July 2003, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and UNEP Regional resource Centre for Asia and Pacific (UNEP RRC.AP) started the implementation of the project on National Sustainable Development Strategy and Action Plans (NSDSAP) towards Mainstreaming Sustainable Development in the Decision Making Process.

The purpose of the project is to strengthen the capacity of the Asia and the Pacific region and to assist national governments in formulating National Sustainable Development Strategy and Action Plans (NSDSAP) with mainstreaming sustainable development issues in the decision making process. Besides, Subregional National Development Strategies (SSDS) will be developed for Central Asia (CA), South Asia (SA)and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).

The specific objectives of the project are:

1. Build national capacity through training and provision of guidelines to prepare National Sustainable Development Strategy and Action Plans (NSDSAP) and assist national governments in translation of sustainable development strategy into concrete local actions.
2. Strengthen the role and capacity of National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) (wherever it exists) to deal with and address the issues related to sustainable development in the line of WSSD outcome and recommendations.

In addition, UNEP RRC.AP also enter into an agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to implement the Regional Technical Assistance (ADB RETA 6198) with GMS countries on Capacity Building for Promoting Sustainable Development in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The main objective of the project is to build capacity of GMS countries to integrate social, economic, and environmental objectives into existing planning mechanisms for sustainable development on both national and subregional levels.