Expert Opinions & Stories

Imagine being at work or school, and watching a presentation on a crucial policy change that directly affects you. The speaker is on screen, uncaptioned, but the volume is too low. You strain your…

High prices of essential goods and services have become a pressing issue for the poor and vulnerable in Asia and the Pacific despite decent economic growth and declining inflationary trends so far in…

Economic performance in Asia and the Pacific has proved to be quite resilient to the shocks of the past few years – the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the cost-of-living…

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) indicator framework has been developed with 231 indicators for global monitoring of the 2030 Agenda. However, the applicability of certain indicators to…

World Population Day on 11 July provides an excellent opportunity to take stock and look ahead regarding population issues that are affecting all aspects of society in Asia and the Pacific. This year…

Over four billion people will take to the polls in 2024 as 76 countries are set to hold elections.    In Asia, this includes populous countries such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,…

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…

“Everyone is doing it in our daily lives, we just may not realize it,” chuckles Myrah Nerine Butt, a Policy Engagement Advisor at Oxfam International, when asked to define care work.

Care work…

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…

Asia and the Pacific is an economic powerhouse, fuelled by its vibrant and diverse population. Comprising 60 per cent of the world’s population, this region is bursting with both a wealth of…

Bhutan is one of two countries globally that maintains a carbon-neutral status and is the only country in the Asia-Pacific region that can claim this title. However, as the country recovers from the…

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…

Each year, the births of 64 million children under the age of five and deaths of 8.4 million people are invisible to governments in Asia and the Pacific. Most countries in the region are yet to…

More and more developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region are struggling under mounting public debt, making it difficult for them to invest in sustainable development.

External debt servicing…

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…

“How many people have died from COVID-19?” - this seemingly straightforward question cannot be answered in many countries due to the absence of a complete and well-functioning civil registration…

From social media and e-commerce to artificial intelligence, technology is transforming how we work, communicate and live our lives. Yet as technology races ahead, women and girls – especially those…

The unprecedented fiscal firepower used to protect the vulnerable from the harsh socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic contraction have pushed the average…