Two years have passed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the economic fall-out is still being felt all around the globe, its impacts are not fully captured.

This report analyses progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia and the Pacific and its five subregions. It also examines inequalities and vulnerabilities among different population groups. It assesses gaps which must be closed to achieve the goals by 2030 and leave no one behind.

One of the key questions posed in the research within the Rebuild project is to understand how COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities for women in the urban informal economy. The backdrop of the pandemic has exposed many layers of social disenfranchisement and vulnerabilities.

The Government of Telangana publishes the Socio Economic Outlook (SEO) annually and tables it in the State Legislature during the budget session. It presents the socio-economic performance of the State across various sectors and recognises the specific gaps and challenges to initiate appropriate action.

Tanzania has made important achievements in expanding women’s economic opportunities over the past 20 years. The female labor-force participation rate rose from 67% in 2000 to 80% in 2019, well above the average of 63% for Sub-Saharan Africa and among the highest rates on the continent.

Around 2.4 billion women of working age are not afforded equal economic opportunity and 178 countries maintain legal barriers that prevent their full economic participation, according to this new report by the World Bank. In 86 countries, women face some form of job restriction and 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work.

High income inequality can engender a wide range of negative impacts. It can harm child development, increase ill-health and mortality, limit the status of women, generate distrust in government, exacerbate levels of violence and social unrest, slow the pace of poverty reduction and hinder economic growth.

The 2020 African Sustainable Development Report is the fourth in a series of reports dating back to 2017.

The Progressing National SDGs Implementation report provides an independent analysis of reporting by United Nations Member States to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

Africa’s rural population continues to expand rapidly and labor productivity in agriculture and many rural off farm activities remains low. This paper uses the lens of a dual economy and the associated patterns of agricultural, rural, and structural transformation to review the evolution of Africa’s rural employment and its inclusiveness.