EARTH SUMMIT+5 Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 New York, 23-27 June 1997 PROGRAMME FACT SHEETS

	Sustainable Development Indicators in Asia and the Pacific.
	Responsible Organization(s)	UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
	Description	The Programme relates to the development of Indicators for Sustainable Development in the Asian and Pacific region in pursuance of the recommendations contained in chapter 40 of Agenda 21 and the decision of ESCAP Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific Bangkok, November 1995 and in line with the work programme of the Commission on Sustainable Development. The Programme, inter alia, includes development of a core set of sustainable development indicators which could facilitate evaluation of implementation of sustainable development policies and programmes at national and regional levels. Coordination among the countries of the region, especially those which are developing their own sustainable development indicators is one of the major objectives of the Programme. A regional consultative meeting of the selected ESCAP member states is scheduled from 26 to 28 November 1996 which will be followed by a one-day workshop on the issues and mechanisms related to field-testing of the indicators. Subsequently, the field-testing is planned for selected countries and link these to the on-going global efforts. The work is being pursued in close collaboration with UN-DPCSD and other related UN and other Intergovernmental Organizations, which are members of the Inter-agency Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.
	Issues addressed	Development of standard indicators for measuring the progress achieved towards promotion of sustainable development.
	Objectives	The objective of the Programme is to enable ESCAP member states as well as UN Organizations and the NGOs to evaluate sustainability of the development process using universally acceptable criteria and tools. The ultimate objective of the Programme is to facilitate the decision-making process for attaining sustainability.
	Results achieved	It is a relatively long-term programme, to be competed in phases up to the year 2000. Results of the use of indicators can only be evaluated after they have been applied and field-tested in countries of the region.
	Lessons learned	The indicators selected for testing by the ESCAP member states can be gainfully used in other developing regions of the world.
	Financing	Government of the Netherlands.
	Contact	Mr. Guangchang Shi, Director Environment and Natural Resources Management Division United Nations-ESCAP United Nations Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200 Thailand Tel: (662) 288-1510 Fax: (662) 288-1000