LIST OF PANELS

Note: This Panel is eligible for the GCPSE (UNDP) Grant.

Sustainable development has emerged as a viable development strategy across the world. It has moved from the narrow groves of environmental concerns in 1980s to encompass the entire range of the sustainability of development process. The UN General Assembly has articulated a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015 to be achieved by the year 2030. Officially known as 'Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development', these goals underline the concerns and consensus of global community for realizing a vision of global community, which is free from poverty, hunger, illiteracy, malnutrition and diseases, gender inequality and other similar ills afflicting human society. Persistent global efforts and suitable and innovative policy interventions at national level are required to meet the goals of sustainable development.

The continent of Asia and Pacific is the largest land mass in the world. The region accounts for 55 percent of the total world population of 7.3 billion. Six of the world's 10 most populous countries are located in Asia, in which China and India holds the rank of the two most populous countries of the globe. The development experience of Asian countries is mixed one so far. In 2015, out of 48 countries of Asia and Pacific, 50 percent countries are listed under the category of 'medium human development' in the Human Development Index of United Nations Development Programme.  Eighteen countries are listed under the category of either 'very high' or 'high' human development and rest of the countries are listed under the category of 'low human development. There are significant variations in target achievement both across countries as well as within the countries with respect to different goals. The sub-region of East Asia has fared better in comparison to South Asia and 13 Least Developed Countries of the region. The region is still home to two-third of world's poor and faces daunting development challenges of unemployment, gender inequality, climate change, poverty, management and utilization of human and natural resources and so on.

The innovative policy formulation and the effective implementation constitute one of the important inputs in the sustainable development process. There is a need to understand analyze and compare various elements of policy cycles with respect to sustainable development across the region. The sharing of policy process experience among nations may help in formulating participatory and innovative public policies for realizing the goal of sustainable development. With this background in mind this panel aims to :

• Understand the nature of policy formulation and implementation with Asian perspectives to achieve the goal of sustainable development;
• Analyze the constraints as well as innovative elements in public policy cycle across the region of Asia in the domain of sustainable development; and
• Suggest improvements and innovations in the public policy cycle in Asia with respect to the goal of sustainable development.

The interested scholars are invited to contribute papers to the panel on 'Sustainable Development and Policy Intervention in Asia' with focus on any of the sub-themes listed below:

• Understanding the notion of sustainable development with Asian perspective and priorities;
• Formulation of public policies in Asian countries for realizing the goal of sustainable development;
• Implementation of public policies in Asian setting: hurdles and innovation;
• People's participation in policy formulation and implementation in Asian countries;
• Role of civil society and NGOs in the public policy cycle process in Asian societies; and
• Evaluation and feedback mechanism of public policy in Asian countries with respect to sustainable development.

The papers with comparative perspectives across different Asian countries and those dealing with innovation in policy process and field studies shall be given preference.