Promoting Regional Cooperation and SDG localization for Poverty Reduction
Introduction
On behalf of UNDP I am pleased to join the 13th ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction. I am particularly proud of UNDPs association with this forum for the last 12 years in partnership with IPRCC.
The Asia Pacific Region has made great development strides over the past decades. China and South East Asia have witness unprecedented growth and have been able to achieve remarkable progress in poverty reduction, improvement of the quality of social services and human development.
SDGs as a global frame
The SDGs are the most ambitious development endeavor ever attempted by human kind. The agenda gives expression to a series of development lessons we have learnt over perhaps 20- 30 years. That economic development and progress is not premised only on GDP indicators of what's happened, but also must be rooted in a social reality and an environmental reality.
Simply put, the SGDs are about 3 things: It is about reconnecting the economy with society, decoupling the economy from adverse environmental impacts, and leaving no one behind.
Particularly, the last of these principles is paramount for sustainable development. All the 17 SDGs speaks to this and in particular SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere. Using the SDGs as a frame reminds us of the economic social and environmental aspects of poverty reduction.
This year marks the fourth year of the adoption of the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Hence, it is necessary sometimes to take stock of the great achievements that have been made, and the challenges that remain before us and plot a future direction.
Status of SDGs and poverty reduction in ASEAN and China
Looking at the ASEAN region and Chia in terms of poverty reduction and progress on the SDGs, the glass is more than half full.
The proportion of ASEAN population living with less than 1.25 PPP per day has consistently declined from 47% in 1990 to 14% in 2015.[1] Progress is being made in key areas of health such as maternal mortality and tuberculosis prevalence, which are falling in almost all countries. Access to education has grown and is now 95 percent at primary level in all countries.
China's broad-based and high-speed economic growth helped more than 800 million people rise out of poverty in four decades, while the poverty incidence dropped to 1.7% at the end of 2018.[2]
China and ASEAN have given great impetus to the world effort towards poverty reduction. China is well on its way to eradicate extreme poverty by 2020, thereby making a substantial contribution to SDG 1, a decade ahead of target.
Challenges ahead
The progress has been commendable; however, challenges still remain at a global scale. While countries like China have made tremendous progress, globally, extreme poverty stands at 783 million.[3] If we look beyond income poverty to understand how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways, the number of the poor is even bigger. According to 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)[4] released by UNDP and Oxford University, some 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty, which is almost a quarter of the population of the 104 countries for which the 2018 MPI was calculated.
The ASEAN region has a considerable potential for further development, but daunting challenges remain. According to the 2019 Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report from ESCAP, “On its current trajectory, Asia and the Pacific will not achieve any of the 17 SDGs by 2030.”[5] Let us be frank; with half the
[1] ASEAN Key Figures 2018, https://asean.org/?static_post=asean-key-figures-2018
[2] National Bureau of Statistics, http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201902/t20190215_1649231.html
[3]UN’s Sustainable Development Report 2018
[4] https://ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/global-mpi-2018/
[5] ESCAP, Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report, https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/publications/ESCAP_Asia_and_the_Pacific_SDG_Progress_Report_2019.pdf
world’s population, if Asia and the Pacific don’t achieve the SDGs, the world cannot.
I want to touch on 3 major challenges related to the region:
First, despite progress in reducing poverty, vulnerability to falling back into poverty is high in ASEAN. The unique geographic and climatic conditions of the ASEAN region makes it one of the world’ s most vulnerable regions to disasters caused by natural hazards as well as climate change impact. More than 50 percent of global disaster mortalities occurred in the ASEAN region during the period of 2004 to 2014. The total economic loss was US$91 billion. About 191 million people were displaced temporarily and disasters affected an additional 193 million people. [1]
Second, progress on poverty reduction varies widely across ASEAN countries and also within different provinces of China. For example, the current extreme poverty rate is negligible – less than 1 percent in Malaysia and Thailand – whereas it is still as high as 19.9 percent in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and around 10 percent in three other large members[2].
Third, Inequality is a big challenge. Within ASEAN countries, the share of national income held by the top one percent of the population, even in better-off countries, has been historically high. Singapore has one of the largest shares of national income held by one percent of the population. The Gini coefficient is increasing in most of the ASEAN countries. Income inequality in China today is among the highest in the world. The standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID) estimates the Net Gini coefficient for China at 50 points as of 2013, which is above various averages and among the highest in Asia.
SDG localization can be a key tool for development strategies and UNDP’s engagement
[1] ASEAN (2016), ASEAN Vision 2025 on Disaster Management. Available at http://www.asean.org/storage/2012/05/fa-220416_DM2025_email.pdf
[2] SDG localization in ASEAN: Experiences in Shaping Policies and Development Pathway
So how do we address the challenges that threaten the progress? One is to strengthen our regional cooperation and accelerate our efforts at transformational change.
Poverty reduction needs an integrated, coordinated and inclusive approach to leave no one behind. The SDGs are a useful framework to generate concerted efforts to address the root causes and challenges of the multiple dimensions of poverty.
Globally, UNDP provides support to governments to integrate the SDGs into their national development plans and policies. At the regional level, UNDP is working to transform development and accelerate progress on the SDGs. Let me provide the framework we use for SDG localization and some examples:
- First, Policy and Institutional Framework that ensures cooperation between all levels of government, the private sector, civil society and communities. For example, in Pakistan, UNDP helped set up SDG Coordination Units to promote coordination and utilization of public resources, bringing together the social, environmental and economic dimensions.
- Second, Data Ecosystems that provide reliable and disaggregated data, which goes beyond national statistics and allows for good decision-making, and to monitor and report on SDGs indicators. Example, a community-based monitoring system (CBMS) has been used for SDG tracking and prioritization at the local level. The CBMS complements the existing national data system by filling in data gaps for local planning and programme implementation that can lead to more targeted interventions towards meeting the SDGs.
- Third, Multi-Stakeholder Engagement to work together, especially to support youth and women’s entrepreneurship, at the local level. Example in Viet Nam, “Saigon Innovation Hub” (SIHUB) was set up to encourage social entrepreneurship through skilling young people (especially marginalized) on innovation and providing support.
- Fourth is Financing to sustain and scale-up. Example is ‘Thai Corporate Governance Fund’ which incentivizes businesses to follow good corporate governance principles by allowing certified companies to access additional funding. The asset management companies in charge dedicate 40% of the management fee to further finance initiatives promoting good governance.
- Last but not least, innovation, to guide, support and spin off new ideas. Example, Indonesia used design thinking to prototype a new public transportation service for schoolchildren driven by public-private partnerships with local residents, which was scaled up.
In China, UNDP is cooperating with a leading think tank to develop a first-ever SDG index for Chinese cities, which will reflect the progress towards sustainable development at the city level. Supported by this assessment tool and methodology, UNDP is also supporting the first city level SDG report in the Asia-Pacific region, for the city of Shenzhen.
UNDP’s engagement in regional cooperation and BRI
With its mandate to promote sustainable development, UNDP is well positioned to support China and ASEAN countries on regional cooperation and pursing SDGs. ASEAN, China and UNDP are already working together to achieve the SDGs.
I want to close by sharing few modalities for regional cooperation:
- Knowledge exchange is an important tool in international developments. While workshops and symposiums are sometimes frowned upon, it is a necessity. One such event is the Annual Joint Symposium which began in 2016, funded by the ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund, to discuss, share experiences, and facilitates cooperation among member states. While the above examples that I mentioned previously are country specific, it lends itself for regional knowledge sharing and lessons learnt. These case studies come from a recent report published by UNDP – SDG Localization in ASEAN: Experience in Shaping Policy and Implementation Pathways, which was supported by China, and ASEAN.
- South-South and Triangular Co-operation initiatives are another important avenue particularly in terms of knowledge exchange, technology transfer and financing. Across developing countries, there are countless experiences of positive and innovative policies and best practices. All countries are keen to share their experiences and lessons learned to support SDG achievement. Since 2010 there is strengthened cooperation between China and UNDP on South-South and Triangular Co-operation. For instance, UNDP supported Cambodian farmers to draw on China’s vast experiences in cassava cultivation, production and marketing.
- The Belt and Road Initiate provides another opportunity. UNDP views BRI as a potential to accelerate the achievements of the SGDs in partner countries, given its massive financing flows and investments in infrastructure, institutional capacities and people. In this regard UNDP’s engagement in BRI is primarily aimed at assisting BRI partner countries to achieve their sustainable development goals by using the opportunities provided by BRI.
- SDG financing is another area: At the face of it, financing the SDGs should be manageable. The estimates project an investment of $5 to $7 trillion per year[1] needed, out of a global GDP of approximately $115 trillion[2] to deliver the SDGs. That being said, the mobilization of both public resources and private investments falls far short of what is needed to achieve the SDGs and Paris. Herein lies the problem that also can be addressed through regional cooperation.
UNDP has built up a wealth of knowledge and experiences to further facilitate and lead regional and country collaborations in financing, technology and development programs. UNDP often goes beyond conventional boundaries of projects to provide platforms that unite economic, social and environment actors, to co-create and harness integrated solutions.
Thank you. Questions are most welcome and I look forward to a productive discussion.
[1] http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/wir2014_en.pdf
[2] Business Commission on Sustainable Development Ideas for Action for a long term and sustainable financial system, 2017
