400 mn in Asia-Pacific live in extreme poverty, says latest update

More than one in four people in Asia and the Pacific’s developing countries experience poverty in multiple dimensions.

This includes additional deprivations that impact their health, education, and standard of living.

GAINS NOTABLE

Some 400 million people in the region still confront poverty as part of their daily lives due to widening income inequality.

This is despite the region’s impressive gains in reducing income poverty in recent decades, according to a new report launched today by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in a forum here.

The report was released as part of the three-day Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) that began here on Thursday.

Titled ‘Eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing Asia-Pacific,’ it notes that 400 million people — or one in ten — in the region live in extreme poverty.

INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIPS

“As outlined in the report, a renewed strengthening of the social contract is critical for addressing multi-dimensional poverty and the high marginalisation and exclusion of people,” said Shamshad Akhtar, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

The report also provides opportunities for innovative partnerships in which diverse stakeholders can find common ground to inclusive and sustainable growth to tackle entrenched problems and build synergistic solutions to the challenges of poverty in both rural and urban areas, Akhtar said.

“This requires strong policy signals, clear commitments and allocation of resources to address the multiple dimensions of poverty,” she added.

The report underscores the importance of addressing poverty through pro-poor urbanisation, effective management of rural-urban transitions, and investment in sustainable infrastructure.

Although people in extreme income poverty are more likely to live in rural areas, they are increasingly found in cities. Therefore, provision of high quality, low-carbon, and resilient infrastructure is essential.

INFRA NEEDS

Speaking on the occasion, Bambang Susantono, ADB Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development, said Asia’s infrastructure needs are large and will only grow, with a recent ADB report suggesting that the region will need $1.7 trillion annually in climate-resilient infrastructure investments.

“How our region chooses to bridge the infrastructure gap will have profound global implications. Concerted efforts, as highlighted in the tripartite report, can help us cover the last mile for infrastructure towards inclusive and sustainable development.”

URBANISATION PERIL

According to Haoliang Xu, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, as urbanisation booms, cities in the region are powering innovation, economic growth, and prosperity, lifting many out of poverty. But there has also been an increase in inequality and exclusion in some regions,he added.

ESCAP, ADB, and UNDP also launched a new SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Data Portal on Thursday to provide up-to-date data on SDG indicators for governments and stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific, along with an outlook assessment on SDGs in the region.

All three products have been developed under a renewed partnership between the three organisations to help track SDG progress and support countries in the region to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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