As the regional arm of the United Nations, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) promotes cooperation among countries in pursuit of solutions to sustainable development challenges across the Asia-Pacific region. ESCAP’s support to its member States is multifaceted, and includes action-oriented knowledge, technical assistance, and capacity-building services that support national development objectives, regional agreements and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In 2020, ESCAP repositioned its support to countries as they responded to the socio-economic crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19: ESCAP Framework, outlines this strategy. The Framework consists of three streams of work united by the over-arching and cross-cutting principle of building back better. In addition, ESCAP’s Framework promotes forging regional and subregional solutions across the three broad areas, and in line with the priorities of the Regional Roadmap for the 2030 Agenda, especially the means of implementation.

The Technical Cooperation Highlights 2020-2021 tells the story of how ESCAP, drawing on over seventy years of regional cooperation and partnerships, has supported its member States over the past two years work towards the dual and interrelated objectives of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals while also recovering sustainably from the impacts of the global pandemic.

Selected Highlights: