While the Asia-Pacific region has made “spectacular success” over the years, pulling almost a billion people out of poverty and making people healthier, the region needs to “vastly accelerate” efforts if it is to meet the ambitious sustainable development agenda by 2030.

The greatest challenge for the region is growing inequality, says Kaveh Zahedi, the Deputy Executive Secretary for Sustainable Development at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

In this interview, UN News’ Vibhu Mishra speaks with Mr. Zahedi on how Asia-Pacific is doing in terms of implementation the 2030 Agenda.