DUSHANBE, September 5, 2012, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday September 5, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a new publication at its Executive Board meeting showcasing transformative development achievements in Eastern European and Central Asian countries.

Much of these successes are reportedly based on innovative new social policies addressing the needs of that region’s chronically poor and marginalized, including the Roma, youth, the long-term unemployed and people with disabilities.

According to UNDP, the publication, Empowering Lives, Building Resilience, provides vivid examples of “triple-win” strategies that aim to advance social, economic and environmental objectives simultaneously.  As a result of these often innovative strategies, UNDP – always in partnership with governments, the private sector and civil society – has helped to create jobs, meet the needs of the most vulnerable, manage the environment responsibly and provide for the prevention of and recovery from crisis and disaster.

“There are common qualities to transformational change, regardless of the context or country in which it takes place,” said Helen Clark, who heads UNDP.  “Some critical characteristics of successful transformational change include measurable results, strong partnerships with governments and civil society and improved national capacity to manage development projects autonomously.”

Despite the relatively high average income in many of the region’s countries, large numbers of people are poor or at the risk of falling into poverty.  Growing inequalities, due to social, economic and political exclusion, remain a challenge. Environmental degradation, especially the high rates of greenhouse gas emissions in some countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, poses additional threats to development.

“Each story documents how UNDP responds to the demands of governments in Europe and Central Asia, delivering sophisticated policy support that mitigates the impact of economic and environmental shocks that have the potential to push populations back into poverty,” said Cihan Sultanoglu, Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth Independent States.