The Asia-Pacific region has made great strides in reducing poverty and is moving fast towards other development goals, but levels of hunger, and child and maternal mortality are still high, according to a United Nations and Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released here today.

The United Nations has placed Pakistan among the ‘water hotspots’ of Asia-Pacific region, saying that the country is facing major threats of increasing water scarcity, high water utilisation, deteriorating water quality and climate change risk.

The "Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific-2010

Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI: A United Nations report has called upon governments in the Asia-Pacific region to increase social spending to consolidate the region's stronger than anticipated economic rebound and to spur over the long term a fairer, more balanced, and sustained economic recovery.

Noeleen Heyzer

Despite the region

Against the backdrop of the global financial and economic crisis, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has forecast a slowdown in growth in the developing economies of the region to 3.6% in 2009, from an estimated 5.8% in 2008.

Several Third World countries derided the North's attempts to link trade with social and environmental issues