The Asia-Pacific Declaration on Advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Beijing+25 Review was adopted at a three-day Ministerial Conference, organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific in November 2019.
A key driver for progress is Sustainable Development Goal target 5.5 on promoting and strengthening equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life. Women leaders are making an impact across Asia Pacific. Women’s presence in local, state and national levels of government has influenced higher female voter turnout, increased gender sensitive policies and a stronger focus on improving social, health and safety services.
The transboundary Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basins provide for food, water, and energy to a very large population. However, unregulated infrastructure developments, unsustainable land use practices, and climate change pose a threat to the river system. Conflicts over natural resources cause poverty and marginalization of riverine communities, with women being adversely affected by how water resources are managed, having to deal with flash floods, temporary displacement and other water related shocks, including water scarcity in summer months.
With support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), UNCDF has been working to address system-wide constraints to women’s financial inclusion through working with financial services providers (FSPs) in ASEAN. To this end, UNCDF, under its ASEAN regional and country programme, has developed a toolkit composed of an institutional gender self-assessment tool (GSAT) and a standardised process with facilitator guides to support FSPs in reviewing and evaluating their existing gender approach.
In 2017/18 the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) undertook the first comprehensive review of micro-merchants in Bangladesh engaged in the retail sector, particularly in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) operating mostly in rural areas.
This brief provides insights on how gender responsive budgeting can help the transport sector in Viet Nam promote gender equality.
Transport is both a key element of national infrastructure and a key to gender equality. Poor investment in gender responsive transport infrastructure makes it more difficult for women to access paid work, for example. This brief by ADB and UN Women introduces gender responsive budgeting and provides recommendations on how to implement it in the transport sector in Viet Nam.
This study presents evidence designed to inform future practice and policy making with regard to contributions of the youth towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
It provides information that supports the design and implementation of youth programs. Five programs were examined across three youth-focused or youth-led organizations: Plan International UK, the Asian Development Bank, and AIESEC.
This publication provides the first Sustainable Development Goal assessment of the situation of women and girls in Asia and the Pacific based on data from official sources.