Expert Opinions & Stories

Maternity protection is a human right enshrined in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Income security for newborn mothers ensures their mental and physical wellbeing and…

Let’s call her Anita. Four years ago, her life took an unexpected turn when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everything she knew. As businesses closed and economic uncertainty loomed, Anita, like…

The recently concluded Seventh Session of the Asian and Pacific Population Conference (APPC) highlighted the need for forward-looking policies that harness the demographic transition and place…

Quadrupling in size since 1950, the working age population in Asia and the Pacific now accounts for 67.2 per cent of the total population in the region and is set to peak at 3.3 billion by the…

Establishing comprehensive social protection and fulfilling the human right to social security for everyone is the foundation of a people-centric strategy for achieving social justice and inclusive…

In Asia and the Pacific, migration is again on the rise. In 2020, almost 109 million people lived in a country other than that of their birth. They represented 2.3 per cent of the region’s population…

Solidarity is declining among people in the 21st century. This is evident in various aspects of society, including extreme individualism and consumerism, and growing polarization and fragmentation of…

The World Day of Social Justice takes place in challenging circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed 85 million people into extreme poverty in Asia and the Pacific. Conflict, surging energy…

More than one third of the population in Asia and the Pacific is not effectively protected by a healthcare scheme, rendering 1.6 billion people in the region into health-related vulnerabilities…

As the owner of a small business at the Suva flea market, Vilisi Wavu knows what it takes to be a female entrepreneur in Fiji. It requires a “shift in attitude and a sense of urgency” to succeed in…

As COVID-19 restrictions have started to ease in Bangkok, I stepped out this morning to get my usual stock of vegetables and fruits. As I walked down the street, I noticed that three businesses, all…

It is nearly two years since the first case of COVID-19 was detected and the outbreak exploded into the deadliest pandemic in living memory. Are we able to see light at the end of the tunnel? Is…

As we celebrate this year’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Day on 19 November, we do so with the awareness that our region is still far from creating an environment where women entrepreneurs can flourish…

Ending poverty in all its forms is the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While significant progress to reduce poverty had been made at the global and regional levels by 2019, the…

Ms. Hong leads the Cuu Long Coconut Product enterprise in Ben Tre Province in Viet Nam. She explained that, as orders from traditional export markets stopped during the pandemic, their production was…

Last year, the Asia-Pacific region recorded its worst economic performance in decades. With the pandemic far from over, the region’s recovery is slow, fragile and highly uneven both across and within…

As the world enters its second year of living with the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus has shifted from containing the spread of the disease towards recovering from socio-economic disruptions. COVID-19…

As International Women’s Day approaches on March 8, and we prepare for the review and appraisal of the global Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing in 2022, the intersection of these two…

In the midst of a global pandemic, it’s hard to think of a policy that would improve people’s wellbeing more than universal social protection.

If people are to self-isolate to contain the virus,…

After decades of impressive growth, for the first time, Southeast Asia is experiencing a drop in measured human development. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will likely take months…