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t the UN'€™s Sustainable Development Summit in New York in September, ASEAN leaders were among those who unanimously adopted the bold and ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. ASEAN itself promotes people-centered development.  

The global challenge now is how to make growth inclusive so that the rising tide lifts every boat and leaves no one behind.

Decades of economic growth in the Asia and Pacific region have resulted in substantial poverty reduction. The number of people living in poverty in the region fell from 1.5 billion in 1990 to an estimated 314 million this year.

There are persistent challenges, however, which see some groups continue to be excluded from the full benefits of the growth which has been experienced.

People living in rural and remote areas and members of minority groups often see less progress than others, and women still have less access than men to decent work, opportunities, and participation in decision making.

The jobs deficit affects various populations, particularly youth. Today'€™s youth generation stands at 390 million in ASEAN countries. Their aspirations, energy, and innovation can bring a huge demographic dividend to countries.

But the opposite is also true. A generation with significant numbers of unemployed or underemployed, alienated, and disengaged youth is not a recipe for peace and harmony anywhere.

The widespread deterioration of ecosystems has serious environmental implications, and is undermining livelihoods, health and food and water security.

The Asia Pacific region is the most disaster-prone in the world. Every country in ASEAN has been affected by major floods or other catastrophes in recent years.

There is our old enemy: conflict. The UN has been largely successful in helping bring an end to war between nations. But conflicts persist in the form of civil wars and asymmetrical warfare involving non-state actors.

Building peaceful and inclusive societies, as the 2030 Agenda envisages, must be a major priority.

The solutions can be found in broad-based, inclusive and sustainable growth, and in improved governance '€” these are critical for achieving sustainable development.

The 2030 Agenda is an agenda for shared prosperity, as is ASEAN'€™s new Community Vision 2025. Advancing that means focusing not only on the rate of economic growth, but also on its quality.

Leaving no one behind will require identifying and then addressing deep-rooted determinants of exclusion.

Tackling entrenched inequalities relating to gender, ethnicity, and other factors will require proactive policies and investments across education, skills training, sexual and reproductive health services, social protection, availability of credit '€” and in all other services which widen opportunity. It will mean committing to inclusion of all peoples.

Many trillions of dollars will be spent on infrastructure between now and 2030. It is important that development is risk informed to avoid setbacks in the event of major shocks, including those being exacerbated by climate change. Risks need to be understood and planned around.

Disaster risk reduction needs to be pursued by effective institutions with the capacity to lead complex, long-running processes, and be designed and implemented with full community engagement.

Innovations and improvements in governance will be needed at every level. There is capacity to be built. Sweeping policy, legislative, and regulatory changes are needed for sustainable development, as well as whole of government approaches across economic, social and environmental decision making.

That means that development actors of all kinds will need to work collaboratively across the 17 inter-related Sustainable Development Goals. Agenda 2030 requires broad coalitions of governments '€” national and local, multilateral and regional organizations, civil society, NGOs, academic and research institutions, and the private sector.

The UN development system is committed to working alongside ASEAN member states to implement the 2030 Agenda. We can support governments as they incorporate the agenda in their national and local strategies, plans and budgets, and strengthen their data systems.

We can help identify the bottlenecks to progress and accelerate achievement of goals and targets.  We can provide extensive policy and technical advice, drawing on the great depth and breadth of knowledge and experience gained across the UN development system over many decades.

Agenda 2030'€™s emphasis on accountability requires that governments and development actors alike pay much more attention to producing better quality data and knowledge, and to engaging people and groups from all walks of life in implementing and monitoring the goals.

It is clear that public finance alone could come nowhere near meeting the total financing needs for the transition to inclusive, low-emission and climate-resilient development.

Drawing on all forms of finance '€” public and private, domestic and international '€” will be essential for this task.

The good news in the ASEAN region is that there are more resources and capabilities available to address development challenges than ever before.

Official Development Assistance which totaled US$10 billion in ASEAN countries in 2013 will remain important for least developed countries which struggle to raise domestic revenue and attract private finance.

The ASEAN middle-income countries have both domestic private and public capital to deploy to achieving sustainable development transformations, and have good access to other development finance.  

Innovative financing mechanisms, such as impact investing, and financing mechanisms like green bonds which combine public and private resources, could play an important role for some.

Several ASEAN countries are already establishing frameworks for financing the 2030 Agenda implementation.

The transformation of our world for which the 2030 Agenda calls is a tall order. We all appreciate what it will mean for the well-being of people in ASEAN countries, especially for the millions who continue to live in extreme poverty, and for the prospects of the one planet on which we all depend.

Now is the time to take action and leave no-one behind.
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The writer is the administrator of the United Nations Development Program and the former prime minister of New Zealand.