Social Development and the Sustainable Development Goals in South Asia

Book excerpt: This book assesses the roadmap for the implementation of the SDGs in South Asia, focusing in particular on the areas of poverty reduction, inequality, health/well-being and water and sanitation. South Asia is amongst the fastest growing regions in the world, with an aggregate GDP in excess of two trillion US dollars, but at the same time it has significant deficits in human development, with 37 per cent of the world's poor and nearly half of the world's malnourished children. For South Asia, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a constructive opportunity to end many of the region's deprivations in a time-bound and systematic manner. Starting with the legacy of the Millennium Development Goals, the book goes on to provide a country-by-country overview of strategies for addressing the problems of poverty, health, water and sanitation. South-South Cooperation and in particular the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) are discussed and, finally, the editors present a summary of policy priorities for social development. This book aims to be a useful resource for researchers, policy influencers, planners, implementers, students, and activists aiming to push to achieve the SDGs.