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Last year, Impactt was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank to co-ordinate a study into the impact of the global economic slowdown on value chain labour markets in Asia. Impactt worked with partners in ADB, ILO, and GTZ as well as local research partners in People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam to research the impacts of the downturn. The work culminated in a paper presented by our very own Rosey Hurst at the Asia-wide Regional High-level Meeting on the Impact of the Global Economic Slowdown on Poverty and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.

In the paper we found that of all the sectors studied: “the Vietnamese footwear industry has been hardest hit in terms of fall in demand, job losses and reduction in working hours…[and] Across all sectors temporary and migrant workers are the most vulnerable to retrenchment and changes in their wages and working hours.”

ADB has now announced the launching of anew Asia-Pacific Poverty Network Website (AsiaPovNet),  which they state is: “a knowledge hub on poverty reduction and inclusive growth in the region. It is a database on research and operational work of distinguished regional and national think tank institutions, governments, and multi- and bilateral development organizations.”

The first edition of the Asia-Pacific newsletter on poverty reduction and inclusive growth (AsiaPovNews) features Impactt’s paper together with other papers presented at the conference.

We are very proud to have been involved in these high level discussions on the policy implications of the downturn and are looking forward to seeing how Asian governments will respond to the lessons of the downturn.