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The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has just published the report, “Financing an Inclusive and Green Future: a Supportive Financial System and Green Growth for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific”.

The study considers the challenges the region faces in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and shows that they are still within reach, given sufficient determination and financial resources.

The full report is available online.

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The UN has launched the report, “World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) 2010: Retooling Global Development”. The study presents ideas that could become the basis for a new, coherent “toolbox” designed to guide development policies and international cooperation. The survey highlights the need for a strong mechanism for global economic coordination which establishes coherence across all areas of global economic governance.

Among the recommendations the WESS sets out are:

-strengthening government capacities for formulating and implementing national development strategies.

-doing more to ensure that official development assistance is aligned with national priorities.

-strengthening the international trade and financial systems so that countries with limited capabilities can successfully integrate into the global economy.

-creating new mechanisms for dealing with deficiencies.

The full text is available online.

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The United Nations (UN) has just launched the “Millennium Development Goals Report 2010” in its annual MDG accounting. The report notes that even though the economic crisis took a heavy toll on jobs and incomes around the world, the world is still on track to achieve the MDG target of cutting the rate of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

The UN report cites big gains in getting children into primary schools in many poor countries, especially in Africa; strong interventions in addressing AIDS, malaria and child health; and a good chance of reaching the target for access to clean drinking water. But disadvantages that hurt the poorest, those living in remote areas or with a disability, or due to ethnicity or gender, have sapped progress on many other fronts.

Download the report from the web site.

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The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has just launched the 2010 Asia and the Pacific Economic and Social Survey, entitled “Sustaining recovery and Dynamism for Inclusive Development”. The study assesses the critical issues, policy changes and risks that the region faces in the months ahead as it leads the world economy in recovery from a dire recession. It also outlines the elements of a policy agenda for regaining the region’s dynamism through inclusive and sustainable growth.

Download the report here.

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The United Nations has just launched the “World Economic Situation and Prospects 2010: Update as mid-2010”. According to the report, the world economy continued to improve in the first half of 2010, but at too weak a pace to effectively close the global output gap left by the crisis.

Moreover, important weaknesses in the global economy persist. Unemployment rates are expected to remain elevated for a protracted period in most developed economies, while in developing countries many workers have been pushed into vulnerable employment. The report concludes that continued macroeconomic stimulus remains crucial for solidifying and broadening the recovery, but should become more focused on boosting employment growth.

Read the report on the web.

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The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has just launched the study, Rethinking Poverty: Report on the World Social Situation 2010. The report seeks to contribute to rethinking poverty and its eradication. It stresses the urgent need for a strategic shift away from the market fundamentalist thinking, policies and practices of recent decades towards more sustainable development and equity-oriented policies appropriate to national conditions and circumstances.

The full-text is available on the web

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The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has prepared the report, “Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals,” to review the extent of progress made towards the MDGs as well as assess what it will take to accelerate progress towards the goals around the World. Thirty country-level assessments and extensive consultations with stakeholders were undertaken to discern the factors which influence MDG progress in a country, as well as understand what has worked, what has not, and why.

The findings reveal that there are four key areas which shape MDG achievement at the country level:

-Policy choices and their coherence

-Governance and capacity deficits

-Fiscal constraints

-Political will.

The full report is available here

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Several UN organizations have developed new websites with links to information on Haiti. If you want to keep track of what’s going on in Haiti following the earthquake disaster, we recommend the following sites:

ReliefWeb: Updated information resources including maps and situation reports on the disaster, maintained by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNCHOA)

Information on Haiti: Contains reports, statistics and other resources about Haiti.

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The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen is being held from December 7 to 18 2009. You can follow the conference through webcasts, news, documents and the official conference website or the host country Denmark’s website.

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The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has just launched the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2009: Year-end Update. The update indicates that the region is leading the global economic recovery, with the growth rate in 2010 forecast to reach 6.3%, the highest in the world. However, considerable uncertainties remain about the extent and durability of the recovery, as it depends so much on external factors. Key to the region’s exports will be the recovery of demand in developed countries.

The full report is available on the web.