Asia-Pacific Sustainable Development Journal - Volume 28, Issue 1, 2021

This paper presents work towards the development of a national Multidimensional Poverty Index for Timor-Leste. The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index for Timor-Leste, based on the Demographic and Health Survey, had been calculated previously, but because of sample size limitations, poverty estimates are only reliable for higher levels of administrative units. This paper’s unique contribution is in demonstrating how this hurdle can be overcome by calculating a census-based Multidimensional Poverty Index that allows for robust estimates at lower subnational levels. By using data from the previous two censuses, the study shows a decline in multidimensional poverty across the country, although persistent deprivations remain in some areas.

The speed of population ageing is among the fastest in ASEAN countries. For policy learning, this trend requires a high-quality, independent comparative evidence base. The demographic change has strong implications for sustainable development, especially in the view of the commitment to “leave no one behind” made in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The new Asian Active Ageing Index, which is presented in this paper, quantifies the extent to which older people have been able to and can realize their socioeconomic potential. Using the two most populous member States of ASEAN as examples, Indonesia and Thailand, the Index is sensitized to the Asia-Pacific cultural norms, such as the role of older persons in the society and the informal nature of contributions of older persons to their families and communities.

The civil registration and vital statistics system is the most comprehensive source of data on mortality used to inform health policy in Maldives. The objective of this study is to assess the quality of the civil registration and vital statistics data and recommend improvements. The electronic tool ANACONDA was used to evaluate completeness of death registration, plausibility of age-specific death rates, quality of cause of death reporting and generate the Vital Statistics Performance Index for Quality for the period 2010–2017. The quality of physicians’ practices in completing the medical certificate of cause of death was evaluated using a standardized assessment tool. Death registration completeness was estimated to be 95.4 per cent for males and 97.0 per cent for females for the 2014–2017 period. Life expectancy estimates using the civil registration and vital statistics system data varied by three to four years, depending on the population data source used. About half of all deaths were assigned a cause of death that was unclear or not an underlying cause. The Vital Statistics Performance Index was 48.8 for the period 2014–2017, which is rated as being low quality. Poor medical certification practices were common; for example, more than half (56 per cent) of medical certificates of cause of death had an incorrect or clinically improbable chain of events leading to death. In conclusion, improvement in medical certification practices is necessary to attain more reliable mortality indicators to aid policy and planning.

Fertility rates vary significantly across different socioeconomic and demographic factors, customs, cultures and practices of people living in different parts of the world. The age at first birth, one of the most significant events in a woman’s life, is directly and indirectly related to total fertility. The present paper is focused on the patterns, and socioeconomic and demographic determinants of age at the first birth of Myanmar women. For this study, data from the Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey 2015–2016 were used. A total of 7,613 ever-married women between 15 and 49 years who had given birth participated in the survey. The pattern of women at first birth was estimated using as descriptive technique and the determinants of age at first birth were identified using the Cox Proportional Hazards model. The average age at first birth of Myanmar women was 22.4 years in 2015-2016. The results of this study indicate that women’s education level and their age when they first engaged in sex, birth cohort, wealth index, residence, husband’s education and occupation whether they reside in a female-headed household were found to be significant factors associated with age at first birth. The age of women at first birth tended to be longer for women living in urban areas and women married to men with high degrees of education. Based on the results of this study, rural areas need to be developed and improving educational attainment is required to delay the age at first birth of women in Myanmar.

The objective of this study is to fill a gap in the expanding literature on country-specific, regional and global financial inclusion. This is the first study in which the issue of inclusion in the context of the Pacific island economies is systematically investigated. Using Vanuatu as a case, and recently available demand side survey data provided by the country’s central bank, the results of the study indicate that exclusion is mainly voluntary. Determinants, motivations, and barriers of financial inclusion in Vanuatu are discussed using a range of controls. The use of a formal bank account is more popular in Port Vila and Luganville compared to other regions of the country. Higher income, better education and age are positively associated with greater use of formal accounts. Women are more likely to have general savings and formal credit compared to men. However, regardless of the ownership of a bank account, women are more likely to report savings over the past 12 months, and make deposits and withdrawals from their bank accounts more frequently. Policy implications are discussed.