Publications

UNRISD pursues an active and varied publications programme, which includes in-house and commercially published books, special reports, programme and occasional papers, as well as newsletters on specific events and the Institute’s work in general.

This section provides a catalogue of our publications, and free online access to many of them. We encourage you to subscribe to our free email alerts service to be informed when new publications are posted on this Web site.

Highlights...

Leaving No One Behind in Ghana Through University Education

January 2021

Leaving No One Behind in Ghana Through University Education

Author: Jasper Ayelazuno, Maxwell Aziabah

This paper critically examines the role universities play in addressing the problem of social inequality in Ghana. It specifically explores the possibilities and limitations Ghana faces in meeting the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 4 on education. Based on analysis of secondary data, both qualitative and quantitative, the paper argues that the widening of participation in university education in Ghana is not inclusive in terms of gender, class or geographic location. Far from addressing inequalities in access to university education, the dynamics shaping the provision of university education in Ghana exclude marginalized social groups such as women and the poor, as well as the those living in rural areas and in the northern part of the country. The paper concludes by highlighting critical areas and issues needing further research to inform policy reforms aimed at widening access and promoting equity in higher education in Ghana.

Transformative Adaptation to Climate Change and Informal Settlements in Coastal Cities: Entry Points for Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City

December 2020

Transformative Adaptation to Climate Change and Informal Settlements in Coastal Cities: Entry Points for Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City

Author: Tue Minh Tran, Dunja Krause

This paper explicitly posits social and environmental justice as an integral part of transformation and transformative adaptation, and synthesizes the findings from case study research that was undertaken on adaptation in the context of informal settlements and urban development in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam and Jakarta, Indonesia. Both cities are emblematic for rapidly urbanizing coastal cities that are highly exposed to the increasing impacts of climate change. In both cities, climate change adaptation is increasingly mainstreamed into business-as-usual sectoral and socio-economic development planning and used to justify the relocation of residents of informal settlements. Through the comparative analysis of the two cases, the paper seeks to dissect and imagine how cities may address root causes of vulnerability to flood risks experienced by inhabitants of informal settlements. Through this analysis, the authors hope to initiate a debate on policy pathways to more transformative adaptation that achieves social justice.

Responding to Protracted Displacement Using the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus Approach: UNDP and UNHCR Theory of Change—Research and Policy Brief

December 2020

Responding to Protracted Displacement Using the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus Approach: UNDP and UNHCR Theory of Change—Research and Policy Brief

Author: Katja Hujo

Forced displacement is now affecting more than 80 million people in the world and many are in protracted situations. This long-lasting displacement blurs the lines between humanitarian crisis and longer-term development, and creates additional challenges for conflict resolution or prevention. In response we need stronger collaboration between the many actors involved based on an approach which has come to be known as the humanitarian-development-peace (HDP) nexus, or triple nexus. In line with the holistic vision of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), such an integrated approach aims to lead to a better understanding of, and more effective responses to, the complexity of protracted displacement, while fostering coherent and complementary collaborations between different partners. The final objective is to create a safe and secure environment for both the forcibly displaced and host populations, where everyone can realize their rights and access services, while contributing to and benefitting from society and the economy in ways that promote resilience and longer-term solutions.

Corporate Sustainability Accounting: What Can and Should Corporations Be Doing?—Full Report

November 2020

Corporate Sustainability Accounting: What Can and Should Corporations Be Doing?—Full Report

Author: Peter Utting, Kelly O'Neill

Today’s global crises—financial, climate and health—as well as the Sustainable Development Goals have raised the bar in terms of expectations regarding corporate sustainability performance. They have also highlighted the need for sustainability policy and practices that address not only the symptoms of unsustainable development, but also the underlying causes associated with structural conditions that reproduce inequality, vulnerability and planetary degradation. How, then, might corporate sustainability disclosure and reporting be repurposed to achieve these ends and, in so doing, measure and promote progress from the perspective of the transformational vision of the SDGs?

The Gender Implications of Transformations in the Copper Value Chain: A Case Study of the Zambian Copperbelt

October 2020

The Gender Implications of Transformations in the Copper Value Chain: A Case Study of the Zambian Copperbelt

Author: Hanna Haile

Based on two months of fieldwork, the report examines the local-level gender implications of operational and financial transformations in the copper value chain. According to the study, increased financialization of global production networks in general and the copper value chain in particular, along with the privatization of mines, has direct and indirect impacts on lives and livelihoods at sites of extraction in the Zambian Copperbelt, manifested in the casualization of labour, an emphasis on profit maximization over other societal and environmental goals and, to some extent, an erosion of gender stereotypes and gendered division of labour.