Asia and the Pacific into the 21st Century: Prospects for Social Development

The study contains two parts. Part One presents an overview of the prospects for social development in Asia and the Pacific region. This part examines the region's overall development context at the global, regional and subregional levels. Prospects for social development in the region are very much affected by the understanding, approaches and policies which national governments adopt in addressing current social development issues, within their countries and in anticipating regional and global forces.

Part Two examines the prospects for specific population groups in line with the current thrust of the Commission's work in social development which has tended to focus on the poor and other disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and on human resources development in general. The major trends and prospects for these population groups are addressed in specific chapters in Part Two of this study. These are the chapters on youth, women, older persons, persons with disabilities and poverty alleviation. [author]