A Brief Overview about the ESCAP Program Review (UN's Regional Commission Meets 13-19 May in Incheon, Korea)
At the 66th Commission Session of United Nations ESCAP, Asia-Pacific's political leaders will meet in the Republic of Korea to agree on the next steps in Asian economic recovery and strategize for sustainable and a green future. Government leaders of the Asia-Pacific region will meet next week in Songdo Convensia Convention Center, Incheon Metropolitan City, located in the Republic of Korea. Here, they are to agree on joint economic and financial policies to transform Asia's sharp rebound from the global economic crisis into a permanent repositioning of the region in the global economy.
Finding an inclusive and sustainable development path forward will be the focus of the six days of policy discussions at the annual high-level meeting of the leadership of some 60 countries in the regional arm of the United Nations. Korea hopes to make a unique contribution as will be explained below.
Kim Jong-hoon, Minister for Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in an interview with IT times "Although some Asia-Pacific countries have made considerable progress towards achieving The Millennium Development Goals, the record is still mixed. In the past few decades, Asia-Pacific countries have given priority to economic development at the expense of the environment, but the resulting environmental and resource degradation cannot continue. Asia and the Pacific, like much of the rest of the world, is becoming increasingly urbanized, and the sustainable development of Asia-Pacific cities is becoming a necessary component of sustainable economic development. In this sense, hosting the 66th Commission Session of the UN ESCAP is very significant to us as well as the rest of the world,"
Asia and the Pacific present a uniquely challenging environment for achieving the Millennium Development Goals for poverty. It boasts some of the world's most dynamic economies and has achieved what has been called "the largest decrease in mass poverty in human history". Yet it is still home to two thirds of the world's poor, a staggering 800 million people living on less than US$1 a day. Countries did not face the challenge to reduce poverty and strive for peace after 1947 saw the establishment of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Globalization by itself will not reduce poverty evenly. America's 39th President, Jimmy Carter once said, "Globalization, as defined by rich people like us, is a very nice thing... you are talking about the Internet, you are talking about cell phones, and you are talking about computers. This doesn't affect two-thirds of the people of the world." Ironically, "two-thirds of the people of the world" in poverty are mostly referring to Asians. In the view of the Trade Investment Center, only 12 countries were benefited from 58 globalized countries.
Asia's emerging role as the powerhouse of the world economy shows its newly industrialized economies to be among the principal beneficiaries of globalization and yet many Asia-Pacific countries, on the present trajectory, will not achieve these goals. In a region where most United Nations agencies already operate, ESCAP's comparative advantage lies in its overview of this extreme diversity and long experience.
The term globalization refers specifically to the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology. ESCAP, with membership from 62 governments, serves the Asia-Pacific region to attain globalization with over 600 staff members.
Dr. Kim Hak-su, chairman of the Asia Economic Community (AEC) Foundation and Former ESCAP Executive Secretary said "ESCAP is the largest regional commission of the five. Generally, regional commissions mandate Regional Co-operation in terms of economic and social integration, address trans-boundary issues, and reflect regional perspective and regional dimension in global issues. Underpinning the strategy are three interrelated principles involving the promotion of multispectral and multi-ministerial partnership, participation of the poor and the marginalized in development efforts, and the right to development and gender equality."
ESCAP is using its unique role to identify, document, and disseminate good and innovative practices in poverty reduction. ESCAP adds value by testing good practices on the ground and building capacity in governments and their partners to follow them. Former Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Kim Hak-su said, "The fundamental task of any international organization is the thorough analysis of every problem. An accurate problem identification process and subsequent analysis will develop policies that can be recommended for the rest of the world. For example in 2003, ESCAP recommended Laos to commence Saemaeul Undong, or The New Community Movement, to build up rural infrastructure. This pilot test in Laos, and then Cambodia, and Nepal was successful and this later influenced Sri Lanka and Vietnam as well."
Saemaeul Undong was a political initiative launched on April 22, 1970 by Korean President Park Chung-hee to modernize the rural Korean economy. It initially sought to rectify the growing disparity in the standard of living between the nation's urban centers, which were rapidly industrializing, and the small villages, which continued to be mired in poverty.
Population mobility does not always bring positive outcomes. It also has been helping to accelerate the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other communicable disease. ESCAP is undertaking vigorous advocacy on HIV/AIDS, which was adopted as the theme of the fifty-ninth session of the Commission in 2003, and it is seeking to make the issue part of the mainstream in the agenda of economic and development sectors. This is just one component of a newly formulated health and development program.
Refocusing Substantive Priorities
"ESCAP's work program has been realigned into three main areas during the reform of the millennium program: reducing poverty, managing globalization, and addressing emerging social issues. The reform has injected new impetus and a new sense of purpose into ESCAP as it moves into the twenty-first century and towards the goals of the Millennium Declaration, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the World Summit on the Information Society, the Doha Development Agenda, the Monetary Consensus on Financing for Development, the World Conference on Women and other global conferences. The new alignment of its divisions and the addition of new programs have made it more efficient, responsible and relevant to the needs of its members," Kim Hak-su, the former Executive Secretary states.
Major Accomplishments
Asia Pacific Trade Agreement of 1975
The first agreement on trade negotiations among developing member countries of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, also known as the Bangkok Agreement, was established in 1975 as Asia's preferential trade agreement between developing countries.
Asian Development Bank
ESCAP led the establishment of ADB, an international development finance institution, whose mission is to help its developing member countries reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of their people.
Trans-Asian Railway and Asian Highway
"The key to the trans-boundary issue is connectivity. In April 2004, ESCAP concluded, under my leadership, Asian Highway with 87 routes by connecting 32 countries." Kim Hak-su recalls, "With the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway, ESCAP is assisting Asian countries in opening transport corridors that will help to meet the surging demand for more capacity and more efficient delivery systems and will create new opportunities to develop the region's tourism."
Korea IT Times further interviewed, Kim Jong-hoon, Minister for Trade, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to learn the relationship between Korea and UN ESCAP.
Q: What is the role of Korea as a successful model of green growth
A. In 2009, Korean Government envisioned "Green Growth" as a new national project. Korea then quickly established the "Low-carbon, Green Growth Act", which began its operation since April this year. Korea is planning to build "green infrastructure" and create "green jobs" under the Green New Deal. Korea is giving their best efforts to push the Green New Deal by investing twice as much funds into green business. UN recommended investing 1% of their GDP.
Last December, President of Korea, Lee Myung-bak stated at the Copenhagen Conference, "Korea is going to establish the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), which will contribute to systematically develop green businesses as well as green policies." The project is already on a roll. Korea is supporting the developing countries to adopt green growth strategies. From 2008-2012, Korea fully committed itself to the East Asia Climate Partnership. This 5 year project's ultimate goal is to contribute US$200 million in total for the best practice and policy experience in the green growth industry.
Q. How is Korea planning to collaborate with the other ESCAP member countries and play a critical role across the world
A. Korea donates US$3 million dollars to UN ESCAP every year. About US$500,000 is collected through the Korea-ESCAP Cooperation Fund, and US$1.5 million is donated from UN Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT). These aids reflect the contribution of Korea for economic and social development in the Asia-Pacific area.
Through the "Incheon Declaration", Korea is going to suggest the ideas for Asia-Pacific regions to pursue the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Korea will indicate its "low carbon, green growth" policies as a new growth paradigm to the international community, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Since Korea has been a leader in Green Growth industry in Asia, many countries in the Asia-Pacific area are following Korea's example.
In addition, Korea will promote its policies for the disabled at "The Final Assessment for the second Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012)." This is scheduled to be held in 2012. Ten year plan for Asia-Pacific disabled was started back in 1993, which has been consistently improving the quality of lives of the disabled. A new resolution for the next 10 years starting in 2013 is going to be adopted at the assessment meeting. The Korean Government hopes that they will be performing the leading role for many more years.
Jeong Rae-kwon in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ambassador for Climate Change was appointed to the position of Director General of Environment and Development Division of ESCAP while Ha Dong-woo, Director of Transportation Infrastructure and was promoted to the Chief of Transfer Division of ESCAP. Their promotion has greatly contributed to UN ESCAP.
Q: What kind of impact may the low-carbon green growth policies bring to the international community And what is our homework as a whole
A: UN ESCAP selected Seoul Initiative on Green Growth at MCED 2005: The 5th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific. On June 2009, OECD noted the Declaration on Green Growth strategy and is in the progress of building the green growth supporting strategy for each country. Not only the low carbon emission, green growth industry counterfeits climate change, but it also creates jobs by enhancing the technology and industry with new growth engines.
Green growth strategy affects life in general. Therefore, social and cultural changes will have economic ripple effects to greatly impact on future prospects. However, green growth has been progressed mainly by advanced countries, so developing countries and emerging economies, which are in different stages of development, cannot easily adopt this growth strategy. To solve this problem, developed countries need to make efforts to support long-term growth strategies for developing nations.
Programme
Monday, 17 May 2010
09:30 am - Opening statements from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, Chung Un-chan, and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer; addresses by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Rialuth Serge Vohor.
11:15 am - Ministerial Round Table, "A Supportive Financial System and Green Growth for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia-Pacific Region," keynote address by the President of Kiribati, Mr Anote Tong.
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
9:00 am - Ministerial and experts level panel on "Sustaining the Recovery and Dynamism for Inclusive Development"
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
14:00 pm - Adoption of Consensus Agreement for Commission Session information
The Commission Session has two segments: a Senior Officials' segment which runs from 13 to 15 May and a Ministerial segment which runs from 17 to 19 May. An exhibition of ESCAP's activities will be inaugurated following the opening of the Ministerial segment.
