Forward-looking and targeted poverty reduction for post-COVID recovery: latest policy experiences from Asia-Pacific - Side event at ESCAP Committee on Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Reduction and Financing for Development 3rd session

Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Formerly, she was Professor of Economics at Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia, where she also served as a Director for the Center for Sustainable Development Goals Studies, as well as Vice Chair of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences. Prior, she was the Minister of National Development Planning and the Head of National Development Planning Agency in Indonesia, alongside being the Alternate Governor of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank representing Indonesia.

She has over 20 years of experience as an international macroeconomics and development specialist in major global institutions, including in the IMF, the BIS, the UN, and the academia, and is widely recognized for her thought leadership. In her current role, she has led the production of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, an ESCAP flagship, for three consecutive years. She has also published extensively in academic journals, such as the American Economic Review and the Journal of Economic Literature.

During his 47 years at the university, he held various senior positions including as dean, pro-vice chancellor and acting vice chancellor. His research covered a broad range of economic and development issues, such as economic growth, poverty reduction, aid, education, ethnicity and racism, and migration. He has published, individually and jointly, 14 books and monographs, 25 reports, and close to one hundred papers on different topics of economic development.

He has more than 20 years of experience working on poverty reduction in China. Prior to joining IPRCC, he held various positions in the Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of the State Council and was Director General of China Poverty Alleviation and Development Center. He also held leadership positions at the sub-national level, including as Deputy Mayor of Foshan Municipality and as member of the CPC Standing Committee for Liangshan Prefecture and Mianning County previously.

As an economist specializing in applied economic modelling, impact evaluation, social sector issues, demographic economics, and information technologies, he has extensive experience in solving real policy problems with these tools and contributed significantly to the work of various national, regional and international institutes and organizations, such as the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) of the Philippines, ESCAP, ADB, ADBI and the World Bank. He also teaches program evaluation at the UP School of Economics and designed and taught short-term training on impact evaluation for a number of government departments and institutes in the Philippines.

He joined BIDS in September 1986 and has held different positions since, with a focus in the areas of poverty, income inequality and human development. During the time, he also worked as Visiting Research Fellow and long-term consultant at the World Bank for different periods. Dr. Sen has been involved in policy-advising on a number of national committees, most notably the Macroeconomic Consultative Committee to the Ministry of Finance, and was a Member of the International Steering Committee of the South Asia Network of Economic Institutes (SANEI). Apart from the above, he taught part timely as the Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences under the National University in Dhaka and published extensively in academic journals including Bangladesh Development Studies, Economic Development and Cultural Change, World Development, Economic and Political Weekly, and Asian Development Review.

Mr. Malik is currently the Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division (MPFD) at UN ESCAP. He leads the team responsible for analyzing economic conditions and emerging development challenges in Asia and the Pacific economies and assesses potential policy options and financing strategies that can support them in their pursuit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Before joining the UN ESCAP in 2014, Hamza worked as the Director of Monetary Policy Department at the central bank of Pakistan (SBP). He graduated from McMaster University with a Ph.D. in economics in 2002.