Background and Rationale
The Asia-Pacific region has made significant progress in reducing poverty and improving the lives of children over recent decades. Economic and social development has raised household incomes, expanded access to essential services and enabled millions of children and families to move out of poverty.
This progress provides an important foundation on which to build.
At the same time, the region is changing. Economic uncertainty, demographic transitions, climate-related shocks, changing labour markets and rising costs of housing, food, care and essential services continue to expose children and families to vulnerability.
For many countries, the challenge is therefore no longer only one of addressing extreme monetary poverty. It is increasingly about ensuring that progress is sustained and shared, and that children who may not be classified as extremely poor are nevertheless protected from vulnerability and deprivation and have the opportunities they need to thrive.
Children can experience disadvantage in different and overlapping ways — through inadequate household resources, poor nutrition, limited access to quality education and health services, inadequate housing, insufficient care and social protection, or exposure to economic and climate shocks.
This calls for a broader policy conversation: What policy choices can help countries sustain progress on poverty reduction while also addressing vulnerability and deprivation and advancing the wellbeing of every child?
The 2026 Committee on Social Development
The Ninth Session of the ESCAP Committee on Social Development, taking place from 11–13 November 2026, places poverty prominently on the regional policy agenda.
The Committee's discussions include pathways to ending poverty in Asia and the Pacific, alongside strengthening inclusive and comprehensive social protection systems, active and healthy ageing, and valuing and investing in the care economy.
The session will also see the launch of the Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific: Eradicating Poverty and Empowering People.
Against this backdrop, the ESCAP–UNICEF side event will bring a specific child lens to the regional discussion.
Building on the paper Rethinking Poverty, the session will consider how the region can build on its considerable achievements while responding to the changing nature of poverty, vulnerability and deprivation affecting children.
The discussion will move from evidence to solutions: what policy choices can protect progress, prevent vulnerability from translating into deprivation, and ensure that all children have the opportunity to thrive?
From Evidence to Policy Solutions
Countries across Asia and the Pacific are already developing policy responses that offer important lessons for the region.
Policy solutions range from child and family benefits, to investments in affordable childcare and care systems, to reforms that help ensure public budgets and expenditures are effective, equitable and responsive to the needs of children.
The session will therefore focus principally on solutions.
Government representatives will share concrete experiences addressing different dimensions of poverty, vulnerability and deprivation among children, followed by a wider dialogue on priorities for the region and opportunities for countries to learn from one another.
Objectives
- Recognize and build on the substantial progress countries across Asia and the Pacific have made in reducing poverty and improving child wellbeing;
- Explore how the policy agenda is evolving from addressing poverty alone towards tackling vulnerability and multidimensional deprivation, with greater attention to equity, access and quality;
- Consider how social protection and essential services can better anticipate vulnerability and protect children and families from shocks, helping prevent reversals in poverty reduction and human development; and
- Encourage exchange on what is working, implementation challenges and lessons across different country contexts.