ESCAP seeks to identify emerging social issues that affect the poor and other vulnerable and disadvantaged groups of people in the region. It increases awareness and understanding of how various issues like population ageing, migration, lowered fertility rates and HIV/AIDS affect each country and the region as a whole.

Recent ESCAP initiatives in the Pacific

• Disability in the Pacific
• Toolkit for Implementing and Monitoring the East Asia and Pacific Regional Commitment and Action Plan against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)
• Pacific Regional Workshop on Combating Poverty and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth, (September 2003)
• ESCAP CSEC Project

Links

• Committee on Emerging Social Issues (2006) (2005) (2004) (2003)
• Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-Free and Rights-Based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific

ESCAP promotes regional and sub-regional cooperation for sustainable development to strengthen capacity of Governments to design and implement environment and sustainable development policies and strategies to maximize benefits from globalization.

ESCAP's initiatives in the Pacific

• National Sustainable Development Strategies and the Mauritius Strategy
• Pacific Renewable Energy Training Initiative (PRETI)
• Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Network
• Advisory Mission to Kiribati 15 January to 6 February 2007 training for Ministry's officers on issues relating to environmental management and sustainable development.
• Advisory Mission to Tuvalu (8 to 19 February 2007) - hands-on training on the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project development and formulation, as well as assistance in developing a project proposal on Sustainable Land Management.
• Sub-regional Workshop on the Trade and Environment Dimensions in the Food and Food Processing Industries in the Pacific, Suva, Fiji 7-8 June 2006

Links

• World Summit for Information Society
• Phnom Penh Regional Platform;

ESCAP promotes the use of information, communication and space technology to achieve Millennium Development Goals, including poverty alleviation, improved opportunity for education, improved health, and empowerment of women.

ESCAP's initiatives in the Pacific

• Pacific Connectivity
• Sub-regional Symposium on ICT for Development in Pacific Island Developing Countries, 6-9 December 2004, Suva, Fiji,

Links

• Asia and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT)
• Asia and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communications Technology and Development (APCICT)
• World Summit on the Information Society

ESCAP seeks to strengthen the capacity of countries in the Asia-Pacific region to identify and analyse opportunities and constraints for poverty eradication and to design and implement policies and programmes to reduce poverty.

ESCAP's initiatives in the Pacific

• Sustainable Development Strategies
• Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation
• Pacific Urban Management
• “Economic Growth in a Vulnerable Island Nation: an Empirical Study of the Aid-Growth Nexus in Vanuatu”, T.K. Jayaraman and B.D. Ward, Asia-Pacific Development Journal Vol. 13, No. 2, December 2006
• “The Impact of Foreign Aid on Poverty and Human Well-Being in Papua New Guinea”, Simon Feeny, Asia-Pacific Development Journal Vol. 10, No. 2, December 2003
• “Small Islands' Quest for Economic Development”, Naren Prasad, Asia-Pacific Development Journal Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2003

Links:

• Asia Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (APCAEM)
• Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Secondary Crops' Development in Asia and Pacific (CAPSA)
• Committee on Poverty Reduction (2006) (2005) (2003)
• Mauritius Strategy for the further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.
• Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific
• Least Developed Countries
• Economic and Social Survey for Asia and the Pacific
  
• Asia-Pacific Development Journal
  

ESCAP works towards improving statistical capabilities of countries in the region by strengthening national statistical infrastructure and promoting improvement in data quality, international comparability, and the appropriate use of new techniques.

ESCAP's initiatives in the Pacific

• 2nd Sub-regional Course in Statistics for the Pacific Island Developing Countries, 6 February - 1 March 2006, Guam
• 5th Sub-regional Course in Statistics for MDG Indicators, 24 April - 5 May 2006, Nadi, Fiji
• 3rd Sub-regional Course in Statistics for the Pacific Island Developing Countries, 20 November - 1 December 2006, Nadi, Fiji.
• Meetings and Training Courses by UNESCAP on Statistics

Links

• Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP)
• National Statistical Offices in Asia and the Pacific
• Pacific Regional Information System (PRISM)

ESCAP assists developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region to understand and implement regional and multilateral trading and investment systems in order to help them to participate more effectively in the global economy.

ESCAP's initiatives in the Pacific

• ESCAP maintains the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Agreements Database (APTIAD) The Database includes information on the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) , Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement PICTA and South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement SPARTECA
• The Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT) , is an open regional network composed of leading trade research institutions across the ESCAP region to enhance the capacity of research institutions.
• “Potential Costs of Adjusting to Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement ”, David J E Smith, ESCAP Regional Advisor on Development Policy, September 2006
• National Seminar on Prospective Benefits of Joining the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement for Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 8 May 2007
• National Seminar on the Economic and Social Impacts of PICTA, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 22 to 24 May 2007

Links

• Committee on Managing Globalization
• Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER)
• 'Building the Capacity of ACP Countries in Trade Policy Formulation, Negotiations and Implementation' ("Hub and Spokes")

ESCAP provides assistance to Governments in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen transport infrastructure, transport facilitation, transport policy and the tourism sector.

Recent ESCAP activities in the Pacific

• Seminar on Sustainable Development of Ecotourism in Pacific Island Countries, Suva, Fiji, 2001
• Seminar on Planning for Community Tourism Initiatives in Pacific Island Countries, Suva, Fiji, 2004
• “Tourism Week” with south-pacific.travel, Tonga, October 2007
• ESCAP Tourism Review No. 23: Ecotourism Development in the Pacific Islands
• Sustainable Tourism Development Issues in Pacific Island Countries Special Body on Pacific Island Developing Countries, Seventh Session, 14-15 May 2002, Bangkok
• Sustainable Transport and Tourism Development in the Pacific, Special Body on Pacific Island Developing Countries, Sixth Session, 31-31 May 2000, Bangkok

Links

• Asia-Pacific Transport and Tourism Database
• South-Pacific Travel