Emerging social issues, as related to population, ageing, disability, migration, gender and health will be among the topics discussed during the Sixtieth session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). The Commission is scheduled to be held at the Shanghai International Convention Center (SICC) in Shanghai, China from 22 to 28 April.

Policy issues for the Asian and Pacific region are likely to be at the forefront of discussions, as the selected theme of this year’s Commission session is “Meeting the Challenges in an Era of Globalization by Strengthening Regional Development Cooperation”. High-level representatives from member and associate member countries of the region will be addressing emerging social issues as part of the third agenda item.

The report of the Committee on Emerging Social Issues on its first session held at Bangkok from 4 to 6 September as well as a paper entitled “Emerging Social Issues: Trends, Issues and Strategies” will provide the basis for discussion in this particular area.

The report of the Committee describes the situation with regard to priority issues concerning socially vulnerable groups and health and development. These issues include the population, poverty and development linkages, support to older persons, the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012) and gender mainstreaming. The report also reflects discussions on the regional situation concerning HIV/AIDS and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and investment in health.

The upcoming annual Commission session is expected to consider and endorse the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations, as described in an earlier issue of Population Headliners (No. 296).

Addressing emerging social issues from a rights-based perspective constitutes one of the core messages of the other population-related document to be discussed at the Commission. The paper demonstrates how the rights-based approach is applied to the formulation of policies and programmes in the areas of population, ageing, disability, migration, gender, and health. “There is still a gap between the high priority that people themselves accord to good health and the tendency for Governments to give priority to the economic sector in national investment”, the paper reads. “As the Asian and Pacific region approaches the mid-point of the third decade of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, its epicenter is fast shifting from Africa to this region. Over 8 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific”.

Prepared by the Emerging Social Issues Division of ESCAP, the paper provides an overview of the demographic dynamics at play in Asia and the Pacific, highlighting the region’s impressive achievements in reducing population growth rates, lowering mortality rates and increasing life expectancy. It highlights the significance of the Fifth Asian and Pacific Population Conference convened in December 2002, recalling the Conference’s first two recommendations as contained in the Plan of Action on Population and Poverty and its focus on gender equality, equity and the empowerment of women.

Population ageing is another issue highlighted in the paper, which stresses that “most developing countries have yet to put in place pension and other social protection systems for a majority of older persons”. “For at least the next twenty years, the proportion of the ESCAP population in the working age span of 15-64 years will continue to expand”, the paper reads. Issues related to internal and international migration are also raised as “80 per cent of the increase in population size between 2000 and 2010” is predicted to occur in urban areas. The paper warns about imminent additional stress on local governments and infrastructures and calls for proper planning in order to make the projected growth of the urban population of 2.3 per cent a year over the next decade become “manageable”. “Urbanization presents an opportunity to accelerate the pace of social and economic development”.

The paper calls for attention to the steadily expanding volume of international migration in the region, particularly for employment. “As an international labour market in a number of occupations has developed in East and South-East Asia, certain basic rights, benefits and standards should apply across economies in the region”, the paper notes. It draws attention to the fate of women migrants, being “often vulnerable to exploitation and abuse”.

The Sixtieth session of the Commission will be held in Shanghai as this city is the birthplace of ESCAP. ESCAP grew out of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) which was established in Shanghai in March 1947. ECAFE was moved to Bangkok in June 1949 and changed its name to ESCAP in 1974.