30 March 2018: The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Government of Thailand, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have launched a joint report highlighting complementarities between ASEAN’s policy aims and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The report identifies five focus areas, and recommends seven “flagship initiatives” that would support countries in achieving the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 in tandem with the SDGs.

The report titled, ‘Complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: A Framework for Action,’ calls for focusing on poverty eradication, infrastructure and connectivity, sustainable management of natural resources, sustainable consumption and production (SCP), and resilience. The authors provide a trend analysis for each of these areas. They note that governments in the region have been successful in reducing poverty, but that undernourishment remains a problem. Other areas of need are: investing in transport and communication infrastructure; modernizing energy, water and sanitation services; limiting waste and emissions while managing natural resources responsibly; supporting resource productivity and decoupling; and enhancing the resilience of people, processes and infrastructure.

ASEAN countries adopted the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 in 2015, the same year that the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda. Thailand serves as ASEAN Coordinator on Sustainable Development Cooperation, and is seeking to promote closer engagement between ASEAN and the UN.

The proposed initiatives include a Council for Sustainable Infrastructure, a Risk Transfer Mechanism, and a programme for knowledge on complementarities.

The report calls for seven specific initiatives to promote achievement of the ASEAN and UN agendas: an initiative for improving nutrition and reducing stunting; an ASEAN Council for Sustainable Infrastructure; an ASEAN Resources Panel to provide scientific advice and develop a policy framework on sustainable resource management; an initiative for greening small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region; an ASEAN Risk Transfer Mechanism to lessen the financial burden of disasters to countries; an ASEAN Centre for Sustainable Development Studies and Dialogue; and an ASEAN Programme for Knowledge and Outreach on Complementarities. [ESCAP Press Release] [Report Webpage] [Publication: Complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: A Framework for Action] [ASEAN Community Vision 2025] [High-level dialogue event]