Progress achieved, promise unfulfilled: Eradicating poverty in Asia-Pacific

Poverty in the Asia-Pacific region remains a significant challenge despite progress made over the past three decades. Large rural households, remote areas, poorly educated individuals, children, informal workers, and women are disproportionately affected by poverty. Climate change, an aging population, digital transformation, and economic shocks have contributed to shifting who is poor and their exposure to future risks.

However, various countries across the region have implemented successful poverty reduction strategies. Thailand's universal health coverage has reduced out-of-pocket health spending and infant mortality, with the greatest benefits for the poorest households. Nepal has nearly halved child stunting through a coordinated nutrition policy, even with limited economic growth.

China has established targeted employment assistance mechanisms to broaden employment opportunities for vulnerable populations. Malaysia is expanding access to childcare and eldercare through public investment and community services. Mongolia provides a government-funded care allowance to support unpaid family caregivers. Cooperatives in Cambodia, India, Kiribati, and Vietnam demonstrate the effectiveness of community-owned, participatory models in generating income and resilience, particularly in rural areas.

Despite these successes, extreme poverty remains a persistent issue. In 2024, roughly half of the population still lives in extreme poverty, with 190 million people and 660 million people vulnerable to multidimensional poverty. Hybrid poverty lines reveal that over 1.1 billion people live in poverty, 1.2 billion live just above the poverty line, and 310 million are extremely poor.

People suffer from a lack of income, adequate housing, education, nutrition, and social protection, and are especially at risk of falling deeper into poverty due to a single shock.

Regional cooperation is crucial in addressing these multifaceted challenges. Platforms like the Leaving No One Behind Platform, the Social Protection Online Toolbox, the Risk and Resilience Platform, and the SDG Gateway translate shared knowledge into nationally adapted policies. The ESCAP Action Plan to Strengthen Regional Cooperation on Social Protection facilitates knowledge exchange and policy scaling among governments.

Additionally, the private sector and civil society organizations have a vital role to play, through inclusive business models that reach vulnerable populations.