UNESCAP Press Releases
These press releases provide a detailed summary of the key statements and issues coinciding with the release of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008.
- Neglect of Agriculture Condemns 218 Million People to Poverty, ESCAP Says
Chronic neglect of the agricultural sector in Asia and the Pacific is condemning 218 million people to continuing extreme poverty, and widening the gap between the region’s rich and poor, according to the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008, launched at multiple locations today throughout the region by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
- ESCAP to Launch Key Economic and Social Survey on Asia-Pacific Region
This year’s Survey, entitled “Sustaining Growth and Sharing Prosperity,” says 218 million – a third of the region’s poor, largely living in rural areas – could be lifted out of poverty by raising agricultural productivity if governments address decades of policy neglect and failure in the agricultural sector. The Survey also calls for a comprehensive liberalization of global trade in agriculture, as this would take a further 48 million people out of poverty in the region.
Country Press Releases
These country press releases were developed in conjunction with the launch of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2008.
