The seventy-ninth session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will be held from 15 to 19 May 2023 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.
Guided by the theme “Accelerating climate action in Asia and the Pacific for sustainable development”, the annual session will be an opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation on climate change.
Women and girls continue to be held back by persistent discrimination and outdated stereotypes, yet the digital revolution has substantial potential to generate great socio-economic benefits and contribute towards advancing gender equality in many ways.
Today, ESCAP, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Government of Canada launched the Policymakers’ Toolkit “Strengthening Women's Entrepreneurship in National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Policies and Action Plans”.
The report finds that average progress in the region disproportionately excludes some groups with distinct demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Those furthest behind, including women, persons with disabilities, rural populations and poorer households, are also facing increased vulnerabilities.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has partnered with the National Bank of Cambodia and Good Return to launch the Let's Talk Money: Little by Little, a new financial literacy campaign aimed at fostering financial inclusion and reducing over-indebtedness among low-income households and vulnerable communities in Cambodia.
The aggravating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing inequalities, coupled with the effects of the climate crises and disasters in the region, is erasing many hard-fought gains made towards gender equality.