Resolution on Poverty Alleviation: In Defence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to Accomplish the 2030 Agenda

25th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum
15-19 January 2017

Resolution on Poverty Alleviation: In Defence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to Accomplish the 2030 Agenda

APPF25/RES/05

(Sponsored by Mexico)

The 25th Annual Meeting of the Asia‐Pacific Parliamentary Forum;

Recognising that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals propose to end poverty in all its forms everywhere and end hunger, achieve food safety and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture to ensure an inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all;

Considering that poverty is a social phenomenon that forces 896 million people worldwide to survive with as little as under US$1.90 per day;

Emphasising that 1 out of 5 people in developing regions lives with less than US$1.25 per day;

Recognising that 71 million people emerged from extreme poverty between 2012 and 2013 in East Asia and the Asia‐Pacific region;

Emphasising that an average of 16.9% of the APPF Member States’ populations live below the poverty line;

Commending the establishment of funds that contribute to poverty alleviation at both regional and global levels;

Observing that poverty is multidimensional, as it also involves aspects such as education, health, access to services, social security and housing;

Recognising the Growth Strategy proposal adopted during the APEC 2010 Summit, mentioning the collective efforts which have contributed to growth and economic development in the Asia‐Pacific region through the promotion of free markets, investment and strengthening of regional integration;

Emphasising that the Growth Strategy proposal underscores the establishment of the most balanced and sustainable growth patterns, that enable the production of regional and global growth as well as continuous development and fast elimination of poverty;

Highlighting that 4.5 billion inhabitants of the Asia‐Pacific region are affected by 70% of global natural disasters which endanger their life and sustainable development on an unpredictable scale that causes increased poverty in affected zones; and

Accepting that the Asia‐Pacific region faces the danger of increasing the poverty rate due to the frequency, increase and severity of natural disasters;

RESOLVES TO:

1. Call on APPF Member States to lead projects with international organisations, the private sector and civil society to reduce poverty rates and to empower people living in poverty through schemes and programmes that would enable their development in society and at improving their living status;

2. Encourage APPF Member States to fight poverty through a sustainable and inclusive growth approach with the implementation of measures aimed towards the improvement of energy access and responsible development, efficient natural resources management and government transparency;

3. Encourage APPF Member States to implement initiatives to promote trade that contributes to sustainable and inclusive growth through rural development and mitigation of poverty;

4. Promote APPF Member States to develop public policies focused on financial inclusion through lower‐cost capital and its financing;

5. Urges APPF Member States to promote foreign direct investment in the region with the goal of contributing with the construction of better infrastructure that would allow for clean water and access to proper sanitation, taking into account that 41% cent of the population does not have access to proper sanitation and 75% does not have access to potable water; and

6. Reinforce cooperation among APPF Member States to promote actions that would facilitate the eradication of malnutrition and diseases caused by natural disasters.