Sk Escap Adb Undp

8/10/2019 Sk Escap Adb Undp

1/23


2/23

OutlineBackground

Revisiting Some Key Issues for the Post-2015Agenda

Way Forward : How to Address them in thePost-2015 Agenda


3/23

Background The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by the world leaders over

a decade ago have achieved important results

South Asian region is on track for achieving many of the MDGs although theprogress is not even across the countries

MDG format has its strengths

It is an integrated framework which influences policies at the national leveland it gives priority to various dimensions of human development

It helps to strengthen the global partnership for development and directglobal and local resources for human development

It provides a common framework and an improved coordinationopportunity for development partners

It facilitates various forms of intra-regional cooperation


4/23

Background (Cont.)

However, there are some weaknesses in

MDGsNo clear targets for some goals

E.g., Goal 8 -- global partnership for

developmentLack of monitoring mechanisms

Lack of consultation

Some important development issues havebeen ignored

f h


5/23

Some Key Issues for the Post-2015

Agenda Issues that have not been considered at the beginning

when MDGs were set. Productive employment

Social protection

Inequality

Peace and security

Governance

Emerging issues due to changing global environment

Demographic transition Increased migration

Climate change and natural hazards


6/23

Revisiting Some Key Issues forthe Post-2015 Agenda

d i l


7/23

Productive Employment

Informal Sector Employment inSouth Asia (% for the latest year)

Predominance of informalSector Employment All the South Asian economies

display the predominance of theinformal sector in labormarkets. The share of theinformal sector in employmentranges from 60% in Sri Lanka to95% in Nepal

High Unemployment andUnderemployment Although unemployment rates

at the aggregated level remainrelatively low, unemploymentamong selected groups (such asyouth and educated) continuesto be high

Underemployment is also highin many countries in the region

Source: South Asia Development Matters: Moreand Better Jobs in SA, The World Bank,Washington D.C. , 2012

Country All sectors Non-agricultural

Afghanistan 92 79

Bangladesh 87 74

Bhutan 88 51

India 86 71

Maldives 56 43

Nepal 95 81

Pakistan 89 80Sri Lanka 60 58


8/23

Social Protection

Poverty Headcount Ratio based on theNational Poverty Line (for the latest

year)

South Asia has the worldslargest concentration ofpoor people

more than 500 millionpeople live on less thanUS$ 1.25 a day (World

Bank, 2012)

For many of the SouthAsian countries,population below thepoverty line ranges from20-30% (with theexception of Sri Lanka)

Source: World Development Indicators, 2008-2012,World Bank

Country Poverty HCI

Afghanistan 36.0

Bangladesh 31.5

Bhutan 23.2

India 29.8

Maldives NA

Nepal 25.2

Pakistan 22.3

Sri Lanka 8.9


9/23

Social Protection (Cont.)

Elderly Population as a % ofTotal Population

Some countries are facing theproblem of aging population.

In Sri Lanka, populationover 60 years is 9.2 % (and over 65 years is 7.2%)and it is excepted todouble by 2020

In other countries, thoughthe percentages remain atlower level, in terms ofabsolute numbers, elderlypopulation remains at

higher level

Source: ILO, Social Security Department, ILO database,2012.

Country

Population Over 65% of elders out of

total populationTotal Male Female

Afghanistan NA NA NA NA

Bangladesh 6,309,740 3,048,394 3,261,346 3.9

Bhutan 33,482 16,798 16,684 3.3

India NA NA NA NA

Maldives 13,549 6970 6,579 4.5

Nepal NA NA NA NA

Pakistan 7,294,340 3,755,028 3,539,312 4.3

Sri Lanka 1,511,943 671,034 840,909 7.6

Need to establish a fully-fledged,comprehensive and interlinked

social protection system


10/23

Migration

Approximately 24 million people in South Asia(or 1.5 per centof the regional population) reside outside of their country ofbirth (in 2011)

Migration occurs both intra- and inter-regionally

43 per cent of the South Asian migrants relocate regionally, while35 per cent live in the Middle East and 20 per cent reside inOECD countries

South Asian migrants basic rights are far from addressed

Source: Caglar Ozden and Christopher Robert Parsons, International Migration and DemographicDivergence between South Asia and the West, in Ejaz Ghani (ed.), Reshaping Tomorrow: Is South Asia Ready

for the Big Leap?,World Bank, 2011.


11/23

Food Security Global food prices increased by 10% between June and July 2012

with staples such as wheat increasing by 25% during this period.

The crisis continues to have effects on food and nutrition securitythroughout South Asia

Average food price inflation in the region reached double digitsduring end of 2010 to beginning of 2011

Bad weather, trade curbs, oil prices and bio-fuel diversions have allled to higher food prices, which destabilizes the incomes and foodsecurity of millions across the region

The malnutrition status of poor households in South Asia wasalready precarious before the increase in food prices. The food priceincrease has further exacerbated this vulnerability

Source: World Bank (2012)


12/23

Climate Change The impacts of higher temperatures, more variable precipitation,

more extreme weather events, and sea level rise are felt in SouthAsia

The consequences of such environmental changes include: decreasedwater availability and water quality an increased risk of floods and droughts reduction in water regulation in mountain habitats

decreases in reliability of hydropower and biomassproduction increased incidence of waterborne diseases increased damages and deaths caused by extreme weather decreased agricultural productivity adverse impacts on fisheries

adverse effects on many ecological systems

As a result of these changes, climate change could hamper theachievement of many of the MDGs, such as poverty eradication,child mortality, and environmental sustainability

Source: World Bank (2012)


13/23


14/23

Post2015 Development AgendaAddressing the economic, social and environmental

issues discussed earlier requires:

Global Partnership

National Level Policies

Regional Cooperation


15/23


16/23

National Level Policies National Governments have taken various steps to address

specific issues Examples:

Employment Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

India

Khushal Pakistan Programme- Pakistan (to create employment) Social Protection

Samurdhi Programme - Sri Lanka Benazir Income Support Program Pakistan

Food Security Thiposha programme and Mid-day meal programme in Sri Lanka

But, national level policies of many countries have notadequately addressed these issues


17/23

Social Protection in South Asia: National

Level Programmes

Source: Social Protection in South Asia: A Review, 2009

Social Security Social Assistance

Formal sector General social assistance

Sectoral social assistance -Transfer

and cash & kind

Emergency

transfers

Country

Sickness,

Unemploymen,old age, health,

insurance

Poverty

related Child benefits

Healthrelated

transfers

Educationrelated

transfers

Employmentrelated

transfers

Transfers to

cope with

shocks,

conflicts andnatural

disasters

Afghanistan

Bangladesh

Bhutan

India

Maldives

Nepal

Pakistan

Sri Lanka


18/23

Why Regional Cooperation? Both global partnership and national level policies

have not been fully successful in all the countries

Resources are not evenly distributed across countries

Regional cooperation helps knowledge sharing

Significant proportion of the population live close to

the borders between countries. Regional cooperationinitiatives will unlock the growth benefit of geographyand support income convergence across regions andcountries


19/23

Regional Cooperation: Existing Efforts Social Protection

SAARC Plan of Action on Poverty Alleviation prepared in 2002 Good governance Sound macro-economic management policies Combating poverty through promotion of employment in small and

medium enterprises, micro-finance institutions and tourism sector Expanding social safety nets Expanding intra-regional trade and capital flows

SAARC Decade of Poverty Alleviation (2006-2015). deepen pro-poor orientation of growth process enhance investment in human capital Increase investment in infrastructure improve service delivery mechanism

SAARC Social Charter-2004 Social Charter is implemented with the establishment of National

Coordination Committees (NCCs) in all member States

SAARC Citizens' Initiative to establish, consolidate, deepen and strengthen democracy in South

Asia

SAARC Development Goals


20/23

Regional Cooperation: Existing Efforts

Food Security The SAARC Food Security Reserve

Failed due to lack of political will

SAARC Food Bank (SFB) Under the agreement, the food bank has been authorized to start

functioning with a total reserve of 241,580 tons of food grains, ofwhich India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan,Bhutan and Maldives are to contribute 153,000 tons, 40,000 tons,40,000 tons, 4,000 tons, 4,000 tons, 1,420 tons, 200 tons and 180 tonsrespectively.

But the SFB is not yet able to reserve adequate food grains to ensureregional food security.

Failed due to lack of political will


21/23

Regional Cooperation (Cont.)

Most of these regional efforts have not been

successful due to several reasons.Lack of monitoring mechanisms

Lack of incentives for local governments

to engage in these activitiesLack of financial support

Lack of coordination between national

level policies and regional policiesSouth Asia is the least integrated region in

the world (World Bank, 2013)

Wh t N d t b D f E h i R i l


22/23

What Needs to be Done for Enhancing Regional

Cooperation? Regional level actions should be in line with the national level policies

Post MDGs should cooperate with other regional bodies such as SAARCand development partners

Financial support for these goals should be ensured

There should be a mechanism for monitoring the progress- periodicallyand systematically

Intra-regional trade should be promoted to achieve some of new MDGssuch as food security barriers to such trade must first be reduced or eliminated

improved physical infrastructure for transport, communications andpayments between member countries

Knowledge platform for knowledge sharing on economic, social andenvironmental issues and policies


23/23

Thank Youwww.ips.lk

Documents

Sk Escap Adb Undp