Webinar Series:Entry Point on Human well-being and capabilitiesEntry points for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development in Asia and the Pacific
01 April 2020
Online Consultation for Entry Points:
Entry point 1 – Human well-being and capabilities
Entry point 2 – Sustainable and just economies
Entry point 3 – Food systems and nutrition patterns
Entry point 4 – Energy decarbonization and universal access
Entry point 5 – Urban and peri-urban development
Entry point 6 – Global environmental commons
Entry Point 1: Human Wellbeing and Capabilities
Lead Agency
In collaboration with
I. HUMAN WELL-BEING AND CAPABILITIES IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
II. PROGRESS AND KEY CHALLENGES FOR ACCELERATION IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
• Poverty reduction has been significant in the region.• from more than 1 billion to 400 million people
• Health and education outcomes have also improved, on average. • life expectancy has increased, achievements in primary and secondary education
• Not on track for meeting SDG targets relating to human well-being and capabilities• including those on social protection, education and health care.
• Inequalities abound• In health care, education, and other areas of human wellbeing: who are those left behind?
II. PROGRESS AND KEY CHALLENGES FOR ACCELERATION IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
• Poverty reduction has been significant in the region.• from more than 1 billion to 400 million people
• Health and education outcomes have also improved, on average. • life expectancy has increased, achievements in primary and secondary education
• Not on track for meeting SDG targets relating to human well-being and capabilities• including those on social protection, education and health care.
• Inequalities abound• In health care, education, and other areas of human wellbeing: who are those left behind?
100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100
Japan
Azerbaijan
Republic of Korea
Australia
Russian Federation
Malaysia
Turkey
Kazakhstan
Tonga
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Mongolia
Tuvalu
Samoa
Fiji
Armenia
Thailand
Vanuatu
Sri Lanka
Philippines
Solomon Islands
Lao People's Democratic Republic
ESCAP average
India
Bangladesh
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Indonesia
Viet Nam
Bhutan
China
Nepal
Timor-Leste
Myanmar
Headcount ratio (percentage of population)
2013 1990 2013 1990
$1.90 a day $3.20 a day
Poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific 1990-2013
Absolute number of people living on less than $1.90 (light) &
$3.20 (dark) per day, top countries
India696 million people
China164 million people
Indonesia103 million people
Bangladesh89 million people
Pakistan77 million people
The rest of ESCAP118 million people
II. PROGRESS AND KEY CHALLENGES FOR ACCELERATION IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
• Poverty reduction has been significant in the region.• from more than 1 billion to 400 million people
• Health and education outcomes have also improved, on average. • life expectancy has increased, achievements in primary and secondary education
• Not on track for meeting SDG targets relating to human well-being and capabilities• including those on social protection, education and health care.
• Inequalities abound• In health care, education, and other areas of human wellbeing: who are those left behind?
Life expectancy in Asia and the Pacific 1990-2017
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Life expectancy 1990 Life expectancy 2017
Maternal Mortality Ratio in Asia and the Pacific 1990-2015
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ENEA SEA SSWA NCA PacificMaternal Mortality Ratio in 2015 Maternal Mortality Ratio in 1990
II. PROGRESS AND KEY CHALLENGES FOR ACCELERATION IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
• Poverty reduction has been significant in the region.• from more than 1 billion to 400 million people
• Health and education outcomes have also improved, on average. • life expectancy has increased, achievements in primary and secondary education
• Not on track for meeting SDG targets relating to human well-being and capabilities• including those on social protection, education and health care.
• Inequalities abound• In health care, education, and other areas of human wellbeing: who are those left behind?
Figure 1: Sub-regional snapshot of progress and overall progress in Asia and the Pacific
Source: Authors (ESCAP, EDD) calculation using methodology used in the UN ESCAP SDG progress report (2020) and data accessed
from http:// data.unescap.org/escap_stat/
Note: The green line represents targets to be achieved in the 2030 Agenda. If the region was on track to achieve these targets across
the six areas, the red line would have been hit by 2019.
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SSWA SEA ENEA Pacific NCA
Perc
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Asia-Pacific Average
Public spending on social protection
Global Average
II. PROGRESS AND KEY CHALLENGES FOR ACCELERATION IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
• Poverty reduction has been significant in the region.• from more than 1 billion to 400 million people
• Health and education outcomes have also improved, on average. • life expectancy has increased, achievements in primary and secondary education
• Not on track for meeting SDG targets relating to human well-being and capabilities• including those on social protection, education and health care.
• Inequalities abound• In health care, education, and other areas of human wellbeing: who are those left behind?
The D-index methodology
to measure inequality of opportunity
• Measuring inequality in access to 12 opportunities (indicators linked to SDGs)
• Using combinations of circumstances to create distinct groups
𝑫 =𝟏
𝟐ഥ𝒑σ𝒊=𝟏𝒏 𝜷𝒊 𝒑𝒊 − ഥ𝒑
• Takes values from 0-1, similar to Gini
Which opportunities do we study?
Individual-based• Education (secondary & higher)
• Malnutrition (stunting & wasting & overweight)
• Women’s health (modern contraception & skilled birth attendance)
• Full-time employment
Household-based• Safe drinking water
• Basic sanitation
• Clean energy (electricity & clean fuels)
• Ownership of a bank account
Overview of inequality of opportunity (D-index) in A-P
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40
Basic drinking water
Modern contraception
Electricity
Professional help in childbirth
Basic sanitation
Secondary education
Bank account
Full-time employement
Higher education
Clean fuels
Average D-index
The most unequally distributed opportunities in Asia-Pacific are:
Source: ESCAP calculations using data from the latest DHS and MICS surveys for countries in Asia-Pacific. 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35
Mongolia
Tajikistan
Armenia
Turkmenistan
Kyrgyzstan
Kazakhstan
Papua New Guinea
Vanuatu
Cambodia
Myanmar
Lao PDR
Timor-Leste
Viet Nam
Philippines
Indonesia
Thailand
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Pakistan
India
Nepal
Maldives
EN EAN
CA
Pac
ifi
cSE
ASS
WA
Average D-Index12 opportunities
The countries with the most unequally distributed opportunities are:
Figure 2: Inequality in access to key services and opportunities as measured by the dissimilarity index (D-index), latest year
Source: ESCAP,
2018. Inequality in
Asia and the Pacific
in the era of the
2030 Agenda for
Sustainable
Development. Data
updated on 19
February 2020.
Reading note: The
closest a country is
the to centre of the
graph, the higher the
D-index and higher
the inequality of
access. The furthest
away from the
centre, the lower the
D-index and lower
the inequality.
Who are those left behind?
• …in education, health care, clean water and sanitation and other services ?
• Do common circumstances impact levels of access? • Wealth (bottom 40 – Top 60); Residence (rural – urban); Education (lower,
secondary, higher); Gender (male – female); Age group (15-24, 25-34, 35-49); Minority (region, ethnicity, language etc.)
• An algorithm to look through survey data and identify the shared circumstances of those furthest behind: • Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis
Source: SDD elaboration based on DHS and MICS data, latest year
Gaps in skilled birth attendance, Nepal
30%
50%
70%
90%
Richer households with higher education
Access: 94%
Richer households with secondary education
Access: 88%
Poorer households with secondary or higher education
Access: 64%
Poorer households with primary education
Access: 50%
Poorer households with no educationAccess: 36%
Richer households with lower education
Access: 65%
III. COUNTRY LEVEL ANALYSIS ON ACCELERATION TOWARDS HUMAN WELLBEING AND CAPABILITIES
• Striving for more equal societies: e.g. Mongolia
• Raising the stakes in education: e.g. Viet Nam
• Prioritizing health care for all: e.g. Thailand
BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES TO ACCELERATION
• Conflicts and natural disasters. New: COVID-19
• Poorly protected populations: Less than 4/10 people covered by social protection
• Governance: Shrinking space for civic engagement
IV. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACCELERATION
Policy Recommendation 1.
Expand social protection for all.
Policy Recommendation 2.
Focus on quality education for all.
Policy Recommendation 3.
Invest in universal health care.
Policy Recommendation 4.
Sustain political focus and commitment.
Policy Recommendation 5.
Build strong institutions.
Policy Recommendation 6.
Increase effectiveness of fiscal policies.
Thank You