ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

1. A COMMITMENT TO INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The economic crisis has rolled back the hard earned development gains of the past several decades. Sustainable development is under threat with fewer resources available to deal with both development threats and challenges. The human costs of this crisis have been incredibly high as millions lose their jobs and even more fall into poverty and income insecurity. Now more than ever, there is need for commitment to inclusive and sustainable development focusing on low carbon green growth and placing high priority on reducing poverty and inequality. I would like to contextualize today's discussions in regional realities and solutions as part of the global response, using Asia-Pacific as the example. Asia- Pacific is a region of great diversity and imbalances. It is home of global economic powers and also the largest number of the world's poor. It has some of the best health systems but also the highest number of maternal deaths and under weight children. It has succeeded in more than halving the world's absolute poverty but it is also the emitter of 34% of CO2 into the environment. 1

ESCAP member States are re-shaping and re-prioritizing the development agenda. The outcomes from a High-level Regional Policy Dialogue on "The food-fuel crisis and climate change" in Bali in December 2008, provided comprehensive recommendations, which resulted in the adoption of a resolution at ESCAP's 65th Commission session this year. The resolution urged member States to implement regional cooperation initiatives to address the impact of the crisis in the Asia-Pacific region. ESCAP has supported its member states to adopt a new development paradigm - an agenda for inclusive and sustainable development. The next Commission Session will identify and invest in building blocks to realize this agenda for the region. Essentially it is about bringing economic, social and ecological balance in an integrated whole to address various development deficits and inequalities facing our region. 2. THE IMPORTANCE OF REGIONAL DIMENSIONS While the financial crisis started in the West as a result of a collapse in the investment banking sector, it has become an economic-trade crisis in Asia and the Pacific. As the most trade- dependent region in the world, ESCAP members have been hit hard by the contraction in global merchandise and commodity trade. As the crisis unfolds it is estimated that as many as 24.8 million people in the Asia-Pacific region could lose their jobs. Millions more will experience rising income insecurity. The people most at risk are the poor and informal sector casual workers. Women comprise the majority of affected workers in the manufacturing sector. Also affected are migrant workers. These are areas that traditionally lack job security and other benefits such as health care, retirement packages and retrenchment allowances. Experience from Asia's 1997 economic crisis indicates that while economic growth may resume relatively quickly, it can take up to 10 years to recover the ground lost to poverty and social break down, increase in people smuggling and trafficking. As migrant workers lose their jobs, there has been a significant decline in remittances., which have shown to be an important component of the GDP for a number of smaller economies, like Kyrgyzstan and Nepal, and many of the Pacific island countries. In fact five of the main remittance-receiving economies in the world are located in Asia and the Pacific (Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines). Workers in crisis-sensitive sectors like tourism, construction and IT are particularly vulnerable. There have already been reports of an increase in the return of unemployed migrants to India, the Philippines and Indonesia. Some countries in the region now have policies to retrench migrant.download