1. Background

Leaving no one behind (LNOB) was the central, transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). LNOB meant moving beyond assessing average and aggregate progress, towards identifying progress for different population groups, including intersecting vulnerabilities, to ultimately ensure all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality. However, inequalities were rising, particularly in terms of income and wealth, and thereby exacerbating inequality of opportunity.

Ensuring universal access to social protection to address vulnerabilities emanating from life cycle contingencies and systemic shocks was among key policy areas and investment paths to address the LNOB pledge of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. Unfortunately, about 45 per cent of the population in Asia and the Pacific lacked any access to social protection schemes. In the presence of global megatrends such as climate change and population ageing, many were expected to fall back into poverty. The furthest behind groups in access to social protection were often people in vulnerable situations including, particularly children, women and older persons and persons with disabilities.

Against this background and with an objective to inform inclusive and evidence-based policymaking especially in social development domain, ESCAP had developed two user-friendly and relevant policy tools that were interactive and readily available online.

The Leave No One Behind (LNOB) Platform supported understanding of how various circumstances intersect and create inequalities in access to basic opportunities covered by the SDGs. Building on empirical methodologies such as Classification and Regression Tree (CART) methodology and the Dissimilarity index (D-index), the Platform presented results at national and sub-national levels identifying groups left furthest behind and the circumstances they share. The results were available for 33 countries in Asia and the Pacific and up to 19 SDG indicators.

The, Social Protection Online Toolbox (SPOT) Simulator helped users design a mix of non-contributory social protection schemes and demonstrates the impact of hypothetical scenarios on poverty, inequality and consumption. The tool also projected the cost of such schemes. The results were obtained by using national representative household surveys such as Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) in 27 countries across Asia and the Pacific.

In collaboration with the SDGs National Secretariat within the Ministry of National Development Planning, ESCAP organized a technical workshop to raise awareness on both policy tools and leverage innovative methodologies and national survey data to inform evidence-based inclusive policies in Indonesia. The workshop would strengthen capacity among participants to navigate both platforms effectively and use the results in their respective areas of work including the Voluntary National Review for 2025. The workshop included interactive policy dialogue as well as group work to seek feedback from participants.

2. Workshop Objectives

At the end of this workshop, participants were able to:

1. Understand the methodologies associated with both policy tools.
2. Have a thorough review of LNOB results on SDG indicators available using national survey data including SUSENAS and SAKERNAS.
3. Have a thorough review of updated results from SPOT Simulator.
4. Reproduce results using the statistical code associated with LNOB analysis with other nationally representative survey data.
5. Reflect on the ways in which such evidence on LNOB and social protection can be mainstreamed in the upcoming Voluntary National Review.

3. Target Audience

The workshop was open to participation from the Government, the United Nations Country Team, research institutions, academia, and civil society. While the first day could accommodate up to 40 participants, the following two days could accommodate up to 25 participants including statisticians and technical specialists with technical background and experience in data analysis using statistical software programmes.

Thematically, LNOB tool covered SDG indicators that pertain to educational attainment, access to basic services (i.e., electricity, basic drinking water and sanitation, electricity and internet) as well as women’s and children’s health. In the thematic area of social protection, while SPOT tool related to non-contributory social protection systems or social assistance, representatives from social protection system at large including social insurance schemes and active labour market policies were welcome to join the workshop.

4. Organization and Participation

The national workshop was organized as an in-person format at the Medan Room on the first floor of Westin Hotel Jakarta on 18-20 March 2025. The meeting was conducted in English with interpretation in Bahasa. The tentative programme of the workshop is available on the Programme tab.