Asia & the Pacific

Overview

The vast and culturally diverse Asia and the Pacific region is home to 60 per cent of the world's people. It encompasses the huge, rapidly industrializing economies of China and India, the remote, mountainous communities of Nepal and Bhutan and the small Pacific island countries. In the past two decades, spurred on by the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the region has made great progress on both the social and economic fronts. But this overall progress marks wide disparities and stark contrasts. Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty, yet hundreds of millions of others struggle to survive on less than $1 a day. Two out of every three people living in extreme poverty live in the Asia and the Pacific region.

The biggest demographic challenge and opportunity of the region is its enormous population of youth. More than half of the world's young people -- some 850 million between the ages of 10 and 24 -- live in Asia and the Pacific. In some parts of South and South-east Asia, young people make up between one third and one half of the population. This demographic surge of people entering their productive and reproductive years offers great potential for development -- if countries invest wisely in the education, health, skills and economic opportunities of youth. more

UNFPA News from Asia & the Pacific

	Cultural Dimensions of Safe Childbirth in Thailand
	When a Culture of Silence Collides with Crisis in the Pacific Islands
	New Report Calls for the Protection of the Human Rights of Migrants
	Problems in 'Paradise': Addressing Reproductive Health in the Pacific Islands
	Documentary Explores Preference for Sons in India
	Myanmar Recovery Must Ensure Women's Health and Protection, UNFPA Says
	After Chinese Earthquake, UNFPA Mobilizes Supplies to Help Pregnant Women Deliver Safely
	$3 Million Requested by UNFPA to Help Women and Girls Displaced by Myanmar Cyclone
	Fistula Surgery Camp Offers Treatment and Training
	UNFPA Helping Safe Deliveries by Women of Bangladesh's Cyclone-hit Areas

Where We Work

	Afghanistan
	Bangladesh
	Bhutan
	Cambodia
	China
	Democratic People's Republic of Korea
	East Timor (see Timor-Leste)
	India
	Indonesia
	Islamic Republic of Iran
	Lao People's Democratic Republic
	Malaysia
	Maldives
	Mongolia
	Myanmar
	Nepal
	Pacific Island Countries (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu)
	Pakistan
	Papua New Guinea
	Philippines
	Sri Lanka
	Thailand
	Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor)
	Viet Nam

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