SHS - About us
Asia has undergone rapid growth and industrialisation for over half a century. Having the world’s three most populous countries, rapid globalisation and urbanisation has resulted in Asia having several of the world’s mega cities. The resulting social changes are profound. Health and education facilities, expansion of formal employment sectors and access to facilities and services have all expanded rapidly, yet poverty, gender inequality, environmental health are growing, and the vulnerability to the impacts of disasters worsens as the cities become ever larger.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Pacific Island countries and territories have some of the smallest populations globally and are therefore vulnerable to external economic shocks, natural disasters and lack of local resources. Despite this, globalisation and urbanisation are phenomena that also affect Pacific islands and similar transformational issues result.
The Social and Human Sciences program aims to provide evidence based knowledge to understand these social transformations, create fora for dialogue to provide socially equitable responses and support the development and implementation of policy responses to address these issues.
