The ILO’s General Survey 2019 , compiled by the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR). The Survey (published under the title Universal social protection for human dignity, social justice and sustainable development) focuses on the ILO’s Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), which calls for...

This report looks into employment discrimination faced by transgender people while seeking employment in four countries in South-East Asia– Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The findings from this study provide direct evidence of discrimination against trans people in job hiring practices in the...

The Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific lays out new arguments and evidence for the critical and urgent need to increase investment in people, particularly in social protection. Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific only spend about 3.7 per cent of GDP on social protection, compared to...

This is the third in a series of policy guides developed to support policymakers and practitioners in Asia and the Pacific in their efforts to strengthen social protection. This policy guide explains the  administrative processes, organizational policies and systems required to implement tax-financed social protection, focusing on schemes providing...

In many countries the majority of those experiencing domestic violence are in paid employment. Maintaining employment and economic independence is a critical pathway to reducing the impacts of domestic violence of homelessness and unemployment. Yet, the workplace is not firmly part of an integrated global response to reducing the...

Inequality in Asia and the Pacific is on the rise. Many countries, including those held up as models of dynamism and prosperity, have experienced a widening of existing gaps, accompanied by environmental degradation. Market-led growth alone is not sufficient to deliver a prosperous, sustainable future for all. This report...

The purpose of this Policy & Strategy document is to outline policy statements of the Ministry of Health in support of Reproductive Health including maternal and neonatal health, demonstrating its contribution to the achievement of improved health and wellbeing in Fiji. It maps out a framework of key strategic...

The eGov4women is a public resource on the design and implementation of gender-responsive e-government institutional ecosystems. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by UN Member States in 2015 affirms that “the spread of information and communication technology and global interconnectedness has great potential to accelerate human progress, to...

This policy guide, developed by ESCAP together with Development Pathways, explains how to design inclusive and robust social protection systems and focuses on tax-financed income security. It explains why universal schemes are better at reaching the poor than targeted schemes, and what policy options to consider when designing inclusive...

This policy guide, developed by ESCAP together with Development Pathways, explains the basic principles of social protection and the impact it can have on poverty reduction, social cohesion, economic growth and the environment. It shows how investing in inclusive social protection can accelerate progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development...

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This report takes stock of the changing nature of increasingly complex risks in Asia and the Pacific, and the stresses and shocks that are affecting a diverse region’s prospects for achieving the SDGs. It highlights the effects of selected natural hazards, commodity shocks and pollution shocks on the region’s...

This paper presents the results of costing universal social protection floors in 34 lower middle-income, and 23 low-income countries, consisting of: (i) allowances for all children and all orphans; (ii) maternity benefits for all women with newborns; (iii) benefits for all persons with severe disabilities, and (iv) universal old-age...

The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) and the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) are pleased to present Defending Dignity: A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Despite significant economic growth in recent decades, poverty levels in...

The Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality marks an unprecedented advance in the care agenda in terms of the visibility of care as a central dimension of sustainable development. The new international commitment for recognizing, redistributing and reducing unpaid care and domestic work through care policies needs to...

Economic growth in Asia-Pacific economies, although steady, is modest compared with its recent historical trend amid prolonged weak external demand and its ramifications, such as subdued investment and rising trade protectionism. While robust economic growth is not a sufficient condition for achieving broader development goals, the lack of it...

Papua  New  Guinea  has  had  a diverse history  of  contestation  over  resource  revenues during  its past forty  years  since  independence. The  major  actors  have  been  the national and provincial level governments and politicians, international development agencies,  resources  companies  and  local  landowners  in  project  development areas. This paper explores the...

Rising inequality as well as the need to build resilience to crises, whether economic and financial crises, or natural disasters, have increased the call for strengthening social protection in the Asia-Pacific region. To strengthen social protection, most countries in the region have already set in place income support schemes,...

The rapid increase of the number of older persons, particularly the oldest-old – those above 80 years – increases the need for long-term care of older persons in the Asia-Pacific region. This working paper series examines the prevailing system of provision and financing of long-term care for older persons...

Population ageing is becoming an increasing challenge in Fiji. The demographic transformation has been accompanied by widespread socioeconomic changes, which have principally affected social support systems. With decreasing family size and changing economic demands, support systems for the most vulnerable have come under severe stress. A combination of factors,...

This Brief discusses financing for social protection in...

This report provides evidence that social protection is an effective instrument to reduce inequalities, and by so doing, contributes to the integration of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. It examines in particular the inequalities faced by children, persons of working-age, older persons and in relation...

The report looks at the existing social protection schemes in the ASEAN Member States from the angle of the four guarantees of the social protection floor, that are: health care for all and income security for children (including access to necessary goods and services), those in working age, and...

Since the 1970s in particular, the countries of Western Asia and those of the Asia-Pacific region have been closely linked to each other through highly extensive movements of people. Opportunities created by the rapid development of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but also other countries in...

Despite Fiji’s status as a middle-income country, a high proportion of children live in poor and income-insecure families. The Department of Social Welfare administers several social transfer schemes for low-income and vulnerable individuals and families, including the Care and Protection Allowance for children. This report examines levels of child...