The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 - form a blueprint agreed to by all the world's countries and all the world's leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world's poorest.

ESCAP works closely with UNDP and ADB in providing assistance to Governments in the Asia and the Pacific. (See joint UNESCAP/UNDP/ADB joint project: Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific). In the Pacific ESCAP collaborates closely with the UNDP Pacific Regional Centre.

Meetings and Conferences

• The Millennium Summit
• The World Summit 2005
• MDG-based Planning and the Development of a Pro-poor Policy and Budgeting Framework , 2-6 October 2006, Nadi, Fiji
• Sixty-Third Commission Session : 17-23 May 2007, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Useful Links and Resources

• Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific , E/ESCAP/63/2
• Regional MDG Reports
• Pacific Regional Information System (PRISM) data on MDGs

Pacific Focus: Millennium Development goals plus the Mauritius Strategy & The Brussels Programme of Action

The mission EPOC is restated to focus on supporting Pacific countries in their efforts to attain their Millennium Development Goals through the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy.

The Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small island developing states (SIDS) is the blueprint for SIDS and the international community to address national and regional sustainable development in SIDS that takes into account economic, social and environmental aspects. It sets out the basic principles as well as specific actions required at the national, regional and international levels to support sustainable development in SIDS.

The Programme of Action was first endorsed by at the Global Conference on Sustainable Development of SIDS held in Barbados in 1994. In 2005 a review meeting was held in Mauritius, which adopted the Mauritius Strategy for Further Implementation of the Programme of Action.

Small island developing States and territories share a number of disadvantages, including small population, a narrow range of resources, susceptibility to natural disasters, excessive dependence on international trade and vulnerability to global developments. In addition, they suffer from lack of economies of scale, high transportation and communication costs, and costly public administration and infrastructure. More on Small island developing states

What is the Global Mandate?
The Mauritius Strategy for the further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States was adopted by 129 members and associated member countries of regional commissions in a global conference held in Mauritius in 2005. It covers the period 2005 to 2015 and succeeds the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA). The Mauritius Strategy is the United Nations Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, and represented the only global development strategy that addresses the unique development problems of this important and vulnerable group of countries. The Strategy includes 19 Chapters relating to the development concerns that include environmental management (e.g. climate change, waste management, marine and coastal management, energy), transport and communication, trade, national sustainable development strategies, education health and knowledge management.

ESCAP assists Pacific Island governments to implement the Mauritius Strategy, particularly through assistance in the development and implementation of national sustainable development strategies as the main mechanism to implement the Mauritius Strategy on the national level. Key partners of the Centre are the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and SPREP as well as the SIDS Unit of UN-DESA , UN-OHRLLS , UNESCO and the UNDP Pacific Centre. More on Sustainable Development Strategies

Key Resolutions

• Mauritius Declaration
• Mauritius Strategy
• ESCAP Resolution on the Mauritius Strategy
• Barbados Plan of Action
• Agenda 21
• Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
• Rio Principles

Conferences and Meetings

• Expert Group Meeting on Mauritius Strategy Implementation, Suva, Fiji, 6-7 June 2007
• Experts Group Meeting on Mainstreaming and Monitoring the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation, 27-28 April 2007, New York
• OECD/UNDESA/UNESCAP Workshop on Developing Sustainability Strategies in Asia and Pacific, 8-9 March 2007, Bangkok
• Workshop on National Sustainable Development Strategies in Pacific Island States, 4-5 May 2006, New York
• 62nd Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 6 - 12 April 2006, Jakarta, Indonesia
• 9th Session of the Special Body on Pacific Island Developing Countries, 4-5 April 2006, Jakarta, Indonesia
• Mauritius Conference , Port Luis, Mauritius, 8-14 January 2005
• World Summit on Sustainable Development, 25 August - 4 September 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Barbados + 5 year review, 27-28 September 1999, New York, United States
• Barbados Conference for SIDS,25 April - 6 May 1994, Bridgetown, Barbados
• United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), 3-14 June 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), annual sessions

Useful Links and Resources

• SIDSnet
• Mauritius Conference Highlights: 14 January 2005
• From Barbados to Mauritius, UNESCO
• SIDS links
• SIDS Statistics
• List of SIDS
• Mauritius Strategy Implementation matrix
• UNDESA Pacific SIDS project
• More on ESCAP and Small island developing states

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are a group of 50 countries which have been identified as "least developed" in terms of their low GDP per capita, their weak human assets and their high degree of economic vulnerability. In the Pacific Kiribati, Tuvalu, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are classified as LDCs. See LDC criteria and list of LDCs. More on Least Developed Countries

What is the Global Mandate?
The Brussels Declaration and the Programme of Action of the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.

ESCAP's assistance to LDCs is coordinated by the Least Developed Countries Coordination Unit . ESCAP works closely with partners such UN-OHRLLS and UNCTAD.

Conferences and Meetings

• Special Body on Least Developed and Landlocked Developing Countries
• Committee for Development Policy
• Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, 14-20 May 2001, Brussels, Belgium,.
• Expert Group Meeting on the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 , 14-16 February 2006, Phnom Penh
• Regional Review of the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010, 14 and 15 March 2006, Bangkok
• High-level Roundtable Discussion on the Midterm Comprehensive Global Review of the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for the Decade 2001-2010 prior to the High-level Meeting of the 61st Session of the United Nations General Assembly

Useful Links and Resourcess

• The ESCAP A to Z of Asia-Pacific LDCs
• Challenges of the Least Developed Countries: Governance and Trade
• Voices of the Least Developed Countries of Asia and the Pacific
• UNCTAD LDC reports

The Pacific Plan was endorsed by Leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in October 2005. The Goal of the Pacific Plan is to: Enhance and stimulate economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security for Pacific countries through regionalism.

The 62nd Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific recognized the Pacific Plan and requested ESCAP to take into account to the development approach of regionalism and the priorities set out in the Pacific Plan in technical cooperation activities for Pacific Island developing countries (resolution 62/12 )

International

• Core International Human Rights Instruments (Including CEDAW and Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
• World Summit for Information Society
• Financing for Development

Regional

• Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-Free and Rights-Based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific
• EPOC's work on disabilities in the Pacific)
• Pacific Urban Agenda (PUA): ESCAP resolution 60/7
  • EPOC's work on the Pacific Urban Agenda
• Phnom Penh Regional Platform