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Welcome to the new site of the Social Development Division of ESCAP. This site is a work in progress. Apologies for any possible error or broken link, which we are aiming to fix soon.
Please visit our site again soon for more updates!
Feedback or comments are welcome, at escap_sdd@un.org (subject: Feedback on website)
Issues
Despite significant advances towards gender equality and women’s empowerment having been made in the region in recent years, many women continue to face discrimination and institutionalized legal and structural barriers to full and equal participation in society and the economy.
ESCAP’s focus on population dynamics reflects the changing landscape of the region. Asia-Pacific, with over 4.2 billion people, is home to 61 per cent of the world’s population. It is a diverse region, with seven of the world’s ten most populous countries, but also many of the world’s smallest countries, several of which are located in the Pacific.
An important area of work for ESCAP is that of ageing, reflecting the fact that 58 per cent of the world's older persons live in Asia-Pacific and that the number of older persons in the region is estimated to triple from 438 million in 2010 to 1.26 billion by 2050. One in four people in the region will then be over 60 years old.
Asia-Pacific contains 60 per cent of the world’s youth population, or 750 million young persons aged 15 to 24 years. Today’s generation of youth is the largest in history, with the majority living in developing countries. Countries in the ESCAP region are in a prime position to harness the full potential of their youth populations to promote inclusive and sustainable development.
International migration in Asia-Pacific is on the rise, with 53 million documented migrants in 2010 (one in four of the world’s migrants) and a high number of non-recorded migrants.
Despite high and long-lasting economic growth, inequalities are widening in most countries in the Asian and Pacific region and the livelihood of almost one billion people rest on fragile foundations. At the same time, there is increasing consensus by national governments that in order to reduce these inequalities and build fairer and more inclusive and resilient societies, there is a necessity fo
One of ESCAP’s central areas of work is disability. Asia and the Pacific is home to around 650 million persons with disabilities, by far a much larger number than any other region of the world. Many of them live in poverty and suffer discrimination, exclusion, inequality and prejudice. The realization of the rights of persons with disabilities is a far cry from where we stand now.
In Asia and the Pacific, the HIV still represents a significant challenge with the epidemic outpacing the response. For every person who starts treatment, there are currently almost two new infections, concentrated among key populations at higher risk - people who buy and sell sex, people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and transgender people.