Abstract

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The Asia-Pacific Countries with Special Needs Development Report 2016 explores ways to adapt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to the unique circumstances, capacities and levels of development of the Asia-Pacific least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States, collectively referred to as countries with special needs (CSN).

For that purpose, it proposes a unique analytical framework, based on cutting-edge methods from complexity science coupled with economic analyses, to guide countries on the prioritization and sequencing of the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in the most effective manner. The framework allows for the identification of synergies, trade-offs and bottlenecks in attaining different Goals.

The report also takes stock of the progress of CSN towards their respective global programmes of action, analyses the relationship between the programmes of action and the 2030 Agenda, and examines current perceptions of experts and practitioners from 25 CSN on how their countries should prioritize and sequence the achievement of the Goals.​