While some countries in Asia and the Pacific have good prospects of reaching the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets, there are many countries which are either making slow progress or regressing. These development gaps or development deficits are most pronounced in the case of the least developed countries (LDCs). These countries are the weakest link in the region’s aspiration for achieving sustainable and inclusive development. Given the limited resources and capacity available for LDCs, the project places its special focuses on accelerating their MDG achievement by strengthening capacity in these countries to design and implement inter-sectoral policies that are cost-effective and have the greatest impact. The project will exploit the multi-sectoral experiences and expertise of ESCAP in identifying areas where cross-sectoral approaches are most effective in pursuing inclusive and sustainable development. . The project is based on the lessons learned from numerous activities undertaken in developing MDG-based policies and strategies under the previous Development Account project from the 6th tranche (Supporting Millenium Development Goals-based Development Strategies through Integrated Regional Action) as well as other projects, such as the regional tripartite initiative by ESCAP, ADB and UNDP in support of the achievement of the MDGs. This project has two main features: (1) It focuses on the LDCs in Asia - the group of countries in that region that are “off-track” and are most likely to miss the 2015 MDG targets, and (2) it focuses on strengthening the capacities of these countries in designing andimplementing specific, time bound and measurable action-oriented policies and programmes to accelerate the progress towards achieving the MDGs.