seen as an end goal but should rather beregarded as a means to achieve structural change poverty eradication and economic diversification in thecountry while simultaneously contributing to sustainable development goals in an accelerated and effectivemanner The LDCs in the meeting have maintained that productive capacityshybuilding is essential to fosterstructural transformation for accelerated and inclusive growth employment generation and poverty eradicationand that they should be at the center of national policies and international support measures for graduation andsmooth transition ldquoWe underline the growing importance of regional cooperation and integration in the context ofAsia Pacific LDCs especially in the areas of economic cooperation and trade integration investment promotioninfrastructure connectivity energy water climate change and disaster risk reduction and other relevant areasrdquosaid the declaration (Source my Republica)

LDCs must focus on higher productivityLeastshydeveloped countries like Bangladesh will have to focus on structural transformation and humandevelopment to achieve the sustainable development goals in the postshy2015 period said an UN report Thecountries need to go beyond economic growth to complete a virtuous circle of sustainable economic and humandevelopment said the Least Developed Countries Report 2014 by UNCTAD The report also said theinternational community must learn from the failure of most of the poorest countries to meet the MDGs despiteregistering strong economic growth a phenomenon the report dubs the LDC paradoxThe report shyshy subtitledGrowth with Structural Transformation A Postshy2015 Development Agenda shyshy said the LDCs are the battlegroundon which the postshy2015 development agenda will be won or lost The LDC paradox arises from the failure of LDCeconomies to achieve structural changes despite having grown vigorously as a result of strong export prices andrising aid flowsSome other developing countries shyshy not categorised as least developed shyshy especially those thatmostly depend on commodities for production employment and exports have also faced a similar paradox(Source Star Business Report)

Nepal top recipient among LDCs



Nepal was the top recipient of remittance as the share of the GDP among least developed countries (LDCs) lastyear according to a report released [on 18shydecshy2014] by the UNCTAD In terms of LDCsrsquo progress towardsachieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the report said Nepal achieved or is on track of reducingextreme poverty undershyfive mortality rates maternal mortality rates and access to drinking water ldquoAsian LDCssuch as Bhutan Cambodia and Nepal which have experienced rapid transformation of their economic structuresover the past two decades have also been among the highest achievers in reducing povertyrdquo the report readThe MDGs have set seven sets of outcome targets for reduction of extreme poverty and hunger improvements inbasic standards of human development (in terms of education gender equity health and access to water andsanitation facilities) and environmental sustainability At the time when Nepal was having GDP growth rate of 45percent in 2014 it was below the average of 6 percent for the Asian LDCs that include Afghanistan BangladeshBhutan Cambodia Lao Peoplersquos Democratic Republic Myanmar and Yemen (Source ekantipurcom)

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Number 27 15 August 2014shy14 October 2014

Number 25 15 Aprshy14 June 2014 Number 26 15 Juneshy14 Aug2014

Number 23 February 2014 Number 24 15 Febshy14 April 2014



Number 21 October 2013 Number 22 Dec 13shy Jan14

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Promoting regional cooperation for inclusive and sustainable

development in South and SouthshyWest Asia

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Urban Affairs The twoshyday regionalmeeting brought together over 120policymakers representatives fromacademia international organizations andcivil society from seven countries in theregion to reflect on the challenges ofsteering the rapid urbanization taking placein South Asia in a more sustainable mannerRead more

Strengthening transport connectivity forregional integration in Southern Asia

Mr Rajiv Kher Commerce SecretaryGovernment of India and HE ProfGowher Rizvi International AffairsAdviser to Prime Minister of Bangladeshjointly inaugurated the Policy Dialogue onStrengthening Transport Connectivity inSouthern Asia organized by ESCAP jointlywith the Asian Institute of TransportDevelopment on 19shy20 November 2014 inNew Delhi Ambassadors seniorgovernment officials transport expertslogistics operators heads of thinkshytanksand subregional groupings and

development banks were among 120 participants of the Policy Dialogue

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India MDGs ReportLaunched Dr Shamshad Akhtar United Nations UndershySecretaryshyGeneral and Executive SecretaryESCAP Dr TC A Anant SecretaryMinistry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation and Chief StatisticianGovernment of India Mr LouisshyGeorgesArsenault UNICEF Representative andResident Coordinator ai and Dr NageshKumar Head UNESCAPshySSWA at the launch

World Economic and SocialProspects 2015 Launchedalong with ESCAP SurveyYearshyend Update 2014Dr Nagesh Kumar of UNESCAPshySSWA amdProf Parni Dua Director of Delhi School ofEconomics launched the World Economicand Social Prospects 2015 along with theESCAP Survey Yearshyend Update 2014 at an




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ESCAP Executive Secretary visits India South... · 2015-06-11 · Prof Parni Dua, Director of Delhi...

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