PRESS RELEASE 16 March 2023 This coming March 27 to 30, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) will hold the 10th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) in Bangkok, Thailand. With the theme, “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels in Asia and the Pacific”, the APFSD aims to assess progress on SDGs

Reality of Aid – Asia Pacific’s feedback to the ADB’s Draft Guidance Note on Large Hydropower Plants reiterates the following principles as reflected in our CSO Critique on ADB’s Energy Policy:  1.“Do no harm” principle. The construction of large hydropower plants have only served to impede on Indigenous Peoples and affected communities’ lands and rights, causing conflict, instability, and exploitation. Following this principle, potential risks and adverse impacts resulting from projects must be prevented, reduced

Throughout the network’s 30-year existence, issues surrounding aid and development have evolved into a more chaotic web of complications, prompting deeper injustices and poverty. Despite and because of this, any door of opportunity must be seized to magnify the calls of the people for rights-based, people centered development and for quality financing in areas concerning public services and climate justice, among others.    Donor policies in the last 10 to 15 years have changed a lot

As the pandemic was able to shine light on the gaps of the current approach to development, there is opportunity to forward alternative paradigms that are able to reflect people’s realities on-ground and can exact accountability from development actors. With heightened vigilance, sustained engagement with development actors and solidarity with CSOs and social movements, a transition to a people-centered and rights-based development approach is possible.  The Asia-Pacific region is in a critical juncture as it

As Asia-Pacific struggles to cope with COVID-19, a global recession, and existing development challenges, it is imperative that aid must be used effectively and efficiently. Initiatives for monitoring and analyzing the quantity and quality of aid in the region must be scaled up in order to ensure the transparency and accountability of donors and development institutions. Impacts of development projects that serve to worsen existing inequalities must also be exposed, as the vulnerable and marginalized

The Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC) organized the 2022 Effective Development Co-operation Summit (or HLM3) last December 12-14, 2022 at Geneva, Switzerland. The summit gathered hundreds of ministers, policymakers, civil society representatives, private sector representatives, and other development actors to tackle and address development challenges that plague the world today. As the Asia region remains to be at the forefront of these crises, the regional constituency of the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness