The main objective of the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2016: SDG Baseline Report is to highlight critical gaps and challenges of the region in achieving the SDGs and inform inter-governmental and inter-agency regional decision making in support of implementing the 2030 development agenda in the region. The reports will complement other documents focusing on policy analysis to inform deliberations at the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) and subsequently in other occasions. The reports also aim to provide an effective communication tool that foster inclusive regional consultations and effective engagement of the stakeholders including media and civil society. The reports will utilize cross-nationally comparable data from ESCAP database on the proposed SDGs indicator framework and when necessary use supplementary statistics available at the regional and sub-regional levels. This effort is continuation of the Statistical Yearbook published by ESCAP in 2016 that focused on the transformative plan of action based on 17 Sustainable Development Goals.The inaugural report, "Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2016: SDG Baseline Report" will provide a baseline for the region and various groups of countries for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It will also shed light on some data and statistics issues associated with SDGs implementation and monitoring that has to be taken into consideration by both data users and producers.

This publication presents key indicators of health status, the determinants of health, health care resources and utilisation, health care expenditure and financing, and health care quality across 27 Asia-Pacific countries and economies.

This volume provides an overview of the climate change adaptation objectives set, actions taken, and challenges faced by several countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The majority of the populations in this region struggle to make a living from subsistence agriculture, and livelihoods are highly dependent on natural ecosystem services which are likely to be severely affected by climate change. Cases discussed in this book highlight successes made by governments towards achieving adaptation objectives, and efforts required to overcome challenges. While significant economic advances have been made, the pace of growth has been slow to impact the lives of a majority of the people who live below the poverty line. The chapters highlight adaptation actions for protecting people and their livelihoods in priority sectors, maintaining food and water security, supporting socio-economic stability including poverty reduction, and climate risk management. This book also maximizes readers' insights into the knowledge gaps and limitations of stated adaptation goals, and the bottlenecks that hinder implementation in different regions.

With thirty-two original chapters reflecting cutting edge content throughout developed and developing Asia, Women of Asia: Globalization, Development, and Gender Equity is a comprehensive anthology that contributes significantly to understanding globalization’s transformative process and the resulting detrimental and beneficial consequences for women in the four major geographic regions of Asia—East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Eurasia/Central Asia—as it gives "voice" to women and provides innovative ways through which salient understudied issues pertaining to Asian women’s situation are brought to the forefront.

This handbook informs the reader about how much progress we, the human race, have made in enhancing the quality of life on this planet. Many skeptics focus on how the quality of life has deteriorated over the course of human history, particularly given World War II and its aftermath. This handbook provides a positive perspective on the history of well-being. Quality of life, as documented by scientists worldwide, has significantly improved. Nevertheless, one sees more improvements in well-being in some regions of the world than in others. Why? This handbook documents the progress of well-being in the various world regions as well as the differences in those regions. The broad questions that the handbook addresses include: What does well-being mean? How do different philosophical and religious traditions interpret the concept of well-being within their own context? Has well-being remained the same over different historical epochs and for different regions and subregions of the world? In which areas of human development have we been most successful in advancing individual and collective well-being? In which sectors has the attainment of well-being proven most difficult? How does well-being differ within and between different populations groups that, for a variety of socially created reasons, have been the most disadvantaged (e.g., children, the aged, women, the poor, racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities)?

In the present global context, some countries still face many challenges to bringing about inclusive, efficient, and environmentally sustainable development. Simultaneously, the stakes of survival are rising, as climate change exacerbates both environmental and social ills. Asia as a region is particularly vulnerable, as it is densely populated and includes both developed and developing countries. The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Development in Asia seeks to examine these issues in depth. Presenting a comprehensive literature review, as well as numerous case studies, this book examines sustainable development from economic and social perspectives, as well as from an environmental viewpoint. Divided into seven parts, the topics addressed include: Environmental challenges Energy dependence and transition Economic justice Social welfare Sustainable governance Providing comprehensive coverage of a wide variety of countries in the region, this handbook will be useful for students and scholars of sustainable development, environment and society, and Asian Studies in general.

An ambitious retrospective and prospective overview of the field that aims to position Nature, the environment and natural processes, at the heart of interdisciplinary social sciences.