The first session of the Committee on Emerging Social Issues was held at Bangkok from 4 to 6 September. It welcomed a high level of representation by Governments from the region, as representatives from over 30 countries and areas took part in the Committee.

Held back-to-back with the fifty-ninth Commission Session of ESCAP (phase II), the Committee built on the momentum of the Commission and carried on the high level of interactive discussions attained during the preceding event.

Inaugurated by Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, Vice-Minister of Social Development and Human Security, Government of Thailand and Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of ESCAP, the Committee also welcomed well-known speakers to address specific emerging social issues; Senator Eita Yashiro from Japan, social economist Naila Kabeer and India’s Permanent Secretary for Health, J.V.R. Prasada Rao.

Among other outcomes, the three-day Committee emphasized that population, poverty and development were inextricably linked and that they needed to be addressed in an integrated
manner. It stressed that pro-poor macroeconomic policies, accompanied by a people-centred development approach, were required to reduce poverty, as stated in the consensus
Report of the Committee. It urged Governments to incorporate quality family planning programmes based on a spirit of voluntarism into such policies and to include comprehensive
reproductive health education that is age-appropriate and sensitive to cultural and religious concerns. The latter programmes should pay particular attention to the needs of the poor and
disadvantaged, especially in planning the provision of and access to basic services.
On the issue of fertility decline and its implications, the Committee stressed that more attention should be given to such negative aspects as labour shortages, population ageing
and high social insurance expenditures on medical insurance and pensions. In that context, the
Committee stressed the need in rapidly ageing societies to reduce the financial burden on the younger generation by pursuing reforms in the areas of pension benefits and the health-care system. It also recommended that Governments develop policies and national plans that provide adequate support to older persons, especially the most vulnerable, such as the
widowed and those living in poverty.

The role of ESCAP as the United Nations regional focal point for ageing was given a boost, as the Committee reemphasized commitment to the Shanghai Implementation Strategy on ageing and requested the secretariat to regularly review the implementation of regional and international commitments on ageing.

The Committee stressed that the volume of international migration, particularly within the region, was increasing steadily. It recommended that the perspective of both origin and destination countries be examined, with analysis on both adverse and beneficial aspects. New perspectives on international migration are to be explored as an outcome of the Committee, which would take into account the dynamics of gender inequality and migration policy, and
the social dimensions of migration.

Gender and related cross-cutting issues permeated discussions starting from the keynote presentation by Professor Naila Kabeer on the first day, which emphasized that women’s
empowerment and achievement of gender equality were essential strategies to achieve all the goals of the Millennium Declaration. The gender dimensions of issues such as reproductive health and family planning, migration, persons with disabilities and population ageing
were also addressed.

Numerous issues calling for action were brought to the at ten tion of the Commission, such as the follow-up of the Plan of Ac tion on Pop u la tion and Pov erty (see front page). The Committee recommended that the sec re tar iat as sist members and associate mem bers to integrate the Plan into na tional de vel op ment policies and priorities.

As regards HIV/AIDS, malaria, kalaazhar and SARS, the Committee requested the secretariat to play a pivotal role in facilitating member countries in drawing up programmes to strengthen regional and subregional cooperation to prevent and control such diseases. The Committee requested ESCAP and UNAIDS to support, in consultation with countries of the region, the development of a model for a multi-sectoral approach to tackling HIV/AIDS. The Committee also called for a system to track progress in controlling the pandemic and recommended that the secretariat assist its members and associate members in capacity building to improve the
availability of HIV-related drugs and diagnostics to people living with HIV/AIDS.