Poverty Alleviation and Inclusive Social Development in Asia and the Pacific

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1 Poverty Alleviation and Inclusive Social Development in Asia and the Pacific Nagesh Kumar, Director, Social Development Division, UN-ESCAP At EGM on Strategies for Eradicating Poverty to achieve Sustainable Development for All, DSPD/DESA, New York, 11 May 217 Asia and the Pacific is the fastest growing region in the world Real GDP growth in developing Asia-Pacific, advanced economies and the world, Year-on-year percentage change Developing Asia-Pacific Advanced economies World 1

2 Asia-Pacific has also led the world in poverty reduction Yet nearly 4 million people living in extreme poverty Population in poverty, by region ( ) Population living in poverty, thousands (US$1.25/day, 25PPP) Rest of the world Africa % of the population in Asia-Pacific living in poverty Latin America and Carib. Asia and the Pacific % of the population in Asia-Pacific living in poverty Data: ESCAP (215) Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 215. India Bangladesh Lao PDR Nepal Philippines World Indonesia Pakistan Vietnam Cambodia Sri Lanka China Kyrgyzstan Turkey Mongolia Iran, Islamic Rep. of Thailand Kazakhstan Russian Federation Poverty is concentrated in Select Countries $1.9/day 199s 21s $3.1/day Data: World Bank (217) World Development Indicators. Note: Data was used for the earliest available year between 199 and 1995, and for the latest available year between 21 and 214, for all countries in Asia-Pacific for which data was available. 2

3 Key factors explaining persistence of poverty Rising inequalities and inequalities of opportunities such as health and education Lack of decent work opportunities Poor coverage of social protection Social exclusion Rural-urban divide Inequalities have increased across many countries in the region Richest 1% have almost twice the income of poorest 4% Inequalities have increased in most countries over the past two decades Concentration of wealth is even sharper with top 2% upto 8% of wealth Source: ESCAP, based on World Bank, World Development Indicators 3

4 Inequalities are driven by inequalities in opportunities such as access to education and health care and basic services such as water and sanitation and electricity Rural-urban and income divide in terms of access to secondary education Variations in net secondary education attendance ratios Total Urban Rural Poorest Richest Attendance in secondary education (%)

5 Inadequate coverage of health care results in high ocket health expenditures Unequal Access to health care Source: ESCAP, based on WHO National Health Accounts database Rural-Urban Divide in access to electricity, Asia and the Pacific, Population with access to electricity (%) Papua New Guinea Vanuatu Solomon Islands Timor-Leste Kiribati Myanmar Cambodia Bangladesh Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Lao PDR India Nepal World Mongolia Philippines Afghanistan Marshall Islands Sri Lanka Tonga Indonesia Pakistan Samoa Tuvalu Vietnam Iran, Islamic Rep. Kyrgyz Republic Palau Tajikistan Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Turkey Thailand Singapore Russian Federation New Zealand New Caledonia Maldives Macao SAR, China Korea, Rep. Kazakhstan Japan Hong Kong SAR, China Fiji China Brunei Darussalam Bhutan Azerbaijan Australia Armenia Total Urban Rural 5

6 Asia and Pacific has lagged behind in terms of Women s economic empowerment Increased gender parity in education and economic growth have not translated into higher Female Labour Force Participation (FLFP) rates Women LFPR in Asia has actually declined Percentage change in labour force participation, 199 to 216 Women Men -2 Latin America and Carib. Europe Africa North America Asia and the Pacific Pace and quality of job creation has suffered 4 AZE GDP Growth (211 PPP) 3 CHN MAC TKM 2 KHM IND MNG TJK UZB BTN KAZ LAO ARM VNM AFG MDV GEO BGD LKA IDN PHL SGP 1 MYS THA KGZ NPL PNG PAK KOR TUR RUS HKG SLB IRN AUS WSM NZL VUT FJI TON JPN BRN Total Employment Growth (%) 6

7 Low coverage of pensions and other types of social security for the working-age population Coverage of women generally even less Total Women Rising proportion of older persons who risk being left behind 7

8 Over 65 million persons with disabilities in Asia-Pacific face exclusion Persons with disabilities are likely to be less employed Employment gaps become higher in higher income countries When employed, persons with disabilities tend to work in the informal sector, self-employed There is double discrimination of women with disabilities 1 to 7% GDP loss because of exclusion of persons with disabilities Asia-Pacific is a major source as well as the destination of migrants who remain highly vulnerable Migrants from Asia-Pacific: 98 mln Migrants to Asia-Pacific: 6 mln Lack of legal and social protection leads to vulnerability and unequal treatment: Women migrants are particularly vulnerable, given demand for female labour is typically in jobs with lower levels of protection, such as domestic work Regulatory constraints often prevent family reunification Main Countries of Origin in the Region India 15.6 mln Russian Federation 1.6 mln China 9.5 mln Bangladesh 7.2 mln Pakistan 5.9 mln *Source: UN DESA, 215 Main Countries of Destination in the Region Russian Federation 6.8 mln India 5.1 mln Thailand 3.9 mln Pakistan 3.6 mln Australia 3.2 mln 8

9 Policy Agenda for Policy Agenda for Poverty Alleviation in Asia Pacific Harness the job creating potential of economic growth Growth Acceleration alone will not be adequate Job creating structural transformation holds the key For South Asia, structural transformation towards greater focus on manufacturing would create 143 million additional jobs by 23 9

10 Broaden the coverage of Social Protection and universal education and health care Policy simulations suggest that in South Asian countries, even with manufacturing oriented structural transformation, poverty will not vanish by 23 Broadening the coverage of social protection and universal health and education will be needed to eliminate poverty Harness the productive potential of gender equality in per cent in $ trillion Latin America East and South East Asia (excl.china) China Sub-Saharan Africa Middle East and North Africa India South Asia (excl. India) Incremental 225 GDP (in %): Full potential scenario Gender parity (in %) Incremental 225 GDP (in %): Best-in-region scenario Incremental 225 GDP (214 $ trillion): Best-in- region scenario Incremental 225 (in GDP 214 $ trillion): Full potential scenario 1

11 Enhance financial inclusion Males Females NZL AUS JPN SGP HKG KOR IRN MNG MYS CHN THA RUS TUR KAZ IND UZB GEO IDN NPL BTN VNM AZE BGD PHL MMR KGZ ARM KHM TJK AFG PAK TKM Social Inclusion of vulnerable groups Special programmes for inclusion of vulnerable and marginalized groups Older people Persons with disability Migrant workers Indigenous people Among others 11

12 Thank you UNESCAP UNESCAP 12