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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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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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