News by Date

• “The World Came To Class”. UNRISD At The UN Summer Academy (3 Sep 2020)
  As part of a continued capacity-building partnership with the United Nations System Staff College, UNRISD research findings presented by insightful staff contributed to this year’s first-of-a-kind virtual edition of the UN Summer Academy, held online on 24-28 August 2020.
• HLPF in the Times of Covid-19: UNRISD’s Contribution (31 Jul 2020)
  The 2020 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF, the UN’s central body to review progress on the Sustainable Development Goals) was marked, of course, by the COVID-19 pandemic and UNRISD rose to the challenge. In varying formats, evidence from UNRISD research enriched debates with national policy makers and civil society representatives.
• Help Shape UNRISD’s Next Institutional Strategy (6 Jul 2020)
  We are conducting a global consultation on our Institutional Strategy 2021-2025 and we would like your input. Share your views on the current social development context and research priorities for the next five years of UNRISD’s work by filling in our survey.
• The UNRISD Anti-Racism Reading List: Research to Challenge Racial Injustice (17 Jun 2020)
  Protests sparked by recurring incidents of racially motivated police brutality in the US, and the larger racist structures such incidents are both embedded in and actively reproduce, have spread across the world. Individuals, particularly those who do not experience systemic racism and structural forms of racial injustice and discrimination, are being called upon to educate themselves about the injustices behind current inequities, and to work to challenge these. UNRISD proposes the following resources in support of this global effort.
• Global Institutions Unite around Key Actions for Green and Fair Economic Recovery from COVID-19 (5 Jun 2020)
  On World Environment Day, 5 June 2020, global institutions working on development, labour and environment have united around set of actions to spur a green, just and transformative recovery. UNRISD has joined the Partners for Inclusive Green Economy statement that calls for recovery efforts that recognize the interdependencies between human and environmental health, and integrated policy approaches, developed in consultation with stakeholders and civil society, that respond to COVID-19 in ways that accelerate efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.
• First Results From New UNRISD Research on Measuring Corporate Sustainability Performance (6 May 2020)
  Rethinking corporate sustainability disclosure and reporting is the ambitious goal of the UNRISD Sustainable Development Performance Indicators project, and the first set of research findings from one of the main workstreams is well on its way to achieving that aim. With the full report on transnational corporations and other large companies due out in a couple of months, the accompanying Research and Policy Brief setting out the main highlights is already available, providing a preview of the innovative insights from this research. The Brief casts into startling relief the gaps in the system that need to be changed if sustainability reporting is to assess the issues, indicators and targets that really matter from the perspective of sustainable development.
• Evidence for Transformative Change: UNRISD Survey on Responses to Covid-19 and Vulnerable Communities (27 Apr 2020)
  UNRISD launches global survey to gather data and analyse how well current government policies on Covid-19 in all countries and regions are responding to the needs of vulnerable people.
• In Memoriam – Thandika Mkandawire (10 October 1940 – 27 March 2020) (31 Mar 2020)
  Thandika Mkandawire passed away on 27 March 2020 in Stockholm. In mourning this loss, UNRISD joins Thandika’s family, as well as innumerable friends, colleagues and students: Thandika was well loved, well known and well regarded, and he will be truly missed.
• “Climate action has to be fast but also fair”. Interview with Isabell Kempf, Head of UNRISD Bonn Office (19 Feb 2020)
  With a new office in Bonn, launched on 6 February, UNRISD aims to create new interagency collaborations and strengthen research uptake linkages to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. We sat down after the launch event for a short interview with Isabell Kempf, the newly appointed Head of UNRISD’s Bonn Office, who told us about her vast experience with knowledge challenges at the United Nations, the role of research in the face of the current climate crisis, how science and action can work together, and much more.
• Call for Papers: Financial Crises, Poverty and Environmental Sustainability [International Workshop] (15 Jan 2020)
  The Sussex Sustainability Research Programme, UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals, and UNRISD are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for an international workshop which aims both to advance state-of-the-art research in the financial distress-poverty-environmental sustainability nexus, and to produce recommendations for policy action needed in the framework of the SDGs.
• We’re Expanding! Seeking a Senior Research Coordinator for Our New Work Programme in Bonn, Germany (23 Sep 2019)
  Thanks to support from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), UNRISD is embarking on a new work programme that aims to strengthen research-uptake linkages through an integrated approach to knowledge and skills development, where our research feeds into training and capacity building activities and is informed by their needs.
• Into the SDG Mix: UNRISD Research Mingles with Policy Makers and Activists at the 2019 HLPF (12 Jul 2019)
  As the international development community gathered in New York for this year’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) from 9-18 July, UNRISD research findings made their presence felt at (at least) five different events. The HLPF is the UN’s central body which reviews progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, where evidence from UNRISD’s research on transformative policies that help leave no one behind can inform debates and lead to a better implementation of the SDGs.
• UNRISD Research Strengthening the Capacity of African Governments to Achieve the SDGs (29 May 2019)
  Ilcheong Yi, a Senior Research Coordinator at UNRISD, was invited back as a resource person to the UN Office for Sustainable Development’s annual Executive Training Course for Policymakers on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 20 to 24 May 2019. The course brought together high- and middle-ranked civil servants from 54 low- and middle-income countries mandated with leading their governments’ implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Call for Papers for the 2019 Social Policy in Africa Conference—Governance of Africa’s Social Policy: Subverting Development and Democracy? (10 May 2019)
  The 2019 Social Policy in Africa Conference will address a wide range of issues in the sphere of inclusive development in Africa—from the different national and regional modes of governance of the African social policy space, to the drivers of policy preferences and the dynamics of social policy making, to the nature of politics and the public sphere necessary for economic transformation, human flourishing, and new forms of social compact in 21st century Africa. The Call for Papers is open through 30 August 2019.
• Call for Expressions of Interest: Universities and Social Inequalities in the Global South (28 Jan 2019)
  UNRISD invites expressions of interest from researchers to prepare papers that will feed into the development of a research proposal for a project on the relationship between universities and social inequalities in low- and middle-income countries. UNRISD particularly welcomes expressions of interest from women, young researchers, and researchers from and based in developing countries. ***THIS CALL IS CLOSED***
• Connecting with Governments and Civil Society (23 Jan 2019)
  On 11-21 February, UNRISD will be using its channels within the UN to connect with government representatives and civil society organizations from UN member states at the Commission for Social Development, held every year at UN Headquarters in New York.
• Using Census Data to Simulate Society and Test Public Policy: Discussing an Innovative New Tool (17 Jan 2019)
  UNRISD Senior Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi will be the discussant at a lunch-time seminar at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies at which Peter Davis, Emeritus Professor from the University of Auckland, will present SociaLab, a new open-source tool for policy development.
• From the Human Rights Council to the High-Level Political Forum on the SDGs: Channeling UNRISD Research (14 Jan 2019)
  UNRISD is teaming up with the Human Rights Council (HRC) to make sure that research findings on synergies between human rights and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development feed into this year’s High-Level Political Forum, which reviews progress on the SDGs. Find out how.
• UNRISD Expertise to Strengthen UN Capacity on SDGs at Country Level (11 Dec 2018)
  Identified as one of the most relevant and knowledgeable thought leaders in the United Nations, UNRISD has been appointed to the new United Nations Learning Advisory Council for the 2030 Agenda, created this month by Deputy Secretary-General and UN Sustainable Development Group Chair, Amina J. Mohammed. The purpose of the Council—to challenge conventional thinking and develop new insights on knowledge and learning around key global and national SDG-related challenges—aligns well with UNRISD’s mandate.
• UNRISD at Science-Policy Dialogue on Just Transitions to a Low-Carbon World at UN Climate Conference (6 Dec 2018)
  "The transition must accelerate. (...) Only a transition that challenges systems of exclusion and discrimination, and seeks to improve prosperity and well-being for all, can be considered a truly Just Transition." This was one of the main messages presented by UNRISD on behalf of the Just Transition Research Collaborative to participants at the UN Climate Conference, COP24, currently under way in Katowice, Poland.
• “Inequality is a result of policy choices, it's not an economic inevitability.” Round-up of the UNRISD Conference Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World (13 Nov 2018)
  Insightful, inspiring and relevant were perhaps the most frequent words that participants used to describe the UNRISD Conference Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization, which took place on 7-9 November 2018 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Find out which sessions are now available on video.
• UN Public Service Award Goes to Switzerland’s Federal Office for Gender Equality (7 Aug 2018)
  UNRISD Board Member Sylvie Durrer was in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 23 June–UN Public Service Day—to accept the UN Public Service Award presented to Switzerland for the work of the Federal Office for Gender Equality, of which she is the Director. Find out more about the successful initiative to reduce the gender pay gap in Switzerland.
• Call for Papers for the UNTFSSE: Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: What Role for Social and Solidarity Economy? (1 Jun 2018)
  The United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) launched a Call for Papers to assess the contribution of SSE to inclusive and sustainable development, with a particular emphasis on local contexts. Organized by UNRISD, in its role as coordinator of the Task Force’s recently established Knowledge Hub, the Call for Papers aimed to identify and mobilize research from different regions and territories that critically examines the role of SSE as a means of implementation for the SDGs for a conference planned for 2019.
• Call for Papers—Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization (9 Mar 2018)
  UNRISD invites researchers and practitioners to take part in our Call for Papers! Key themes include the role and influence of elites; the role of institutions in perpetuating or curbing inequalities; shifting class structures and identities; the effects of deepening inequalities on local lifeworlds; and actors, alliances and social mobilization for progressive change. The call is open from 1 - 29 April. The papers selected will be presented at UNRISD’s next major international conference in Geneva in November 2018.
• Year in Review: What You Liked in 2017 (16 Jan 2018)
  As 2017 segues into 2018, the time has come to take a look at what stood out for UNRISD in the last 12 months. Here’s our review of our greatest hits during 2017 .
• “Putting Social Justice Front and Centre”: Jeremy Corbyn Speaks on UNRISD Panel with ITC’s Arancha Gonzalez and UNITAR’s Nikhil Seth (13 Dec 2017)
  Over 500 people came to the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Friday 8 December to hear a panel including Jeremy Corbyn (leader of the UK Labour Party), Arancha Gonzalez (Executive Director of ITC) and Nikhil Seth (Executive Director of UNITAR) speak about the need for international cooperation in a changing world.
• UNRISD Flagship Report launched in South Africa (6 Dec 2017)
  The UNRISD Flagship Report Policy Innovations for Transformative Change enjoyed its first presentation in Africa at the Social Policy in Africa Conference, held in the City of Tshwane, South Africa on 20-22 November 2017. UNRISD also launched of its latest edited volume Towards Universal Health Care in Emerging Economies, and shared the current international perspective on social policy for development with participants at this fascinating African conference.
• UNRISD Reaches out to Colombian Students Searching for Sustainable Development and Lasting Peace (4 Dec 2017)
  On 29 November, UNRISD introduced a group of about 20 Colombian students to our research and work for impact. The students from three universities were in Geneva as part of a study tour of Geneva-based UN bodies and specialized agencies working in areas related to trade and development, and also to help Colombian universities build stronger relations with the United Nations.
• Policy Innovations in Response to Gender-Based Violence Are Pushing the International Agenda (2 Nov 2017)
  Links between gender-based violence and the world of work, and how policies are changing to address them, are the subject of this interview with Jane Aeberhard-Hodges, former Director of the ILO's Bureau for Gender Equality and currently an UNRISD Senior Research Associate. Jane discusses recent policy innovations in Australia in which employers are recognising the impact of domestic violence on the workplace. She looks at how these changes have come about and how they might inform a new international standard on violence in the world of work, as well as discussing the potential impact of global policy making.
• “For challenging established premises”: Bina Agarwal Wins Prestigious Prize (11 Oct 2017)
  Professor Bina Agarwal, former UNRISD Board Member and scholar, has been awarded the prestigious Balzan prize for her work on women and agriculture within gender studies. An award ceremony will be held in Bern, Switzerland, on 17 November 2017.
• Cubes, Kids and Chat: UNRISD at the UN Open Day in Geneva (9 Oct 2017)
  The United Nations Office at Geneva threw open its doors this weekend, welcoming locals and the region’s large expat community to its latest Open Day. Find out how UNRISD, which has its offices in the Palais des Nations, joined in the fun.
• In Memory of Bob Deacon - A Letter from Isabel Ortiz (6 Oct 2017)
  Bob Deacon, Honorary Professor of Global Social Policy at the University of York, and Emeritus Professor of International Social Policy at the University of Sheffield, passed away on 1 October 2017. Bob was a giant of social policy - without him, the world is a lonelier and emptier place. He influenced many debates in academia, the UN, ILO, UNICEF and UNRISD, as well as in transition economies and developing countries.
• Localizing the SDGs: UNRISD at the UN Summer Academy (31 Aug 2017)
  In an innovative new partnership, UNRISD this summer shared its research results participants at the UN Summer Academy hosted by the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development in Bonn, Germany. Senior Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi presented insights on how social and solidarity economy can facilitate the implementation of the SDGs at the local level.
• Open, Perceptive and Public-Spirited: A Tribute to Abdul Raufu Mustapha (1954-2017) (21 Aug 2017)
  UNRISD mourns the loss of Abdul Raufu Mustapha, who died on 8 August 2017. This tribute was contributed by Yusuf Bangura, former UNRISD Senior Research Coordinator.
• Research Meets Policy: UNRISD Keynote Speaker at Asia Policy Dialogue on SSE and the SDGs (19 Jul 2017)
  Decision makers and social entrepreneurs were the audience for the Keynote Speech given by UNRISD Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi at the 2017 Asia Policy Dialogue, held in Seoul on 1 June 2017, back-to-back with the ILO’s Academy on Social and Solidarity Economy at which Ilcheong participated as a resource person in the session on SSE and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• From Paper to Practice: International Students Strengthen their Grasp of Sustainable Development (20 Jun 2017)
  On 13 June 2017, UNRISD welcomed a group of 33 students from the University of Kassel as part of a course on business and human rights. Senior Research Coordinator Katja Hujo gave a presentation on the work of UNRISD, highlighting its independent research structure and its commitment to transformative change.
• UNRISD Research Informing UN and National Policy Making in the Middle East and North Africa Region (22 May 2017)
  UNRISD has this year been an engaged partner with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in the preparation and delivery of the annual Arab Forum for Sustainable Development. UNRISD expertise was in high demand and much valued by both organizers and participants.
• Five Days, Three Pillars, One Training Course: UNRISD Strengthens Capacity of Environment Ministries to Implement Agenda 2030 (17 May 2017)
  UNRISD senior researcher Ilcheong Yi shared UNRISD research on transformative change with government officials from 28 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Zambia, at an Executive Training Course for Policymakers on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), organized by the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development. His contributions drew both on interesting findings from recent UNRISD research and unique expertise developed from UNRISD engagement with major UN processes.
• Opening Minds and Futures: UNRISD Unlocks Potential at Careers Fairs (25 Apr 2017)
  UNRISD has again participated in the spring round of careers fairs in the local area, making sure it reaches out to the development students, experts, policy makers and activists of today and tomorrow. On 23 March 2017 in Geneva we participated in Connexion, the Careers Forum of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, and on 21 April 2017 we were in Bern at the invitation of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs at their annual International Career Day.
• Shaping the Future: UNRISD Welcomes Maastricht University Public Policy Students (13 Mar 2017)
  On 1 March 2017 a group of Public Policy students from United Nations University MERIT / Maastricht University, the Netherlands, met with UNRISD as part of a study trip to Geneva. Senior Research Coordinator, Katja Hujo, welcomed the students and provided an overview of UNRISD and its research contribution to the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, including a summary of the key messages from the Institute's 2016 flagship report: Policy Innovations for Transformative Change.
• UNRISD Flagship Report on the Road: Lisbon and Barcelona (17 Feb 2017)
  UNRISD speakers have been taking the Flagship Report Policy Innovations for Transformative Change, launched last October, on the road around southern Europe in the last month or so with presentations in Lisbon and Barcelona. These events are a vital part of connecting our research findings with policy makers, thinkers, activists and practitioners, and influencing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Engaging with the International Development Community in New York (8 Feb 2017)
  UNRISD was at UN Headquarters again this February. Centring on the presentation of its biennial Activity Report to the Commission for Social Development, UNRISD made sure that its connections with UN member states and its visibility in the intergovernmental UN body to which it reports remained high, as in previous years.
• Fuelling the Think Tank Community: UNRISD Contributes to Geneva Winter School for Thinktankers (24 Jan 2017)
  Is UNRISD a think tank? Or a research organization? And what is in fact the difference? These were some of the questions covered in the exchange between UNRISD's Head of Communications, Jenifer Freedman, and the participants in the Geneva Winter School for Thinktankers on 23 January in the Palais des Nations, Geneva.
• Basic Income Gaining Momentum (16 Jan 2017)
  The idea of unconditional basic income seems to be making headway in both government and business circles. In January 2017 Finland launched a 2-year basic income experiment, and the topic is featuring for the first time at Davos, the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Annual Meeting. Is this an idea whose time has come?
• UNRISD to Host a Session at the Resilience 2017 Conference (13 Dec 2016)
  UNRISD is hosting a session on “The Transformation we want: Towards a global policy environment for resilient futures” at the Resilience 2017 conference, taking place in Stockholm, Sweden on 21-23 August 2017.
• Bibliotherapy for Progressives after the US Presidential Election (22 Nov 2016)
  In the wake of the US presidential election in November 2016, and similar political phenomena such as the UK referendum on leaving the European Union, many progressives and liberals are asking themselves where we go from here. UNRISD has put together a reading list to reinforce the arguments and analyses of why racism, xenophobia and misogyny are not the answer to (perceived) social and economic losses resulting from globalization and rising inequality.
• Revitalizing the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (21 Nov 2016)
  UNRISD participated in a two-day meeting of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (TFSSE) at the FAO in Rome in early November which served to revitalize the Task Force and develop a new strategic plan for its future activities.
• Social Protection for All. Civil Society Activists from El Salvador and Costa Rica Visit UNRISD (17 Nov 2016)
  Transforming our world, which the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aspires to do, starts at home—but global actors and processes can support these change processes in multiple ways. This message crystalized from lively discussions with the participants of a group of activists from Central America, who visited UNRISD on 8 November 2016 as part of a capacity-building and networking trip organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
• A Tribute to Rodolfo Stavenhagen (9 Nov 2016)
  UNRISD mourns the loss of Rodolfo Stavenhagen, who died on 5 November 2016 in Cuernavaca, Mexico at the age of 84. Stavenhagen contributed to the work of the Institute for almost fifty years, beginning in the 1960s. For all of us, within UNRISD and outside it, who have had the privilege of working with Rodolfo, of learning from him and laughing with him and benefiting from his extraordinary generosity of spirit, the news of his death is an irreparable blow. We celebrate his memory.
• Bringing UNRISD Research to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (26 Jul 2016)
  “If people say they don’t know how to make transformative change, show them the Preview of UNRISD’s 2016 Flagship Report”. These words from Nicole Ruder of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation summed up the impact of UNRISD’s Official Side Event at the 2016 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
• Over 1,000 Supporters Sign On For UNRISD: Thank You! (1 Jun 2016)
  More than 1,000 academics, policy and decision makers, practitioners and advocates signed on to a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, asking for his urgent political backing to efforts under way between April and September 2016 to mobilize UN and other sources of funding for UNRISD.
• Youth Empowerment and the SDGs: Raising Voices (20 Apr 2016)
  UNRISD Director Paul Ladd lent his voice to a debate on youth empowerment through the Sustainable Development Goals, following on from his engagement with February’s ECOSOC Youth Forum 2016 where he spoke at a High-Level Dialogue on the Role of Youth in the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda. At this week’s Geneva event, organized by the Interns With A Mission initiative, speakers debated the motion “The current SDG framework provides enough opportunities for youth involvement and empowerment”.
• Capacity Building for Students: A Win-Win Proposition (12 Feb 2016)
  True to its role of mentoring today’s young people for the work they can do both now and in the future, UNRISD is again partnering in several Applied Research Seminars with the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies (Geneva).
• Channels into Global Policy Processes: Keeping the Social Dimension in Public-Private Partnerships (30 Nov 2015)
  UNRISD recently contributed to the drafting of a Declaration on Responsible Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) which will be presented at the 21st session of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change in Paris in early December (COP21).
• Peace Week, Conference and TEDx: Knowledge on Gender in Demand (13 Nov 2015)
  The UNRISD Gender team is proving its versatility with three different types of engagement on three different issues all in the month of November. “It just shows how much demand there is from different quarters for the type of knowledge we are generating on gender issues and how particularly in Geneva we have multiple opportunities to spread that knowledge to different stakeholders,” said UNRISD Director, Paul Ladd.
• Finnish Students Visit UNRISD (11 Nov 2015)
  Students Emma Sokkanen and Olga Ylönen from Finland spent a day shadowing UNRISD communications staff and meeting with researchers. The visit aimed to increase interest among upper secondary students for international organizations and raise awareness about global issues.During the day they got an overview of UNRISD’s working life. Emma and Olga learned about the research process by talking to researchers.
• Happy 70th Birthday UN! UNRISD Celebrates at Geneva UN Open Day (26 Oct 2015)
  Record numbers of visitors came to chat at the UNRISD stand at the UN Open Day held on 24 October to celebrate the United Nations' 70th birthday at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Friendly and informed UNRISD staff were on hand to explain to people from the Geneva community and from further afield what the Institute does and what impacts its research has.
• François Hollande and Paul Ladd Put SSE at the Heart of the SDGs (29 Sep 2015)
  This Monday, incoming UNRISD Director Paul Ladd took the podium along with French President François Hollande at a High Level Event of the Leading Group on Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
• UNRISD Talks Social Policy with African Development Planners and Civil Servants (4 Sep 2015)
  For the second year in a row, Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi represented UNRISD at the multi-week course "Social Policy for Development Planners", hosted by the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning in Dakar, Senegal. The course brought together mid- and senior level civil servants from government ministries across Africa to build their capacity to recognize and utilize the role of social policy in delivering transformative development outcomes.
• Development, Democracy and Cohesion by Yusuf Bangura (2 Sep 2015)
  We are pleased to announce the publication of a new book by former UNRISD Research Coordinator, Yusuf Bangura, Development, Democracy and Cohesion. The book—part of a series called Critical Essays with Insights on Sierra Leone and Wider African Contexts and published by Sierra Leonean Writers Series—is a collection of 43 essays, written while he was at UNRISD. Yusuf Bangura uses his insights into Sierra Leone and Africa in general to shed light on the challenges of building developmental, democratic and cohesive states and societies.
• UNRISD to Participate in Collaborative Research Project Linking Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and Gender (6 Aug 2015)
  UNRISD will be collaborating with the Graduate Institute and six other research institutes, of which five are located in the global South, on a new project entitled Feminist Analysis of Social and Solidarity Economy Practices: Views from Latin America and India. The project will take the form of a multidisciplinary and multi-scalar comparative study taking place across four research sites: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and India.
• UN Secretary-General Appoints Paul Ladd Director of UNRISD (24 Jul 2015)
  UNRISD is pleased to convey the announcement, made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 23 July 2015, of the appointment of Paul Ladd of the United Kingdom as Director of UNRISD.
• UNRISD Tribute to Ajit Singh (15 Jul 2015)
  It is with deep sadness that we learned of the death of Professor Ajit Singh on 23 June 2015. Professor Singh was Professor Emeritus at Cambridge University and a renowned economist who made fundamental contributions in the field of modern business enterprise, the theory of firms and competition policy. We will miss his penetrating mind, his good humour and his courage.
• Bringing Southern Voices into the International Domain: UNRISD Researchers Share Expertise on Women’s Claims Making (22 Jul 2015)
  The country research teams from the UNRISD project When and Why Do States Respond to Women’s Claims? will be participating in two events this summer, bringing research perspectives from Indonesia, China and India to international fora.
• UNRISD Participates in Special Technical Panel for Ministerial Meeting in Timor-Leste (13 May 2015)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi was invited to take part in the Specialized Technical Panel on Poverty, Social Protection and Labour Markets at the 13th Meeting of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) Ministers of Labour and Social Affair in Timor-Leste.
• Gender Programme Moving Full Steam Ahead (9 Apr 2015)
  The Gender and Development Research Programme at UNRISD is moving forward with a dynamic new team! UNRISD has launched a new Think Pieces Series, "Let’s Talk about Women’s Rights", to mark the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action. We asked feminist scholars and activists from around the world to reflect on the achievements ...
• Advance Information: Recruitment of UNRISD Director (2 Mar 2015)
  Updated 23 March: An announcement about the position of UNRISD Director, provided for information purposes. For the official job opening and to apply, visit the UN Careers website (see this news story for details).
• New Directions in Social Policy Project: Methodology Workshop in Geneva (29 Jan 2015)
  UNRISD held a methodology workshop in Geneva on 15-16 January 2015 as part of the three-year research project "New Directions in Social Policy: Alternatives from and for the Global South". The aim of the workshop was to establish a coherent comparative framework and methodologies for the case studies foreseen in the project.
• Turning the Page: Sarah Cook to Step Down as UNRISD Director (29 Jan 2015)
  After five years in Geneva, Sarah Cook has announced to staff, Board, donors and other key stakeholders that she will step down as Director of UNRISD with effect from 1 June 2015. Sarah’s stewardship of UNRISD leaves a rich research legacy. An indefatigable networker committed to raising UNRISD’s profile, Sarah also strongly advocated greater emphasis on communications and outreach, with visible and recognized results.
• Beijing+20: UNRISD’s Contributions to the 20th Anniversary of the Declaration (2 Mar 2015)
  The United Nations is marking 20 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which remains an ambitious agenda for women’s rights. While there have been improvements in many areas, women’s rights still have a long way to go. Beijing+20 is an opportunity to reflect on the Declaration and its impact in the context of the post-2015 agenda and to reinforce the commitment to fully and universally achieve women’s rights. UNRISD is today launching a new Think Piece Series as part of its contribution to the Beijing+20 process.
• Building Strong Ties between Political Actors, Citizens and Investors: The Way Forward for Ugandan Revenue Mobilization? (18 Dec 2014)
  On 24-25 September 2014, UNRISD organized the second Ugandan national workshop for its Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development project. Held at the Protea Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, the workshop created an opportunity for country researchers to share and disseminate their findings with a broad set of stakeholders such as academics, civil society representatives, and journalists, but also to receive feedback and insights from the invited experts.
• Engaging with the Global South…in Geneva (15 Dec 2014)
  On 8 December 2014 UNRISD organized a Breakfast Meeting with country representatives from the global South. The 14 participants included Ambassadors, Deputy Ambassadors and senior representatives of the Permanent Missions in Geneva, who devoted two hours to getting to know UNRISD and exploring priorities and potential for future collaboration.
• Scope for Further Research on Gender and Climate Change in Chinese Drylands? (15 Dec 2014)
  A workshop to discuss the potential for future research on the gendered impacts of climate change in Chinese dryland areas is being held on 16 December 2014 in Beijing, China. Organized jointly by UNRISD and the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy (part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), the workshop is based on the results of the UNRISD report Gender Dimensions of Food and Water Security in ...
• UNRISD Collaborating Researchers Among “Most Influential in 2014” (21 Nov 2014)
  Three of our Collaborating Researchers have been recognized as among the “50 Most Influential Latin-American Intellectuals of 2014”, according to a list established by ESGLOBAL, a leading internet source of analysis of world events.
• Social and Solidarity Economy: A Rising Force? (19 Nov 2014)
  In this update on the progress being made in putting social and solidarity economy on the UN agenda, UNRISD Research Analyst Marie-Adélaïde Matheï reviews its position in post-2015 debates and UNRISD policy and research activities.
• “Thanks, Otto! 125 years of pensions”: UNRISD Speaker at International Conference on Pension Reform (11 Nov 2014)
  Research Coordinator Katja Hujo was a panellist at the international conference on pension reform “Thanks, Otto ! 125 years of pensions” hosted by BMZ, GIZ, Helpage International and Allianz in Berlin on 28-29 October 2014. The conference celebrated 125 years since the first ever public pension system was introduced in 1889 by then German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, and which has since influenced the development of pension systems around the world.
• Member States, Civil Society and Even Royalty: UNRISD at the ECE Beijing+20 Regional Review Meeting (10 Nov 2014)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook moderated a distinguished panel of speakers at the first substantive session of the ECE Beijing+20 Regional Review Meeting, held in Geneva on 6 November 2014. The speakers included representatives of member states, a senior EU official and experts from government and civil society.
• Right to Information Act Subject of New Book by UNRISD Visiting Fellow (31 Oct 2014)
  A book on the Right to Information (RTI) Act in India by UNRISD Visiting Fellow Prashant Sharma has just been published. Democracy and Transparency in the Indian State: The Making of the Right to Information Act examines the factors underlying the enactment of the Right to Information Act and suggests that they are more complex than they seem. The enactment of the Indian Right to Information Act ...
• Second Research Workshop in New Delhi for “When and Why Do States Respond to Women’s Claims?” Project (23 Oct 2014)
  The UNRISD gender team is organizing the second workshop for this multi-country project, which now focuses efforts not just on writing-up initial findings but also sharing them with selected stakeholders. It will take place on 29-31 October 2014 in New Delhi. The research teams will present the primary research conducted in China, Indonesia and India, and they will be able to make key progress in comparing findings across issues. The teams will also plan the next stage of the project: dissemination of the research findings and analysis.
• Online Discussion on Unpaid Care: What Do You Think? (16 Oct 2014)
  An online discussion on Addressing unpaid care in the post-2015 agenda will take place on Wikigender on 20-25 October 2014, promoted by the OECD. Anybody with access to an internet connection can join the conversation on unpaid care work with four invited experts, including Valeria Esquivel, UNRISD Research Coordinator for Gender and Development. The other lead discussants areAlison Aggarwal, Australian Human Rights Commission, and Deepta Chopra and Zahrah Nesbitt-Ahmed, IDS.
• UNRISD Gender Team Maximizing Research Impact (9 Oct 2014)
  UNRISD’s gender team will be engaging directly with three of UNRISD’s main constituencies this month to maximise the impact of knowledge generated in the Institute. In a variety of events UNRISD researchers will be key participants in conversations with researchers and students; with UN policy makers and international experts; and with academics and civil society representatives.
• UNRISD Researcher to Teach in UN Women Online Course on Care (3 Oct 2014)
  UNRISD Research Coodinator for Gender and Development, Valeria Esquivel, will be a guest lecturer for the online training course Why We Care about Care, organized by the UN Women Training Centre. The course aims to provide a global perspective on care, and builds on an extensive literature in which contributions from the UNRISD project on Political and Social Economy of Care figure prominently.
• UNRISD Continues to Support Capacity Building in Africa (1 Oct 2014)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi this year continued the Institute’s long-standing collaboration with the UN-IDEP course Social Policy for Development Planners. Largely based on UNRISD’s Social Policy in a Development Context research, the course trains mid-level and senior African development officials and decision makers and this time took place on 4–15 August 2014 in Dakar, Senegal.
• Thandika Mkandawire Recognized by Prestigious Africa-America Institute Award (30 Sep 2014)
  Former UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, last week received the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Africa-America Institute, a New York-based international education and policy organization. Held on 22 September, during the opening week of the United Nations General Assembly, and hosted by CNN International anchor Isha Sesay, the ceremony took place in the sumptuous Gotham Hall on Broadway.
• Public Policies for Social and Solidarity Economy, and the Promotion of SSE Enterprises: Panel discussion live from New York on UN WebTV today (22 Sep 2014)
  Public Policies for Social and Solidarity Economy, and the Promotion of SSE Enterprises: Panel discussion live from New York on UN WebTV today, 22 September 2014, 16:00-18:00 (EDT; GMT-5)
• Korean Translation of UNRISD Book Launched at International Conference in Seoul (10 Sep 2014)
  The Korean translation of the recent UNRISD publication, Learning from the South Korean Developmental Success: Effective Development Cooperation and Synergistic Institutions and Policies, was launched at the 8th Seoul ODA International Conference "Good governance and effective institutions". Many of the 600 conference participants attended the launch seminar, and engaged in a lively debate on the "enabling role of institutional mechanisms".
• Now online: Videos from UNRISD seminar The Resource Curse? Mineral Rents and the Financing of Social Policy (21 Jan 2013)
  Even with booming commodity prices, doubts linger about the potential for mineral-rich countries to achieve more sustainable development outcomes. This phenomenon is often referred to as the paradox of plenty or the resource curse. Videos from the seminar now available online.
• Senior Research Associate: A New Way to Engage with UNRISD (8 Sep 2014)
  UNRISD has formed a select group of Senior Research Associates. Membership of this group, which is by invitation only, comprises experienced researchers, policy makers and practitioners who know the Institute well, share its normative and analytical orientation, and are keen to see its work and role in international knowledge and policy circles receive greater recognition. The group will play a significant role in enhancing the visibility of the Institute and strengthening the dissemination of UNRISD research findings at country, regional and international levels. Senior Research Associate is an honorary title for work to be conducted on a pro bono basis.
• "UNRISD adds tremendous value"—UNOG Director-General in Video Address to UNRISD Stakeholder Meeting (5 Sep 2014)
  On 1-2 September, nearly 30 UNRISD stakeholders gathered in Geneva to discuss future priorities for the Institute and the directions for research for the post-2015 period. The input from the meeting will prove extremely useful to UNRISD as it prepares a new Research Agenda for the future and develops an associated funding strategy.
• Pascal van Griethuysen Joins the UNRISD Team (29 Aug 2014)
  UNRISD is pleased to announce the appointment of Pascal van Griethuysen to the position of Research Coordinator for Socially Sustainable Development. In his new position, which he starts on 1 September, he will take on the responsibility for conceptualizing, developing and managing research related to socially sustainable development, an area central to the emerging post-2015 development agenda.
• Winning Young Scholars Think Pieces Published (24 Jun 2014)
  From over 70 submissions to the first edition of the Young Scholars Think Piece Series, the UNRISD jury has selected four think pieces to be published on the Institute’s web site. The jury, composed of academic experts and publication professionals, met several times to evaluate all submissions and then scrutinize the short-listed entries.
• Mindful(l) of development: UNRISD welcomes 25 Master's students from ISS (3 Jun 2014)
  A group of Master’s degree students from the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague, paid a visit to UNRISD on 2 June 2014 as part of their study programme. Katja Hujo, UNRISD Research Coordinator for social policy, received the 25 students and presented the ongoing research project, Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization.
• In Memory of Brigitte Schnegg (1953-2014) (21 May 2014)
  UNRISD pays tribute to Brigitte Schnegg, Swiss feminist historian and advocate of women’s human rights with a truly global outlook.
• Poussons les portes de l’ONU : notre journée au sein de l’UNRISD (14 May 2014)
  Trois lycéennes genevoises ont pu faire connaissance avec l’UNRISD ce mercredi. Participantes à une formation sur la Genève internationale organisée par la Fondation Eduki, elles ont pu découvrir le travail de notre institut de recherche. En voici leur compte rendu.
• "Poverty, Inequality and Social Protection in Southeast Asia: An Introduction", Journal of Southeast Asian Economies, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2014. pp. 1-17 (29 Apr 2014)
  Social protection programmes have expanded rapidly in the developing world in recent years. In Southeast Asia, the experience of the Asian Financial Crisis of the 1990s heightened awareness of vulnerability to poverty and the role of government in protecting households from a sudden loss of employment and income, or from contingencies such as ill-health and ageing. Most governments have expanded targeted social assistance programmes, although the quality and coverage of these programmes vary from place to place. Public support for basic health and education services is also uneven. Common challenges in the region include economic risks associated with financial globalization, rapid urbanization, high levels of informal employment, rising dependency ratios and a highly unequal gender division of labour.
• UNRISD Collaborates with UNITAR to Brief UN Delegates in New York and Geneva (17 Apr 2014)
  UNRISD is briefing delegates from UN Member States on social inclusion and the post-2015 development agenda at an Orientation Briefing organized in New York by UNITAR on 16-17 April 2014. UNRISD Director Sarah Cook prepared a short video for the Briefing, using lessons learned from UNRISD research to set the stage for the two days of dialogue among invited experts and members of delegations.
• Insights and Input: New Directions in Social Policy Project Kick-Off Workshop and Panel Discussion (17 Apr 2014)
  UNRISD last week successfully launched its newest research project New Directions in Social Policy with two well-attended events: an inception workshop and a public panel discussion.
• Impressive Response to Call for Young Scholars’ Think Pieces (3 Apr 2014)
  UNRISD has over 70 entries to select from for the first edition of its Young Scholars Think Piece Series. Issues addressed in the submissions range from corruption to gender to human rights, all related to extractive industries and development. Researchers at UNRISD will now review the entries and select up to five for publication on the UNRISD website in the coming months.
• Valeria Esquivel to Join UNRISD as Gender Research Coordinator (26 Mar 2014)
  UNRISD is pleased to announce the appointment of Valeria Esquivel to lead the Institute’s research programme in the area of Gender and Development. In her new role, she will be responsible for conceptualizing, developing and managing research on gender-related issues of concern for the UN system and other stakeholders within the framework of the UNRISD Research Agenda. She will take up her post in August 2014.
• Reaching out to future development leaders: UNRISD draws a crowd at the Graduate Institute careers fair (25 Mar 2014)
  Over 150 graduates approached the UNRISD stand at Connexions, the Graduate Institute’s annual careers forum, held in Geneva on 19-21 March 2014. They were greeted with information flyers about the Institute, a newly developed careers flyers and an open ear for their questions. Some were specifically interested in UNRISD and how their own work and interests might fit into the UNRISD research agenda and employment structures. Others were passing by and intrigued enough to stop and find out more.
• Jimi Adesina champions UNRISD and the University of South Africa (17 Mar 2014)
  In an article first published on the website of the College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (Unisa), UNRISD's recently appointed Board Member, Professor Jimi Adesina, talks about how his new role with UNRISD relates to his work and research on transformative social policy at Unisa. We reproduce the full article.
• New Gender Expert Position Supported by the Government of Switzerland (12 Mar 2014)
  Recruitment is now open for the position of Gender Expert at the Institute, in collaboration with the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs / Directorate of Political Affairs. Applicants must be Swiss nationals, and the closing date for this recruitment is 26 March 2014.
• "Equality for women is progress for all": Spotlight on UNRISD Gender Research on International Women’s Day (7 Mar 2014)
  "Equality for women is progress for all", the 2014 theme for International Women’s Day, is a vision at the core of UNRISD’s social development research. The theme integrates gender equality into overall development aims and points to its role in achieving progress in all three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental. Current UNRISD gender research has a strong focus on rural development, and on women’s claims making. Read on to find out how the programme is growing with new projects and increased staffing.
• UNRISD in successful bid for R4D project on Feminization, Agricultural Transition and Rural Employment (25 Feb 2014)
  The R4D project on Feminization, Agricultural Transition and Rural Employment, led by the University of Bern, investigates the developmental and gendered implications of the rise of non-traditional agricultural exports (NTAE) in developing countries. The research partnership also includes universities in the four case study countries: Bolivia, Laos PDR, Nepal and Rwanda . Funding for the project, which starts in June 2014, comes from the Swiss National Science Foundation and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
• “Catalysts for social change”: Panel Discussion at the Commission for Social Development (20 Feb 2014)
  “We need to identify the catalysts that will drive change in all three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental dimensions.” With these words UNRISD Director Sarah Cook began her moderation of the panel discussion on the social drivers of sustainable development, held at the 52nd session of the Commission for Social Development in New York on 14 February 2014.
• Engage in the global dialogue: Sustaining development gains through inclusive development (14 Feb 2014)
  The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is seeking expert opinions on eradicating poverty and achieving inclusive and sustainable development as part of its 2014 Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) process.
• eBulletin: First issue of 2014 published! (31 Jan 2014)
  The first issue of the eBulletin for this year is out! It's a packed issue with a message from UNRISD Director Sarah Cook, new project briefs and upcoming events.
• Young Scholars Think Piece Series Launched (28 Jan 2014)
  With the Young Scholars Think Piece Series UNRISD seeks to publish high-quality innovative think pieces based on original empirical and/or theoretical research from post-graduates as contributions to ongoing development debates. The first edition is based on the theme of Extractive Industries and Social Development and has a submission period from February to 21 March 2014.
• New UNRISD JPO position (17 Jan 2014)
  UNRISD is pleased to announce that the Government of Germany has agreed to finance a Junior Professional Officer (JPO) position at the Institute, for Climate Change, Employment and Social Development.
• South-South migration in Latin America: Commentary in the Latin America Advisor (22 Nov 2013)
  In an issue of the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor, Research Coordinator Katja Hujo contributed to a featured Q&A on South-South migration in the Latin American region. In the commentary she proposes measures that Latin American countries receiving immigrants can make to benefit more from intra-regional immigration flows.
• Integrated Social and Economic Policy Key to Development in Small States (14 Nov 2013)
  Small states that have effectively promoted developmental, democratic and socially inclusive economies did so by working proactively toward social justice and taking a holistic approach to economic and social policy: These are among the main findings in the recently published paper that synthesizes the findings from UNRISD’s Social Policy in Small States project, which is now concluded.
• UNRISD reaches 20,000 followers on Twitter (25 Nov 2013)
  After unveiling our new website design in October this year, November marks the month in which UNRISD reaches 20,000 followers on Twitter and over 4,200 on Facebook. Our social networks are proving to be valuable strategic channels for the dissemination of the Institute’s research findings, analysis and insights.
• Gender and Development Journal Vol. 21, No. 3, 2013, "When and Why Do States Respond to Women’s Claims? Understanding Gender-egalitarian Policy Change in Asia". (13 Nov 2013)
  Nitya Rao, Professor of Gender and Development at the University of East Anglia, is UNRISD External Research Coordinator for the When and why do states respond to women’s claims? Understanding gender-egalitarian policy change in Asia project. She contributed this article to the Views, Events and Debates in the Gender & Development Journal.
• UNRISD Launches Timeline (12 Nov 2013)
  To commemorate our 50th anniversary, UNRISD has launched a Timeline: an interactive way of delving into five decades of cutting-edge research for social development
• Some Migrants Ignored: Response to the Guardian Weekly on Migration Debate (25 Oct 2013)
  Your article features the new World Migration Report 2013 and its observation that global debates tend to focus on migrants in the North, while not paying sufficient attention to the millions of migrants who move between developing countries. Indeed, my own research has for years highlighted that “south-south migration” should be a key concern for policymakers. South-south migrants are often espec...
• UNRISD Director to visit Australia (11 Nov 2013)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook is to visit Australia, where she will give opening presentations at two international conferences and speak at a number of panel discussions, public seminars and workshops.
• UNRISD Research Programme on Gender Expands (11 Oct 2013)
  UNRISD’s programme of research on the gender dimensions of development has expanded with the launch of a new project that explores when and why states respond to claims for gender equality, with research in India, China and Indonesia.
• Interview with Shahra Razavi (14 Oct 2013)
  Shahra Razavi was a Research Coordinator at UNRISD from 1993 to 2013, when she left to join UN Women as Chief of Research and Data. In an interview with UNRISD, she looks back at her two decades with the Institute. She also talks about the post-2015 agenda, the challenge of demonstrating the impact of research, and UNRISD's unique position in the UN system.
• UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy Established (4 Oct 2013)
  The founding meeting of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy took place on 30 September 2013 in Geneva. This is a new inter-agency partnership that aims to assist countries, mobilize political will and enhance momentum towards mainstreaming the issue of SSE in international and national policy frameworks.
• New Call for Expressions of Interest: Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development (2 Oct 2013)
  The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) invites expressions of interest from researchers to expand its pool of country studies in its ongoing research project on the politics of domestic resource mobilization for social development.
• UNRISD Evaluators Pay their First Visit (1 Oct 2013)
  The evaluation of UNRISD for the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) is now underway. Two representatives of the evaluation team made their first visit to Geneva on 18-19 September to kick off the project.
• UNRISD’s Website Has a New Look! (24 Sep 2013)
  To mark UNRISD’s 50th anniversary, we have refreshed our website, with our new logo and a clean, more modern look.
• Unpaid Care Work, Women’s Rights and Poverty: Human Rights Council Side Event Features Two UNRISD Panellists (20 Sep 2013)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook and Visiting Research Fellow Magdalena Sepúlveda spoke at a side event of the 24th session of the Human Rights Council. Panellists discussed why unpaid care work is both a critical development issue and a major human rights issue, and proposed strategies for the better recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care work, as an important step towards the better realization of women’s human rights.
• UNRISD Researcher Gives Keynote at Jakarta Conference on Child Poverty and Social Protection (10 Sep 2013)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Katja Hujo delivered the keynote speech at the Conference on Child Poverty and Social Protection, organised by the SMERU Research Institute, the Indonesian National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) and UNICEF. The conference took place in Jakarta, Indonesia on 10-11 September 2013.
• “Visions of Change” Artwork Selection Unveiled (10 Sep 2013)
  Earlier this year UNRISD launched Visions of Change, a call for submissions of artwork, which encouraged artists worldwide to contribute to the Institute’s 50th anniversary celebrations. This initiative is part of the “UNRISD Classics” project, which will culminate in the online publication of a three-volume series that compiles a selection of UNRISD’s most influential and ground-breaking research...
• UNRISD is Recruiting - Research Coordinator, Gender and Development (4 Sep 2013)
  UNRISD seeks an outstanding researcher in the field of gender and development to coordinate its programme of work in this area. Closing date for applications: 13 October 2013
• Event Brief from the UNRISD conference on Social and Solidarity Economy Published (12 Aug 2013)
  An Event Brief, giving an overview of the UNRISD Conference on Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy, and summarizing the issues discussed, has been published.
• UNRISD Contributes to Library Materials Distributed by Tufts University (30 Jul 2013)
  UNRISD is partnering on an initiative led by the Global Development And Environment Institute (GDAE) at Tufts University to distribute learning materials free of charge to thousands of libraries in 138 countries.
• Memorandum of Understanding between CASS and UNRISD (5 Jul 2013)
  On 3 July 2013, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and UNRISD signed a Memorandum of Understanding which for both parties represents the beginning of a fruitful partnership. The Memorandum of Understanding is intended to strengthen scholarly cooperation between the two organizations by means of collaborative activities such as:
• Researchers Discuss Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization (11 Jun 2013)
  Are tax systems providing governments with sufficient revenues to implement policies? Are rents from natural resources and mining a corrective for fiscal austerity? What are the linkages between domestic resource mobilization and donor relations in aid-dependent countries? And how do revenue policies impact on state-building and democratization?Meeting in Geneva on 2-3 May 2013, country researchers and international experts discussed these questions at a methodology wo...
• Call for Expressions of Interest: Mobilizing Revenues from Extractive Industries for Children’s Rights and Well-Being (4 Jun 2013)
  UNRISD invites expressions of interest from researchers to prepare papers for a new policy-relevant research project, Mobilizing Revenues from Extractive Industries: Protecting and Promoting Children’s Rights and Well-Being in Resource-Rich Countries, focusing on Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Timor-Leste.
• Special Edition of the eBulletin on the SSE Conference Published (27 May 2013)
  A special edition of the eBulletin on the UNRISD conference, Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarty Economy has been published.
• Including Health in All Policies: A Smart - and Feasible - Choice (22 May 2013)
  "Health in All Policies: Seizing Opportunities, Implementing Policies" launched during the World Health Assembly on 23 May 2013. The volume is a Finnish contribution to the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion, co-hosted by the World Health Organization and Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of Finland (Helsinki, 10-14 June 2013).
• Special Session on Alternative Finance and Complementary Currencies (22 May 2013)
  The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) held a Special Session on Alternative Finance and Complementary Currencies following on from the UNRISD conference. The session examined the potential and limits of a range of innovative financial and monetary tools—especially community banks and complementary currencies—to scale up social solidarity economy (SSE) initiatives and build ...
• Announcing DFID Call for Expressions of Interest - Evaluation of UNRISD (21 May 2013)
  The United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) is tendering for experienced evaluators to conduct an evaluation of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), covering the years 2008-2013.
• SSE Conference Yields Rich Results (17 May 2013)
  On 6-8 May, UNRISD held a major international conference on Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy, co-hosted with the ILO and in partnership with UN–NGLS, Hivos, the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation and the Ville de Genève. The conference was a great success in terms of both participation and outcomes.The opening session included political and academic figures. Paul Singer (National Secr...
• “Visions of Change” - More than 150 artwork submissions (24 Apr 2013)
  The UNRISD “Visions of Change” call for artwork closed last week with an impressive number of submissions. 69 artists from all five continents have submitted more than 150 photographs, paintings, drawings, sketches, objects, installations and collages representing some key UNRISD topics and themes from past and present.
• New Think Piece Series on Social and Solidarity Economy (19 Apr 2013)
  In the run-up to its major conference on Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), UNRISD is publishing a series of think pieces by scholars and practitioners working on a broad range of issues within the field of SSE.
• Conference Registration Open: Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy (20 Mar 2013)
  UNRISD is holding a public conference on Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) on 6-8 May 2013, in collaboration with the ILO and UN-NGLS. Registration is now open to join this opportunity to discuss the potential and limits of Social and Solidarity Economy.
• New Issue of eBulletin Published! (8 Mar 2013)
  Highlights include UNRISD work on Social and Solidarity Economy, including the international conference to be held in May 2013, upcoming UNRISD seminars and a new series of Beyond 2015 briefs.
• What Future for the World’s Half-Billion Small Farmers? Book on Small Producers in the Globalized Market Published (21 Feb 2013)
  This book includes insights from a series of "provocations" held in 2011-2012 on making markets work for small farmers. These events, held between 2010 and 2012, aimed to challenge conventional wisdom on the inclusion of smallholders in markets and bring fresh perspectives to the discussion on what works and why.
• UN Department of Public Information: Commission for Social Development Fifty-first Session 12th Meeting (15 Feb 2013)
  The Commission for Social Development took up a number of issues that would set the tone for its upcoming work and, more broadly, allow it to engage in more relevant ways within the United Nations system, especially the Economic and Social Council, whose principal role in the follow-up to major United Nations meetings was elevated by the landmark 2012 Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development.
• Growth and Employment in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Join the conversation! (15 Feb 2013)
  The United Nations is conducting a series of public consultations to encourage broad input into debates around the post-2015 development agenda. The aim is for new development goals succeeding the MDGs to reflect the opinions and needs of the citizens that the UN serves.
• Join UNRISD at the Commission for Social Development (29 Jan 2013)
  UNRISD will be at the New York headquarters of the UN in February to engage in the annual Commission for Social Development. During the Commission, UNRISD is convening a side event, New Directions in Social Policy, and UNRISD Director Sarah Cook will be taking part in a number of sessions. For a full list, download the flyer on this page.
• Videos from UNRISD Policy Forum on Migration and Gender Available Online (28 Jan 2013)
  Videos of some of the presentations at an UNRISD policy forum on A Rights-Based, Gender-Equitable Approach to the Regional Governance of Migration: An Elusive or Achievable Prospect? are available online. Solutions to the challenges of international labour migration are typically sought at the global level. But in practice, most developments related to migration governance have taken place at ...
• “Visions of Change”: Call for submissions of artwork to illustrate new editions of UNRISD publications (25 Jan 2013)
  Due to the unexpected amount of artistic submissions, UNRISD has decided to extend the submission period for Visions of Change until April the 14th.
• Now online: Videos of Interviews on Research in the UN System (25 Jan 2013)
  The videos of interviews with participants at the UNRISD-UN Women workshop on Gender-Related Research within the UN System, which took place in Geneva in November 2012, are now available online.
• Season's Greetings from UNRISD! (19 Dec 2012)
  In 2012 UNRISD has had the privilege of engaging with our research partners, donors, other UN agencies and civil society groups, and with our Board members and alumni, on numerous rewarding initiatives. We look forward to continued collaboration in 2013 -- our year of celebration.
• Freshening Up at 50 (11 Dec 2012)
  UNRISD is pleased to announce its refreshed logo, which coincides with the start of celebrations marking 50 years of the Institute in 2013. The logo, which now features a hand-drawn "S", symbolizes the emphasis that UNRISD places on social dimensions.
• Overwhelming Response to Recent UNRISD Call for Papers: Submissions Top 370 (4 Dec 2012)
  UNRISD has received more than 370 responses to the recent Call for Papers for the project, Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). The Call, which ran from 1 October to 15 November, invited submissions exploring alternative forms of production and exchange. Peter Utting, research coordinator and UNRISD Deputy Director, said, “such a response from academia and experts in the field demonstrates that these questions are highly relevant to people’s concerns. They now need to be more prominent on the policy agenda”. Interest in the project came from all parts of the world, with a large number of submissions from Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico and Nigeria, as well as Canada, France, Spain and the United States.
• Highlighting the Importance of Migration and Health at Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (20 Nov 2012)
  Research being carried out under the joint UNRISD-Sun Yat-sen Center for Migrant Health Policy project on Migration and Health in China was presented at the Second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Beijing earlier this month. The research framed the only sessions at the four day symposium dedicated to addressing the issue of migration and health. This important topic remains under-researched and is vital to improving the social welfare of the largely neglected migrant population that has been, and continues to be, key to the economic growth and development of China.
• Call for Expressions of Interest: Politics of Domestic Resource Mobilization for Social Development (24 Oct 2012)
  The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is launching a new research initiative on the politics of domestic resource mobilization for social development and invites expressions of interest from interested researchers to collaborate in this research project.
• Cuddly Tigers to Skinny Cats: Response to The Economist on Asia's Welfare States (9 Oct 2012)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi responded to an article on Asia's Next Revolution in the 8 September issue of The Economist. The letter, which was published in the 22 September issue, challenges the article's recommendations.
• Call for Papers: Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy (28 Sep 2012)
  Through this Call for Papers, UNRISD invites researchers to submit proposals for papers that critically examine the scope for expanding Social and Solidary Economy (SSE), and its potential and limits as a distinctive approach to development.
• Revisiting the role of women in Zimbabwe's agrarian structure in the aftermath of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme: Interview with Patience Mutopo (21 Aug 2012)
  UNRISD talks to Patience Mutopo about the impacts of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme in Zimbabwe.
• Feminization of agriculture in a neoliberal India: Interview with Supriya Garikipati (9 Aug 2012)
  UNRISD interview with Supriya Garikipati, development economist, where she talks about women, microcredit and the feminization of agriculture.
• UNRISD Alumna Silke Staab Wins the 2012 Elsa Chaney Award (11 Jul 2012)
  UNRISD alumna Silke Staab has won the 2012 Elsa Chaney Award for unpublished work by junior scholars. The award, given by the Gender and Feminist Studies section of the Latin American Studies Association, aims to promote, stimulate and contribute to the diffusion of academic studies on women and gender in Latin America and the Caribbean. Staab’s paper looks at social policy and gender in Chile. It...
• Paying Homage: Shahra Razavi on the life and work of feminist economist Lourdes Benería (6 Jul 2012)
  In an address at the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), UNRISD research coordinator Shahra Razavi spoke on the work and contributions of feminist economist and UNRISD alumna, Lourdes Benería.
• Harvest Time: Gleaning feminist knowledge for alternative development paths (29 Jun 2012)
  At the latest UNRISD seminar, a panel of prominent feminist thinkers reflected on the economic, social and gendered implications of the “multiple crises” of food, fuel, finance and jobs, and the deep-seated problems of growing inequalities in markets and public policies.
• Join UNRISD at Rio+20 (13 Jun 2012)
  UNRISD will be in Rio this month to engage in the global dialogue around “the future we want”. Recent UNRISD research findings will inform our contributions, which emphasize the importance of placing social dimensions at the centre of development for “the future we shape” to be an equitable, inclusive and sustainable one.The economic, technological and institutional approaches that currently form ...
• Regional Governance of Migration and Social Policy in Africa (8 May 2012)
  Participants at a two-day conference on the regional governance of migration and social policy in Africa discussed the role of regional governmental coalitions in facilitating free movement of migrants, both within and between regions, to allow equitable entitlements to residence, work, social protection, health, education and other social services.
• UNRISD at Rio: A Green and Fair Future (4 May 2012)
  Rio+20 is a crucial moment for the international community to rethink development from the perspective of equity and the environment. UNRISD will be there, actively communicating the findings of a year-long inquiry on the social dimensions of green economy and sustainable development through co-hosted events, workshops and panel discussions. Check the website in June for date and venue confirmation.
• UNRISD Launches New Alumni Network (26 Apr 2012)
  UNRISD is excited to announce the launch of its new Alumni network. Alumni may have worked with UNRISD on a research project, written a paper or chapter in an UNRISD publication, coordinated a project from the field, spoken at one of our events, served on the Board, or worked as a staff member or intern at our offices in Geneva
• UNRISD Tribute to Alice Amsden (19 Mar 2012)
  UNRISD is saddened by the the death of Alice Amsden, one of the most prominent scholars dealing with development issues.
• Two new films in the Green Economy and Sustainable Development series online (12 Mar 2012)
  Two new short films in the series, Green Economy and Sustainable Development, are available online.
• Development (Volume 55, Number 1), "Greening the Economy", out now (12 Mar 2012)
  Is the challenge for Rio+20 to build the collective political will to respond to the current crises? Or is it to bring the social dimension back alongside the economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability? Or is it now time to expose ‘green economy’ as an attempt to cover up the role of contemporary capitalism in promoting systemic inequality and worsening global environmental problems? ...
• International Women's Day and Women's Rights in Pakistan: Interview with Farida Shaheed (6 Mar 2012)
  Farida Shaheed is a sociologist with over 25 years’ research experience on women's issues (including rural development, women and labour and legal rights), especially in Pakistan and South Asia. In this interview, she speaks to UNRISD about International Women’s Day, laws on women’s rights in Pakistan and some of the challenges in implementing them.
• Seis podcasts sobre el informe, Combatir la Pobreza y la Desigualdad (6 Feb 2012)
  Los seis podcasts pertenecen a una serie centrada en el informe de UNRISD Combatir la pobreza y la desigualdad. Un minucioso análisis de las razones y las dinámicas de la persistencia de la pobreza en el mundo que presenta, a su vez, una variedad de políticas y medidas institucionales para aliviarla.
• Democracia y las políticas de reducción de la pobreza (3 Feb 2012)
  Las relaciones de poder están en el corazón del desarrollo. Las estrategias que buscan reducir la pobreza y la desigualdad también deben perseguir unas relaciones de poder adecuadas a su objetivo. La democracia ofrece el espacio para participar e impugnar las decisiones de los gobernantes, pero no todos los actores tienen la misma capacidad. La ciudadanía activa o el activismo de grupo es importante para generar cambios que facilitan la reducción de la pobreza y una mayor participación de los grupos de menos ingresos en la vida económica, social y política de su país.
• Prestación universal de servicios sociales (3 Feb 2012)
  Los servicios sociales como la salud, la educación o el agua potable mejoran la calidad de vida al crear, proteger y mantener las capacidades humanas. Los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio han movilizado recursos en torno ciertas metas educativas, sanitarias y medioambientales. Pero a pesar de las tendencias positivas continúan existiendo grandes desafíos que se han exacerbado con la crisis económica mundial. Un financiamiento escaso y una elevada comercialización conducen a menudo a servicios de alta calidad para quien puede pagarlos y de baja calidad para los más desfavorecidos
• Empresas, poder y reducción de la pobreza (3 Feb 2012)
  Los últimos 30 años han supuesto una rápida expansión de las corporaciones transnacionales a los países en desarrollo. En respuesta a los costes sociales de la globalización surgió un movimiento mundial que convocaba a las empresas a ser consecuentes con los perjuicios que su actividad provocase en las personas o el medio ambiente: La Responsabilidad Social Corporativa; una tercera vía entre la regulación gubernamental y el mercado puro basada en estándares y códigos de conducta establecidos por las propias firmas.
• Desigualdades de género en la familia y en el mercado (3 Feb 2012)
  En los últimos 30 años se ha avanzado en el acceso de la mujer a la educación, la política y el mercado de trabajo pero las condiciones laborales que les afectan son, en general, más precarias que las de los hombres mientras siguen asumiendo el rol de principales cuidadoras del hogar. Los datos suelen silenciar la desigualdad de género al medir la pobreza en términos de ingreso de los hogares y NO de cada uno de sus integrantes. Aun cuando el ingreso combinado les permita compensar sus mínimas ganancias, esto no significa que no dependan financieramente de aquellos que decidirán cómo asignar los recursos.
• Combatir las desigualdades étnicas y regionales (3 Feb 2012)
  En la primera década del siglo XXI el 60 por ciento de los conflictos tenía un componente étnico, cincuenta años atrás sólo el 15 por ciento. La violencia es la manifestación más extrema del fracaso en la reducción de diferencias entre grupos. La discriminación entre grupos suele reflejarse en múltiples ámbitos: el político, el económico, el cultural y también el regional. En los últimos cincuenta años, grupos étnicos inicialmente marginados han visto mejorar sus condiciones de vida gracias a las políticas redistributivas.
• Financiar la política social (3 Feb 2012)
  Disponer de recursos para financiar la política social depende de la capacidad que tenga un país para producir ingresos y de como decida distribuirlos. La política social es asequible para todos los países, pero la forma de financiarla no es neutral. Parece fundamental establecer una cultura de la tributación a largo plazo basada en la confianza mutua donde cumplan tanto el contribuyente como el Estado y adaptar los sistemas a las circunstancias locales. A su vez, se requiere de acciones a nivel internacional para reducir la evasión fiscal.
• Film on "Green Economy and Sustainable Development: Bringing Back the Social" Now Online (5 Jan 2012)
  Green Economy and Sustainable Development: Bringing Back the Social is the first of six films in the series "Bringing the Social to Rio+20".
• UNRISD Tribute to Khoo Khay Jin (1948 - 2011) (4 Jan 2012)
  The community of social science scholars in Malaysia and around the world is saddened at the news of the death of Khoo Khay Jin, an outstanding social scientist, a leading public intellectual and an out-of-the-box thinker.
• New Series of Papers on the Social Dimensions of Green Economy and Sustainable Development (30 Dec 2011)
  UNRISD has just published the first papers in a new series on the Social Dimensions of Green Economy and Sustainable Development.
• Knowledge for Better Health and Better Policies (7 Dec 2011)
  Shufang Zhang, Project Coordinator at UNRISD, talks about the project on Migration and Health in China. The project aims to raise political awareness and improve policy responses.
• La política social transformativa contribuye al desarrollo económico y a una mayor justicia social (1 Dec 2011)
  Katja Hujo explica las conclusiones del Segundo Simposio Internacional “Pensar el Mundo desde las Ciencias Sociales” que organizó el Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de la Universidad Autónoma de México.
• Maureen O’Neil Appointed Chair of the UNRISD Board (16 Nov 2011)
  UNRISD is delighted to announce that the Secretary-General of the United Nations has appointed Maureen O’Neil of Canada as Chair of the UNRISD Board. Ms O’Neil takes up the position immediately for a term of four years. Ms. O’Neil is President of the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (since September 2008).
• Civil Society Declaration Delivered to the G20 (3 Nov 2011)
  As a follow-up to the 2nd Development Forum for the G20: Exploring Alternative Development Strategies, civil society leaders delivered a declaration President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.
• Green Economy in Practice: Recycling Plastics into Reusable Bags (1 Nov 2011)
  An exhibit on reusable bags made of recycled plastic was sponsored by UNRISD and held to coincide with the conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Development. The bags were made by communities and individual artists from countries across the world.
• Arab Spring, Islamist Summer … Feminist Fall? (25 Oct 2011)
  Nine months after the overthrow of the former president, Tunisia has voted in the first open and fair election in the region. The Islamist party al-Nahda has claimed victory by a fairly large margin, assuring the party a strong say in future political processes. What will this victory mean for Tunisia’s historical legacy of women’s rights?
• eBulletin Entrevista con Laura Rival (8 Sep 2011)
  UNRISD eBulletin no. 6, "Encuentro con un investigador" con Laura Rival, profesora de Antropología y Desarrollo en la Universidad de Oxford.
• eBulletin "Meet a Researcher" Interview: Laura Rival (7 Sep 2011)
  UNRISD E-Bulletin Issue 6, "Meet a Researcher" interview with Laura Rival, lecturer in Anthropology and Development at the University of Oxford. Rival argues that green economy must re-embed economics within the bounds of nature. A new type of economics is needed for this, one that is based on a combination of indigenous and scientific knowledge.
• Using Legislation to Fight Racial Discrimination (1 Sep 2011)
  Interview with Manuel Góngora, Visiting Research Fellow at UNRISD
• La sociedad civil organizada es un factor importante para el cambio social (1 Sep 2011)
  UNRISD participa en el Segundo Simposio Internacional “Pensar el Mundo desde las Ciencias Sociales” que organiza el Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de la Universidad Autónoma de México. Entrevistamos a su directora, Rosalba Casas
• Utilizando la legislación contra la discriminación racial (1 Sep 2011)
  Entrevista con Manuel Góngora, Investigador Invitado por UNRISD
• Capacitar a los trabajadores: Un reto para la economía verde en América Latina (24 Aug 2011)
  Este es el primero de una serie de podcasts y viewpoints en torno a la conferencia sobre Economía Verde y Desarrollo Social del UNRISD. Amalia Palma y Claudia Robles, de CEPAL, hablan sobre los retos que la economía verde debe afrontar en América Latina.
• Strengthening Workers: A Challenge for Green Economy in Latin America (25 Aug 2011)
  This is the first in a series of podcasts and viewpoints around the UNRISD conference, Green Economy and Sustainable Development. Amalia Palma and Claudia Robles from ECLAC talk about the challenges facing the green economy in Latin America.
• UNRISD Vacancies - Associate Communications Officer (2 Aug 2011)
  UNRISD is now accepting applications for a full-time Associate Communications Officer who will play a vital role in the implementation and further development of strategies to enhance the use, recognition and policy influence of UNRISD research within the United Nations system, the donor community, academia and civil society.
• A Comprehensive Approach to Social Protection: Integrating Healthcare (12 Jul 2011)
  Epidemiologist Armando De Negri Filho argues for the need for a comprehensive approach integrating healthcare to other aspects of social protection.
• Development and solidarity: interview with Francine Mestrum (6 Jul 2011)
  Researcher, author and activist Francine Mestrum has been working with UNRISD on developing ideas about Universal Social Protection. In this interview, she talks about development and solidarity in view of the recent financial crisis.
• The “Market for Virtue” and the Struggle for Corporate Accountability (17 Jun 2011)
  Weak compliance and regulatory gaps during two decades of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and voluntary regulation have resulted in renewed calls for a corporate accountability agenda with teeth, Peter Utting, UNRISD Deputy Director, told audiences in Geneva and Montreal in May and June.
• Perspectives on Global Development: Shifting Wealth and Social Cohesion (7 Jun 2011)
  Following the most recent financial crisis, emerging and developing economies have experienced faster rates of growth than developed economies. While this has decreased inequality between countries, within most countries wealth remains concentrated in the hands of a few. Yet according to OECD's Johannes Jütting, patterns of shifting wealth also open up opportunities for strengthening social cohesion
• Fifth issue of eBulletin published (7 Jun 2011)
  Highlights of the issue include articles on sustainable financing for social policy, Tunisian women's rights, the future of social policy, and rebuilding Côte d'Ivoire; and an interview with Parvati Raghuram, co-author of an UNRISD paper on care and migration..
• eBulletin "Meet a Researcher" Interview: Parvati Raghuram (3 Jun 2011)
  UNRISD E-Bulletin Issue 5, "Meet a Researcher" interview with Parvati Raghuram, coauthor of an UNRISD paper on migration and care regimes in the South.
• How Sida incorporates UNRISD's work: an interview with the Swedish development agency (10 May 2011)
  UNRISD talks to Katri Pohjolainen Yap, a Senior Research Advisor from Sida about the work of UNRISD and issues facing development work
• The Significance of Social Inclusion for Development (3 May 2011)
  Social inclusion is a significant factor in development and requires policies that recognize the importance of societal levels of analysis, not simply economic or individual indicators, suggested UNRISD Director Sarah Cook in a speech to the 10th session of the intergovernmental council of the UNESCO Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST).
• CODESRIA Postpones International Colloquium in Honour of Thandika Mkandawire (12 Apr 2011)
  Amid ongoing protest against suppression of academic freedom in Malawi, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) has postponed a colloquium in celebration of the life and work of Thandika Mkandawire.
• eBulletin "Meet a Researcher" Interview: Enrique Peruzzotti (30 Mar 2011)
  UNRISD E-Bulletin Issue 4, "Meet a Researcher" interview with Enrique Peruzzotti, a visiting research fellow at UNRISD from September 2009 to June 2010.
• Combating Poverty and Inequality Presented in Morocco (29 Mar 2011)
  As street protests against social and economic conditions, and political leaders, shook the Arab region, UNRISD Research Coordinator Katja Hujo travelled to Morocco to participate in the 26th session of the Committee of Experts of the Economic Commission for Africa Office for North Africa. The session was held in Rabat from 22 to 25 February 2011.
• How Can UNRISD Communicate Its Research More Effectively? -- Survey Results (28 Mar 2011)
  Since 2005, UNRISD has worked to improve its publications and dissemination activities so that it can better communicate its research to diverse audiences. Our objective is that UNRISD research is used by stakeholders within the UN system, academia and civil society, and that it informs debate, policy and practice on social development and poverty reduction. Now the Institute is stepping back and taking stock—what we do well, where to improve, how to respond appropriately to the rapidly evolving communications landscape (in terms of users’ expectations and needs, but also what is possible). Accordingly, in February, we distributed a survey titled “How can UNRISD communicate its research more effectively?”. Having identified key messages, valuable information from the respondents can now feed into the development of a new communication strategy.
• UNRISD Considered Policy Innovator (21 Mar 2011)
  UNRISD is a policy innovator, according to the Carnegie Council’s Policy Innovations magazine. The Institute stands among the magazine’s core network of organizations, all of which focus on ethics, innovation and globalization.
• Interview with Yusuf Bangura: UNRISD's Poverty Report in Sierra Leone (15 Mar 2011)
  Interview by Sierra Leone’s CTN Radio with UNRISD Research Coordinator Yusuf Bangura regarding UNRISD’s flagship report Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics
• Políticas integradas para luchar contra la pobreza y la desigualdad (15 Mar 2011)
  Katja Hujo, Coordinadora de investigación, ha presentado el informe del Instituto de Investigación de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Social (UNRISD), Combatir la Pobreza y la Desigualdad, el 28 de febrero 2011 en el marco del seminario internacional “México en los Escenarios Globales: Una Visión Prospectiva”.
• Commission for Social Development Hears Expert Panel on Social Protection (4 Mar 2011)
  Protecting people from the vagaries of the market and life’s changing circumstances is one of the main objectives of social policy. Social protection, as a key component of social policy, is concerned with preventing, managing and overcoming situations that adversely affect people’s well-being. It helps individuals maintain their living standard when confronted by contingencies such as illness, maternity, disability or old age; market risks, such as unemployment; as well as economic crises or natural disasters. UNRISD Director Sarah Cook spoke on social protection’s role in poverty reduction at the 49th Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD) in New York on 14 February 2011.
• Caring for the Care Workers: State Must Play a Role (4 Mar 2011)
  Changes in economic, social and demographic structures have spurred the growth of care employment in recent decades. In both North and South, care workers now comprise a large and growing segment of the labour force. The vulnerability and exploitation of particular categories of care workers (such as migrant domestic workers, nursing aides and providers of elder care) have also increased. These worrying trends can be attributed to cost-cutting measures within the public sector and pervasive labour market informality, along with the continued devaluation of both women’s work and care work. These findings come from the December 2010 special issue of the International Labour Review, (Vol. 149, No. 4), “Underpaid and Overburdened: A Cross-national Perspective on Care Workers,” co-edited by UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi and former UNRISD Research Analyst Silke Staab.
• Social Protection in Asia Research Findings Published (25 Feb 2011)
  A series of reports with research findings and policy lessons from the Social Protection in Asia (SPA) research programme have been published. The 13 reports examine such topics as the implication of rural-urban migration for social protection in Vietnam and China, conditional cash transfers’ effect on women in Indonesia, and access to housing as a form of social protection in Pakistan.
• Conditionality in anti-poverty programmes, a subject of much-needed debate (24 Feb 2011)
  While conditionality of social welfare programmes is a longstanding albeit contested issue in social policy debates, its appearance in anti-poverty measures in developing countries is relatively new. The February issue of the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice features a themed section on conditionality and social security in a global context co-edited by Oxford reseacher Fran Bennett, UNRISD Research Coordinator Katja Hujo and former UNRISD Research Analyst Elena Gaia.
• ILO Decent Work Prize Awarded to Researcher in UNRISD Network (11 Feb 2011)
  The International Labour Organization (ILO) has announced that Jayati Ghosh is a co-recipient of the 2010 Decent Work Research Prize.
• Grants Support Social Policy Research in Korea and China (11 Feb 2011)
  UNRISD has received two significant grants in support of research related to Social Policies for Inclusive Development, one of the themes framing the Institute’s new research agenda for 2011-2014. KOICA is funding a research project that will explore the development path taken by the Republic of Korea, identifying relevant lessons from this experience for today’s developing countries. The second grant, from the China Medical Board, is supporting a joint project (with the Centre for Migrant Health Policy, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou) on key neglected issues related to migration and health in China.
• First Global Poverty Summit examines strategies in poverty reduction (31 Jan 2011)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Yusuf Bangura spoke at the first Global Poverty Summit held from January 17 to 19 in Johannesburg. The high-level meeting was organized by Brooks World Poverty Institute, the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at The City University of New York Graduate Center, and the CUTS Center for International Trade, Economics and Environment (CITEE). The principal aim was to critically assess the role of global institutions in poverty reduction.
• UNRISD Comments on the “Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework” (31 Jan 2011)
  Since the 1990s the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) has carried out extensive research on issues of business regulation, the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in development, and the potential and limits of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Drawing on this body of research, these comments assess the contribution and limitations of the Protect, Respect and Remedy (PRR) Framework and the Guiding Principles (GPs) with regard to corporate accountability and performance conducive to rights-based development.
• Childcare Policies in Latin America: Focus on Women or Children? (27 Jan 2011)
  Former UNRISD Research Analyst, Silke Staab, presented a paper at a joint UNRISD/ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America) seminar in Santiago on 7 January 2011, entitled “Politics of Care and Development”. Participants at the event addressed important questions concerning the development of national policies in the area of preschool education and care in the region, especially their potential in addressing both children’s and adult women’s rights and needs.
• UNRISD Deputy Director responds to Business and Human Rights Framework at “Countdown to 2011” (26 Jan 2011)
  UNRISD Deputy Director Peter Utting responded to the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework for Business and Human Rights at an expert panel in London on 24 January. “Countdown to 2011”, organized by the International Business Leaders Forum. Hosted by Clifford Chance, this was the first of three multi-stakeholder events bringing together companies and other key stakeholders in the business and human rights field to debate the practical challenges of operationalizing the UN Framework, discuss draft Guiding Principles for its implementation, and consider feasible scenarios for moving forward.
• UNRISD Welcomes Applications from Scholars Wishing to Spend Time at the Institute (19 Jan 2011)
  Each year, UNRISD hosts a limited number of Visiting Research Fellows whose academic interests and research focus are in line with our mandate and current research agenda. New guidelines for applying have just been posted. UNRISD welcomes, in particular, applications from young researchers from the South.
• Unequal worlds of gender and care: The journey of feminist ideas into the policy realm (12 Jan 2011)
  This is an extract from the presentation by Shahra Razavi, UNRISD Research Coordinator, at the International Seminar on Care Policies, Gender and Welfare, organized by IDES, UNFPA and UNICEF, 14-15 October 2010, Buenos Aires.
• Third issue of the UNRISD e-Bulletin published (10 Jan 2011)
  The third issue of UNRISD’s e-bulletin was published on 10 January. Highlights of the issue include a New Year message from the Director, Sarah Cook; a brief report on the Development Forum for the G20 in November; and reactions to UNRISD’s flagship report, Combating Poverty and Inequality.
• UNRISD Poverty Report has Global Reach (5 Jan 2011)
  Since the launch of the UNRISD 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, on 3 September in Geneva, the report’s reach has gone global. The "Poverty Report" has been presented in Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Major media outlets in print, radio and television have featured the report in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Arabic and Chinese. What follows are excerpts from some of the mentions in the press and blogosphere.
• Oxfam Publication Inspired by UNRISD Conference (5 Jan 2011)
  A new Oxfam publication has a direct link to UNRISD. Published in November 2010, Deconstructing Development Discourse: Buzzwords and Fuzzwords, came out of the 2004 UNRISD conference, "Social Knowledge and International Policy Making".
• UNRISD Hosts HelpAge Presentation on Social Pensions (23 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD hosted a presentation on social pensions by HelpAge International, a London-based NGO, on 24 November at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. HelpAge social protection advisors Bethan Emmett and Astrid Walker-Bourne focused on the roles and implications of universal social pensions using case studies from South America and Asia. According to HelpAge, universal social pensions do not only have an impact on welfare, but on capital investment, social stability, human development and rural growth.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Speaks at World Conference in Brazilia (3 Dec 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi will speak at the World Conference on the Development of Universal Social Security Systems on 3 December in the Master Auditorium of the UG Convention Centre in Brazilia, Brazil. Yi’s presentation, "Universalism Revisited: An Organizing Principle of Social Reform" will take place during Thematic Block II, entitled “Challenges to Reach the Universalization of...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Presents Poverty Report in Abuja (26 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Yusuf Bangura will present the 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics on 29 November at 9.30 a.m in Abuja, Nigeria at the Denis Hotel.Respondents to the presentation include Hajia Amina Az-Zubair, Senior Assistant to the President of Nigeria on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Otive Igbuzor, Director...
• UNRISD Director Participates in Inter-Agency Technical Meeting in Turin (26 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook will participate in the Inter-Agency Technical Meeting on “Building Employment and Decent Work into Sustainable Recovery and Development: The UN Contribution” on 29 November at 3.45 p.m. in Turin, Italy at the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s International Training Center.Cook will speak during the “Policy Framework for Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion” ex...
• UNRISD Director Presents Poverty Report in Oslo (25 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook and Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi will present the 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality at a meeting organized by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) on 25 November in Oslo, Norway at 1.00 p.m. in the Infosenter of NORAD Headquarters.Cook will also present the report during the “Silent Crises, Politics, Mobilization and Develop...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Presents Poverty Report in Kano (24 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Yusuf Bangura will present “Democratic Politics and Poverty Eradication: Implications for Nigeria’s Pro-Democracy Movement” at the Nigerian Civil Society Experiences conference on 25 November at 4.00 p.m. in Kano, Nigeria. The Mambayya House of the Centre for Democratic Research and Training (CDRT) will be hosting the conference.Bangura’s talk will take place during the...
• UNRISD Director Gives Keynote Speech on Poverty Report in Geneva (16 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook will give a keynote speech on the 2010 Flagship Report Combating Poverty and Inequality during the European Association of Development Research and Training Institute (EADI) Director’s Meeting on 17 November. The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva will host the meeting in its AJF Auditorium, with keynote speeches from 2.45 to 6.00 p.m.T...
• UNRISD Director Presents Policies for Poverty Reduction in Beijing (11 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook was a keynote speaker during an International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC) seminar on 16 October in the Beijing Fraternal Cooperation Hotel.The seminar, entitled “International Development Theories and Practices for Senior Officials of Provincial Poverty Reduction Agencies of China”, examined how to apply policy responses to China’s impoverished regions, in ...
• UNCTAD Virtual Institute Features UNRISD Poverty Report Launch (10 Nov 2010)
  The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Virtual Institute now features the launch of UNRISD’s 2010 Flagship Report Combating Poverty and Inequality.
• Sweden Development Cooperation Launches Research Database (9 Nov 2010)
  Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs have launched a shared database called Researchers for Development Analysis (REDA).
• UNRISD Director in Nationally Televised Debate in Seoul (8 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook took part in the Seoul Development Debate to be aired on KBS 1 television channel on 9 November from 0.20 to 2.00 a.m. Korean Standard Time (on 8 November from 4.20 to 6.00 p.m. Central Europe Time).
• UNRISD Director Presents Poverty Report at Regional Launch in Beirut (10 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook will present the 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, at a regional launch in Beirut, Lebanon on 11 November. Organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and UNRISD, the launch will take place during the Regional Coordination Mechanism Meeting at the UN House in ...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Presents at Forum in Hangzhou (4 Nov 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi will present “Universalism, Transformative Social Policy and Development” during the “Lifestyle and Public Administration Innovation” panel session at the Life and Development Forum at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China on 8 November at 3.50 p.m. in the Yunying Conference Room.
• Former UNRISD Board Member Elected President of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Association Bar (3 Nov 2010)
  Former UNRISD board member Asma Jahangir was elected President of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Association Bar on 2 November.Jahangir’s election is “a very important step in the reinforcement of constitutionalism and the rule of law in Pakistan”, Louise Arbour, President of the International Crisis Group, said in a press release.Previously, Jahangir was an advocate to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Ch...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Speaking at Gender, Rural Development and Nutrition Conference in Geneva (27 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi is speaking in the Gender, Rural Development and Nutrition conference held at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (GIIDS) in Geneva on 28 October at 10.15 a.m. in the Bungener Room.Razavi’s presentation, entitled “Agrarian Change: The Missing Gender Dimension”, will draw on research from her Engendering the Political Economy of ...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Keynote Speaker at Reflections 2010: Managing Diversity, Reconciliation and Development Conference in Colombo (27 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Yusuf Bangura will deliver the keynote speech during the opening ceremony of the Reflections 2010: Managing Diversity, Reconciliation and Development conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 31 October from 5.00 to 8.00 p.m. at the Galle Face Hotel.Bangura’s speech, entitled “Managing Ethnic Diversity and Inequality in a Development Context”, will draw from the 2010 UNRISD F...
• UNRISD Director Presents Poverty Report at Social Protection and Development Policy in Asia Conference in Bangkok (26 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook is presenting the 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics during the Social Protection and Development Policy in Asia: The Long Term Perspective conference in Bangkok, Thailand on 27 October at 3.30 p.m. in Conference Room 3 of the United Nations Conference Centre.The conference is co-organized by United Natio...
• UNRISD Deputy Director Presents at Corporate Social Responsibility Conference in Michigan (26 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Deputy Director Peter Utting presented at the “Corporate Social Responsibility in a Globalizing World” conference, at the University of Michigan on 10 September. Organized by the Ross School of Business, the conference examined the workings of global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) frameworks and how CSR might play out in transnational corporations, particularly those based in the US ...
• UNRISD Director and Research Coordinator Speak at Development Forum for G20 in Seoul (21 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook is speaking at the Development Forum for the G20 at the Seoul National University in the Republic of Korea on 21 October. Entitled “Global Economic Crisis and Social Protection”, the session will be held at 9.30 a.m. in Room 113. UNRISD Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi will participate in the Development Forum as a discussant in the Different Paths to Economic and Social...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Delivers Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture in Johannesburg (20 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi delivered the 2010 Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa on 14 September. Entitled “Worlds Apart: Rethinking Care in a Development Context”, the lecture focused on country-specific research in Argentina, India, Nicaragua, the Republic of Korea, South Africa and Tanzania.
• International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (15 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook urges the international community to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty with a moment of reflection. An official United Nations day on October 17, the Day’s theme this year – "From Poverty to Decent Work: Bridging the Gap" – draws attention to one of the critical but underrepresented issues in the MDGs and other poverty reduction agendas. The Inter...
• UNRISD Director to Participate as Speaker in Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing (15 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook is participating in the Poverty Reduction and Development Forum: “Transforming Development Pattern and Poverty Reduction”, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China on 17 October at 2pm. Hui Liangyu, Vice Premier of China, and Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women and former Chilean President, are guest speakers at the opening ceremony of the Forum....
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Gives Inaugural Address at “Policies of Care, Gender and Welfare” Seminar in Buenos Aires (12 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi will give an inaugural speech at the International Seminar on “Policies of Care, Gender and Welfare” at the Institute of Social and Economical Development in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 14 October at 6.30pm.Razavi will also participate in the panel session, “The Question of Care in the Future” on 15 October, along with Elizabeth Jelin of the Advisory Group ...
• Former UNRISD Board Member Appointed Chairperson of Forum on Minority Issues (8 Oct 2010)
  Former UNRISD board member Gita Sen has been appointed Chairperson of the Forum on Minority Issues (FMI) by the President of the Human Rights Council, on 23 September 2010.According to the President's letter of appointment, Sen's "substantial expertise on economics will be relevant for this year's FMI session on Minorities and Effective Participation in Economic Life", which will be held from 14 to 1...
• UNRISD Collaborates with Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies on Student Project in Geneva (8 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Director, Sarah Cook, and Research Coordinator, Katja Hujo, are taking part in joint seminars with students from the Graduate Institute of Development and International Studies (GIIDS) in Geneva's Palais des Nations from October to December 2010.It is the first time that UNRISD collaborates with the GIIDS on such a project. The research seminars are a compulsory component of the second-ye...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Participates in Conference on Gender Politics in International Governance in Geneva (7 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi is participating in the Gender Politics in International Governance conference held at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (GIIDS) of Geneva, from 6 to 8 October.As a part of the Economic Governance panel, Razavi will present her “Governing the Economy for Gender Equality? Challenges of Regulation” paper on 7 October between 11a...
• UNRISD Director to Present Poverty Report at German Development Cooperation (GTZ) (7 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook is presenting the 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics, at an expert talk organized by the German Development Cooperation (GTZ) headquarters in Frankfurt, on 8 October at 11am.The Division of Sustainable Social Development at the GTZ is hosting the talk, which will focus on inequality and means to successfu...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator in Expert Group Meeting on Poverty Eradication (3 Sep 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Yusuf Bangura participated in an Expert Group Meeting on Poverty Eradication organized by the Economic Commission for Africa and the Department Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in Addis Ababa from 15 to 17 September 2010.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Speaks at Social Protection and Development Workshop in Beirut (19 Oct 2010)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Katja Hujo spoke in a closed workshop on Social Protection and Development organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES) in Beirut, Lebanon from 28 to 30 September.
• Second issue of the UNRISD e-Bulletin published (21 Sep 2010)
  The second issue of UNRISD’s e-bulletin was published on 16 September. Highlights of the issue include the launch of UNRISD’s flagship report, Combating Poverty and Inequality, and the Development Forum for the G20
• UNRISD Director Taking Part in MDG Summit Partnership Event in New York (6 Sep 2010)
  Sarah Cook will discuss the UNRISD 2010 Flagship Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality, during a MDG Summit Partnership Event, co-organized with UNDESA and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, in New York on 17 September 2010.
• Poverty Reduction Must Go Beyond Targeting the Poor (3 Sep 2010)
  As national governments and international institutions focus on cutting poverty in half to meet the Millennium Development Goals, a new UNRISD report warns that current approaches that target the poor or separate poverty from broader processes of economic growth and development are misconceived.
• UNRISD Director Presents at Manchester "Ten Year" Conference (31 Aug 2010)
  Sarah's talk on the UNRISD report, Combating Poverty and Inequality, will take place on 9 September 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the main lecture hall at the University of Manchester. She will be joined by Michael Woolcock of the World Bank and Naila Kabeer of the Institute for Development Studies.
• Official Launch Event - UNRISD 2010 Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality (26 Aug 2010)
  The Official Launch of the UNRISD Report, Combating Poverty and Inequality, will take place on 3 September 2010 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva (Room XII). This an all-day public event co-hosted by UNRISD and UNOG.
• UNCTAD Gender Lecture: Gender in the 21st Century: looking backward, moving forward (14 Jul 2010)
  9 July 2010, UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi spoke at the UNCTAD lecture on Gender in the 21st Century: looking backward, moving forward, alongside Elisabeth Prügl, Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. The complementary presentations were followed by a discussion chaired by Sarah Cook, Director of UNRISD.
• European Report on Development – Mobilizing European Research for Development Policies (13 Jul 2010)
  From 28 – 30 June 2010, Sarah Cook, Director of UNRISD, attended a conference to discuss the European Report on Development on the subject of Promoting Resilience through Social Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa in Dakar, Senegal. The conference was attended by scholars, policy makers and representatives of international organizations. She participated in the final roundtable entitled "Scaling Up Social Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa and EU-Africa Partnership". During the concluding discussions, she emphasized the need to formulate clear objectives and to focus on a social protection system prior to examining specific mechanisms to obtain those objectives.
• UNRISD Podcast: Financing Social Policy: Mobilizing Resources for Social Development (29 Jun 2010)
  29 June 2010 – In this episode, Katja Hujo talks about her recent book on Financing Social Policy: Mobilizing Resources for Social Development, part of UNRISD project on social policy.
• 48th Session of the UNRISD Board Held in Geneva (24 Jun 2010)
  UNRISD held its annual Board Meeting on June 22 and 23, 2010 to review recent activities and identify social development challenges that will be addressed for the research period 2010–2014. The Board Meeting is an annual event that reviews and approves expenditures, considers funding opportunities and discusses new directions for research.
• UNRISD e-Bulletin is launched (22 Jun 2010)
  UNRISD has recently launched a new e-Bulletin to replace the previous print edition of UNRISD News. It will initially be produced quarterly with the purpose of informing diverse audiences - in academia, civil society, the UN and government - about UNRISD research, events, publications and other activities, as well as commenting on current issues in the field of social development.
• A seminar by Minquan Liu from Peking University on "Human Development in East and Southeast Asian (ESA) Economies since 1990: A Review" (21 Jun 2010)
  Guest speaker Minquan Liu, Chair of the Department of Economics and Director of the Center for Human and Economic Development Studies at Peking University, gave a seminar at UNRISD on 16 June on the topic of his forthcoming paper, “Human Development in East and Southeast Asian (ESA) Economies since 1990: A Review”.
• A review of Enrique Peruzzotti’s presentation “From civil society to mediated politics. Towards a comprehensive theory of democratic participation” (16 Jun 2010)
  On Tuesday 8 June 2010, Visiting Research Fellow, Enrique Peruzzotti, presented the findings of his eight-month tenure at UNRISD to fellow staff. Enrique has been working on examining civil society and the relationship between different forms of participation on democracy. This article is a review of his presentation.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator publishes article on the Open Democracy’s “50.50” website on “Religion, Gender and Politics” (15 Jun 2010)
  Shahra Razavi, UNRISD Research Coordinator, has recently published an article on the Open Democracy’s “50.50” website on “Religion, Gender and Politics”. The article looks at the relationship between religion and gender equality.
• Sarah Cook participates in ADB Seminar on Promoting Inclusive Growth through Social Protection (14 Jun 2010)
  UNRISD Director Sarah Cook participated in a seminar organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 4 May in Tashkent. She said that appropriately designed social protection can provide a way out of poverty and promote more equitable growth. Many social protection interventions focus on protection against specific shocks rather than addressing the underlying causes of vulnerability. Social protection can, however, be designed to achieve developmental outcomes.
• UNRISD Web-Based Development Forum for G20 (31 May 2010)
  UNRISD has recently launched an online discussion forum inspired by the pressing need to rethink the relationship between broader economic and social development goals and the international financial and trade regimes in the midst of multiple crises, in particular the global economic crisis. The G20, which will play a significant role in shaping the new international financial and trade regime, is potentially one of the key institutions where a more inclusive, democratic and developmental framework for the achievement of social and economic goals can be formulated. The Development Forum for G20 aims to provide a channel through which innovative ideas on development, particularly those from the perspective of non-G20 countries, can be articulated as inputs into G20 discussions.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator participates in UNDESA Expert Group Meeting on Social Integration in New York, USA. (2 Nov 2009)
  Ilcheong presented a paper on Universalism and Targeting Approach focusing on comparative advantages of universal approach in social welfare provision from the perspective of social integration.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator, Shahra Razavi, and Research Analyst, Silke Staab, will speak at the “Bridging the divide between Women’s and Children’s Human Rights” seminar 3-4 December 2009 in London (2 Dec 2009)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Shahra Razavi, and Research Analyst, Silke Staab, will speak at the “Bridging the divide between Women’s and Children’s Human Rights” seminar 3-4 December 2009 in London. Razavi and Staab will present the results of the UNRISD Care project. The event is hosted by the Institute for the Study of the Americas at the University of London, School of Advanced Study. The seminar features speakers and participants from both advocacy and scholarly communities to debate and discuss the principles and practices in women’s and children’s rights that have evolved over recent years to the present.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Attended an Expert Group Meeting in Accra, Ghana on Social Integration, Organized by UNDESA (17 Nov 2009)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Katja Hujo, participated in an Expert Group Meeting on Social Integration 17-19 November 2009 in Accra, Ghana. Hujo was asked to draft a background paper for the event, which focused on review policies geared toward promoting social integration through equitable distribution, social protection, civic participation, and pro-poor policies, while drawing lessons from their strengths and weaknesses. Hujo also acted as moderator for two discussion sessions. Inputs given by Hujo and other experts in the field of social integration and its relation to poverty eradication, full employment and decent work for all were used to create policy recommendations that will be circulated at the 48th session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD), which is scheduled to take place in New York from 3 to 12 February 2010.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Presented Key Findings of Care Project at a WIDE Network Conference in Vienna (19 Nov 2009)
  Entitled “Who Cares in Times of Crisis?”, the event was centred on feminist views on the financial crisis and the care economy. Shahra Razavi presented key findings from UNRISD’s Care Project, and she was featured as one of the main panel speakers at the conference. Using UNRISD’s pioneering research work in the care economy, the conference called into question the dominant discourse of growth and profit maximization, especially in light of the financial crisis. It acknowledges that the care economy (the ways in which a society organizes the daily care for their members) is a crucial sector as three-quarters of women around the world provide care work at home and on the global labor market.
• UNRISD Research Analyst, Silke Staab, will speak at an international workshop in Geneva on 1 December 2009 (1 Dec 2009)
  Silke Staab will participate in the “Strategies of Empowerment of (Migrant) Domestic Workers” workshop, hosted by the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. She will present the findings of the care project, particularly with regard to domestic care workers.
• Swedish Scholars Presented Research at UNRISD on Workplace Rights and Collective Bargaining (18 Nov 2009)
  Björn Beckman, Professor Emeritus at Stockholm University, and Gunilla Andrae, Associate Professor at Stockholm University, gave a special presentation on 18th November 2009 at UNRISD on “Organizing Wage-workers for Workplace Rights and Collective Bargaining.” According to Beckman and Andrae, workers from the informal sector don’t engage in collective bargaining for issues related to wages since they are not salaried workers; therefore, Beckman and Andrae argued that workers from the informal sector follow a different work dynamic compared to workers who are a part of trade unions.
• UNRISD Podcast Collection: A Series of Podcasts Featuring Extracts from the UNRISD Conference on the “Social and Political Dimensions of the Global Crisis: Implications for Developing Countries” (24 Nov 2009)
  Attached to this page you will find five podcasts. The first podcast examines the impact of the crisis on the livelihoods of those in developing countries and looks at the coping strategies employed by people affected by the crisis in the developing world. The second podcast considers the social policy changes that have been employed at the country and regional level as a result of the crisis. The third podcast studies the social policy changes that have been employed at the global level as a result of the crisis. This relatively longer podcast features in full the three presentations that were given on this subject at the conference. The fourth examines the political dimensions of the global crisis and the fifth presents reflections on the future. It considers what will happen following the present global crisis and includes the views of three experts whom have been asked the question: Where are we going to be in ten years time?
• UN Conference on the Global Crisis and its Implications for Developing Countries (10 Nov 2009)
  This is the press release for the UNRISD international conference to address the global financial crisis, to be held 12-13 November 2009 in Salle XVI at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Entitled the “Social and Political Dimensions of the Global Crisis - Implications for Developing Countries”, the event will raise the issue of whether current policy reforms are conducive to a transformative social change or if they only reproduce the status quo.
• UNRISD 47th Session of the Board taking place in Geneva, November 10 and 11 (5 Nov 2009)
  UNRISD is holding its annual Board Meeting on November 10 and 11, 2009 to discuss the research and outreach achievements over the last 18 months and identify the pertinent global issues to address for the research period 2010-2014.The Board Meeting is an annual event that reviews and approves expenditures, considers funding opportunities and discusses new directions for research.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator Attending a Symposium on at the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research (3 Nov 2009)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi is presenting on social security in a comparative perspective 2-4 November 2009 in a symposium organized by the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research in the Netherlands.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator to speak in Beirut at ESCWA's Arab Forum on Social Policy (27 Oct 2009)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Katja Hujo, will give a presentation on Global Lessons in Social Policy Planning and Implementation at the Arab Forum on Social Policy 28-29 October 2009 in Beirut, Lebanon.
• UNRISD Researcher, Shadi Sadr, Receives Lech Walesa Prize (2 Oct 2009)
  UNRISD researcher Shadi Sadr received the Lech Walesa Prize Monday 18 September 2009 for her work in promoting human rights, freedom of expression and democracy in Iran. Sadr began working collaboratively with UNRISD in 2007 as a country-level research team member for the Religion, Politics and Gender Equality project. She co-authored a paper with Homa Hoodfar entitled, “Can women act as agents of a democratization of theocracy in Iran?” The paper will be published on UNRISD’s website. In June 2009, Sadr participated as a speaker in an UNRISD sponsored international conference on “Religion Revisited: Women’s Rights and the Political Instrumentalisation of Religion”.
• UN Secretary-General Appoints Sarah Cook as New Head of UNRISD (28 Sep 2009)
  UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has appointed Dr. Sarah Cook as the new Director of UNRISD. Dr. Cook will take up her post on 1 November 2009, replacing Thandika Mkandawire who left UNRISD on 30 April 2009. Dr. Cook, who joins UNRISD from the Institute of Development Studies, is a development economist and China specialist whose recent work has included research on social protection in Asia, social welfare in rural China, the informalization of employment and the gender impacts of economic reform. She is the first British national to take the helm at UNRISD.
• International Conference Organized by UNRISD and Seoul National University on Global and National Strategy for Poverty Reduction to Take Place on 28-29 September (25 Sep 2009)
  UNRISD and the BK21 program of the Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul University, are organizing an International conference on the subject of ‘Global and National Strategy for Poverty Reduction’ on 28-29 September 2009.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator to speak in the 9th Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO's MOST Programme (24 Sep 2009)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Katja Hujo, will participate in the 9th Intergovernmental Council of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformation Programme (MOST) at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris from 28 to 30 September 2009.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator to partake in CROP's Scientific Committee Meeting to Evaluate the Organization's Research Projects (24 Sep 2009)
  UNRISD research coordinator, Shahra Razavi, will participate in the International Social Science Council’s (ISSCC) Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP) meeting in Paris from 27 to 28 September 2009.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator to speak at a “Series of Lectures on Social Protection in an African Developing Context” in Stockholm (9 Sep 2009)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Katja HUJO, will give a presentation on ‘Financing Social Policy: Mobilizing Resources for Social Development’ at the Institute for Futures Studies, Holländargatan 13, Stockholm on 9 September 2009 at 10:30.
• New Book: Localizing and Transnationalizing Contentious Politics: Global Civil Society Movements in the Philippines (31 Aug 2009)
  Localizing and Transnationalizing Contentious Politics is the first work of its kind to focus on five global civil society movements in the Philippines and their responses to the inequities of neoliberal globalization. Northern scholars have acknowledged the persistent absence of the South in research on activism around global issues, and this book can help fill this gap. Using political process theory as a framework, the book traces the emergence, development and diffusion of these social movements in the Philippines. Globalization is taken as the environment in which they operate to highlight the role of increased interdependence and internationalization, and the predominance of a particular ideology in the dynamics of contention.
• New Book: The United Nations and Civil Society: Legitimating Global Governance - Whose Voice? (9 Sep 2009)
  This book pays particular attention to food and agriculture, which now lie at the heart of global governance issues. McKeon shows that politically meaningful space for civil society can be introduced into UN policy dialogue. Attached to this Press Release is a podcast featuring an interview with the author of this book, Nora McKeon.
• UNRISD Podcast: Global Civil Society Movements in the Philippines (31 Aug 2009)
  In this episode, Professor Teresa Encarnacion Tadem talks about her new publication on Global Civil Society Movements in the Philippines, part of UNRISD project on social movements.
• UNRISD Podcast: Social Policies and Development in Small States (14 Aug 2009)
  In this episode, UNRISD research analyst Nicola Hypher talks about a workshop held in Fiji and how social policies can contribute to national development goals.
• United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) Board of Advisors Selected at ECOSOC Substantive Session Today in UN Office in Geneva (30 Jul 2009)
  The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has confirmed the terms of five candidates to the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) at its Substantive Session today.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to Deliver Keynote Lecture on Making Development Research Policy Relevant (30 Jun 2009)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will be delivering a keynote lecture on Thursday 2 July on “How to Make Development Research Policy Relevant” at the Centre for International Development Issues (CIDIN), Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Utting's talk will be part of the opening session of the two day CERES Summer School focusing on “Development Research and Policy Practice”.
• UNRISD Podcast: From Global Economic Crisis to Care Economy Crisis (16 Jun 2009)
  In this episode, UNRISD researchers talk about the new comparative UNRISD study on the care economy: the care issues in the South and how the financial crisis could affect the care economy.
• WIDE Annual Conference to Offer Insights Into Care Economy and Care Crisis in Global Downturn (18-20 June, University of Basel, Switzerland) (16 Jun 2009)
  Care work, paid and unpaid, is a reality for most women all over the world and is characterized by enormous gender asymmetries. The programme of WIDE (Women in Development Europe) Annual Conference 2009, starting on 18 June at the University of Basel, will dedicate its opening day to a new comparative study on the political and social economy of care by the United Nations Research Institute of Social Development (UNRISD), which has taken the debates on the care economy within the context of more developed countries to developing countries.
• UNRISD Research Coordinator to Deliver Keynote Address at GTZ Symposium (15 Jun 2009)
  Katja Hujo, UNRISD Research Coordinator, will give a keynote speech at a symposium on the "Importance of Social Policy in the Context of the Financial Crisis" to be held on 16 June 2009 in Eschborn, Germany.
• UNRISD Podcast: Looking for Gender Equity in Taxation (12 Jun 2009)
  For two years, twenty-four researchers in eight countries examined direct and indirect taxes to determine whether gender bias played a role. In this episode UNRISD researcher, Imraan Valodia, explains how these researchers collaborated to examine taxation policies for potential gender biases and outlines what they discovered.
• UNRISD Podcast: International Conference to Debate Relationship of Religion, Politics and Women’s Rights (4 Jun 2009)
  In this episode UNRISD Research Coordinator, Shahra Razavi, and Co-President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Barbara Unmüßig discuss the issues to be tackled at the“Religion Revisited: Women’s Rights and the Political Instrumentalisation of Religion”, held in Berlin, 5 - 6 June 2009.
• UNRISD Podcast: Motivations to Migrate Illegally from Sub-Saharan Africa (10 Jun 2009)
  In this episode, an UNRISD researcher collaborates with researchers based in Africa to examine the motivations behind clandestine migration of Sub-Saharan African youth, and how both Africa and Europe can find solutions.
• Conference to Discuss How Religious Movements Affect Women’s Fight for Rights and Gender Equality (4 Jun 2009)
  An international conference on “Religion Revisited: Women’s Rights and the Political Instrumentalisation of Religion”, to be held from 5-6 June, will raise the crucial question of whether religious movements are an ally or a threat in the struggle for women’s rights. The conference aims to open discussion on how religion and politics can become intertwined, and whether there are distinct modes of insertion in different settings. The speakers and participants will also explore the social and political effects of this blending of religion and politics, particularly from a gender perspective.
• UNRISD Research Fellow to Speak on Taxation and Gender Equity at University of Basel (28 May 2009)
  UNRISD Research Fellow, Imraan Valodia, is scheduled to speak at the Symposium on “Sex, Gender and Politics: Research and Policy Implications Pertaining to South Africa, India and Switzerland”, 29 May 2009. Valodia will give a speech entitled “Taxation and Gender Equity: A Comparative Analysis of Direct and Indirect Taxes in Developing and Developed Countries”.
• UNRISD Podcast: Examining Kenya’s Informal Economy: The Jua Kali. (20 May 2009)
  In this episode an UNRISD researcher, Mary Njeri Kinyanjui, examines the means by which Kenya’s informal economy sustains its members, and how incorporation into the formal sector can be achieved.
• Conference & Call for Papers - Social and Political Dimensions of the Global Crisis: Implications for Developing Countries (4 May 2009)
  On 12–13 November 2009, UNRISD will host an international conference in Geneva to better understand the social and political dimensions of the current crisis and subsequent policy and institutional reforms, and their implications for developing countries. In addition, the conference will provide an opportunity to identify key issues for future research in this field. This posting is a call for papers inviting researchers to submit abstracts proposing papers for this conference.
• UNRISD Director to Retire After Eleven Years in Office (30 Apr 2009)
  Thandika Mkandawire is to leave the United Nations after 11 years at the helm of UNRISD. A Swedish national of Malawian origin, he is an economist with many years’ experience in the promotion of comparative research on development issues. "Students, academics and policy-makers alike have been influenced by UNRISD's research publications," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "We owe Thandika Mkandawire a vote of thanks for his hard work and commitment over the past 11 years."
• Book: Gendered Peace: Women's Struggels for Post-War Justice and Reconciliation (27 Apr 2009)
  What happens to women when wars officially end? An output of UNRISD research on Gender and Development, this book focuses on the moments after a peace accord, or some other official ending for a conflict, often denoted as "post-conflict" or "post-war". By exploring international contexts and a variety of local cases, the book argues that although there has been remarkable progress at the international level with newly established women’s legal rights and women’s abilities to access such legal frameworks; women may confront post-war backlash from men and the state.
• New Book: The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization: Towards "Embedded Liberalism"? (27 Apr 2009)
  How have gender inequalities in access to resources and opportunities been affected by three decades of experimentation with the liberalization of the economy? How, and to what extent, has the discovery of social concerns and social policies made a difference, by either disrupting or entrenching gender inequalities? With these two key questions, The Gendered Impacts of Liberalization: Towards “Embedded Liberalism”? provides a gendered account of liberalization policies and their impacts within agrarian and non-agrarian contexts of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America.
• Book: Governing Women: Women's Political Effectiveness in Contexts of Democratization and Governance Reform (27 Apr 2009)
  Despite many obstacles women face in prevailing social and economic systems as well as existing political structures throughout the world, women are running for public office in growing numbers. As of 2008, they have reached an average of 18.4 per cent of seats in national assemblies, exceeding 30 per cent in 22 countries. Certainly, there is an upward trend in women's representation from which we may expect big changes in the quality of governance including the striking outliers – Rwanda with 49% of its assembly female, Argentina with 35%, and Liberia and Chile with new women presidents in 2006. In terms of shaping public policy-making and democratizing power relations, the growing women’s participation in public office is encouraging. But getting into public office is just the first step in the challenge of creating governance and accountability systems that respond to women's needs and protect their rights.
• Book: Social Justice and Gender Equality: Rethinking Development Strategies and Macroeconomic Policies (27 Apr 2009)
  This book, part of the series Routledge/UNRISD Research in Gender and Development, delves into the gendered impacts of neoliberal reforms by using two approaches: comparative country case-studies, and reform-focused evaluation of the theoretical predictions and empirical evidence. Country cases include Chile, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan Province of China, Uruguay and Viet Nam, which provide useful evidence for assessing the various debates on gender and trade liberalization.
• Book: Social Policies and Private Sector Participation in Water Supply: Beyond Regulation (27 Apr 2009)
  Private sector participation in the water industry is an emotional and controversial topic. During the 1990s, policy makers were made to believe that the private sector, along with appropriate regulation, would bring additional investment, increase efficiency and expand coverage, solving the problems that come with lethargic public utilities. Yet regulation is at the infant stages in developing countries, and the results are far from desirable: over 1.1 billion people worldwide still lack access to clean water.
• Book: The Anti-Globalization Movement in Bolivia: Global Processes and Local Initiatives in a Time of Crisis and Change (20 Apr 2009)
  This book, published in Spanish, is based on research carried out between 2005 and 2007 and uses the framework of the UNRISD Project “Global Civil Society Movements: Dynamics in International Campaigns and National Implementation.” It aims to assess how the following global issues impact Bolivia: debt relief, international trade rules, global taxation initiative, anti-corruption and fair trade/solidarity economy. These worldwide campaigns are promoted by NGOs, faith-based organizations, social movements, political parties and a wide range of activist networks.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to speak on “The Changing Roles of Business in Poverty Reduction” at Lancaster University (16 Apr 2009)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will give a presentation on ‘The Changing Roles of Business in Poverty Reduction’ at the Institute for Advanced Studies and Department of Politics and International Relations, Lancaster University on 17 April 2009. His presentation will be part of a seminar entitled ‘Cultures of Competitiveness: Social and Environmental Dimensions’.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to present on “Globalisation, Business Regulation and Social Development” at University of Puerto Rico (6 Apr 2009)
  On 3 April 2009, UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will give a lecture to a Doctoral seminar at the Graduate Business Management School on the topic of “Globalization, Business Regulation and Social Development” at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a result of policy and institutional changes related to economic liberalization, privatization, commodification, and...
• UNRISD Director to address REPOA’s 14th Annual Research Workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (27 Mar 2009)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will take part in a two-day Annual Research Workshop hosted by Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between 1 - 2 April 2009. On the first day of the workshop, Thandika will present a keynote paper on the role of the state for market-led development in a developing economy.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to participate in Corporate Governance Experts Meeting in Coventry, United Kingdom (20 Mar 2009)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will take part in the three-day Corporate Governance Experts Meeting entitled “The Responsible Corporation in a Global Economy,” between 20 and 22 March 2009 at University of Warwick in Coventry, United Kingdom. Co-organised by Social Trends Institute and Warwick Business School, the conference aims to examine the role of Corporate Social Responsibility as an ...
• UNRISD Research Fellow to join Exposure Dialogue Programme in Mexico City, 15-22 March 2009 (13 Mar 2009)
  UNRISD Research Fellow, Imraan Valodia, will be participating in an Exposure and Dialogue Programme (EDP) in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, between 15 and 22 March 2009. The Exposure and Dialogue Programme is organized around issues that arise when researchers are exposed to the lived reality of poor women's lives by getting them to spend a few days experiencing that life by living and working in the informal economy.
• Who Cares? The Role of Families, States, Markets and Communities in Care Provision: New Evidence from UNRISD Research (3 Mar 2009)
  The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is organizing two events in New York to coincide with the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).The first event, a parallel event to the CSW, is to take place at United Nations Headquarters, New York, on Wednesday 4 March 2009. Following this, UNRISD is organizing a full-day conference (that is open to the public) at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York, to be held on Friday 6 March 2009, where key findings of the Research Project on the Political and Social Economy of Care will be presented.
• UNRISD Team to present at 47th session of Commission for Social Development, 4 - 13 February at UN Headquarters in New York (3 Feb 2009)
  Social integration taking into account the relationship with poverty eradication and full employment and decent work for all is the priority theme that will be addressed over the next two weeks from 4 - 13 February 2009, during the forty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development in New York.
• UNRISD Director to address Social Policy seminar in Sweden on the subject of Social Protection and Cash Transfers in Africa (30 Jan 2009)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will take part in a seminar entitled “Social Protection: Cash Transfer and Social Benefits in Africa” on 2 February 2009 at the Institute for Future Studies in Stockholm, Sweden.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to participate in “The World Food Crisis and the Global South” conference in London, United Kingdom (26 Jan 2009)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will take part in a two-day conference entitled “The World Food Crisis and the Global South,” between 27 and 28 January 2009 at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned, the rapidly escalating food prices in almost all developing countries where food comprises from half to three-quarters of con...
• UNRISD team to organize NGO Consultation Workshop in Geneva, 12 to 13 January 2009 (9 Jan 2009)
  The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) will hold a two-day NGO Consultation Workshop at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on the 12 and 13 January 2009. The consultation with NGOs has three objectives: 1) to identify key emerging issues that might be addressed in future research, and to better understand the research needs and concerns of NGOs; 2) to seek suggestions about how to improve communication of research results to the NGO community; and 3) to present the results of UNRISD research to NGOs stakeholders.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to participate in the ESRC workshop on “CSR and development” at Middlesex University in London (27 Nov 2008)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will participate in the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) workshop on “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and development”, at Middlesex University in London, on 1 December 2008.
• UNRISD Team Presented Findings from the Project on "Social Policies in Small States" at the Conference on "Social Policies for Children's rights" in Barbados. (25 Nov 2008)
  UNRISD researchers Naren Prasad and Nicola Hypher presented preliminary findings from the project on "Social Policies in Small States" at a conference in Barbados, organized by UNICEF in collaboration with UNRISD, the Commonwealth Secretariat and UNECLAC. The conference on "Social Policies for Children's rights" took place between the 18 and 21 November. It expressed the challenges for children and their families in the Eastern Caribbean region, examined historical policy lessons from social policies in small states and formulated recommendations for social policy prioritization.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to present on “Social Responses to Inequalities and Policy Changes” at the final INEQ consortium meeting in Belgium (24 Nov 2008)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will present on “Social Responses to Inequalities and Policy Changes” at the Final Consortium meeting on Inequality: Mechanisms, Effects and Policies (INEQ) in Brussels, Belgium, on 26 November. Peter’s presentation will focus on the mechanisms of policy influence, conditions and contexts conducive to policy reform and the responsiveness of mainstream policy actors and institutions to civil society contestation and advocacy.
• UN Team to present at workshop for "Social Policy & Development: China in Comparative Perspective" in Beijing, China. (14 Nov 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, and UNRISD Research Coordinator, Katja Hujo, are to take part in a workshop jointly organized by UNRISD, DFID (Department for International Development, United Kingdom) and IPRCC (International Poverty Reduction Center China) on 17 and 18 November 2008 in Beijing, China. This Press Release is available in English and Chinese. 联合国社会发展研究所所长，坦迪卡 姆坎达怀尔先生， 研究协调员卡蒂尔 胡菊女士出席由社发 所，英国国际发展部 和中国国际扶贫中心联合举办的研讨会，于 十一月十七至十八日在北京举 行。 本新闻公报用中英文同时发行.
• UN Deputy Director Presenting at the ‘Forum of Social Affairs and Development Ministers of the Arab Region’ in Amman, Jordan (10 Nov 2008)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, is to give a keynote speech entitled ‘CSR from a Development Perspective: Trends, Debates and Policy implications at the UNESCO-organized ‘Forum of Social Affairs and Development Ministers for the Arab Region’, on 12-13 November 2008, in Amman, Jordan.
• Call for Conference Participants: NGO Forum (27 Oct 2008)
  The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is organizing an NGO Forum in Geneva, Switzerland on the 12th and 13th January 2009. This forum will take the form of a consultation with NGOs. It aims to gauge NGO views on key emerging issues and research needs, seek advice on how to improve communication with NGOs and to present the results of UNRISD research to NGOs stakeholders.
• UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Shahra Razavi and UNRISD Research Analyst Silke Staab are due to present “The Political and Social Economy of Care” workshop on 16th-17th October 2008 in Geneva. (15 Oct 2008)
  UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Shahra Razavi and UNRISD Research Analyst Silke Staab are due to present “The Political and Social Economy of Care” workshop on 16th-17th October 2008 in Geneva. Razavi and Staab will present the paper titled “The Social and Political Economy of Care: Contesting Gender and Class Inequalities” which focuses on the arena of care and the role of women. The workshop will d...
• UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Katja Hujo will attend the ISSA Technical Seminar on the Extension of Social Security Coverage at ILO, on 16th October in Geneva (14 Oct 2008)
  UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Katja Hujo will be attending the ISSA (International Social Security Association) Seminar on the extension of Social Security Coverage, which will be held at ILO on 16th October. The main objective of the meeting is to gather the views of major international organizations active in the field of social security extension on what role ISSA and its member organizations ...
• Shahra Razavi and Silke Staab from UNRISD presented a background paper at the Expert Group Meeting in preparation of the 53rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women (9 Oct 2008)
  Shahra Razavi and Silke Staab from UNRISD presented a background paper at the 53rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women from the 6th-9th of October 2008 in Geneva.The paper titled “The Social and Political Economy of Care: Contesting Gender and Class Inequalities” was presented as part of the Expert Group Meeting with the focus on “Equal sharing of responsibilities between women and me...
• Offshore Financial Centers: a viable strategy for small states? (9 Oct 2008)
  Byung-Jin Ha and Naren Prasad presented ”Offshore Financial Centres” as a Development Strategy on "Social Development and Peace" at the International Small Islands Studies conference "Islands of the World X" on Jeju Island, Korea on 27 August. Ha pointed out how some islands have embarked on a strategy of setting up offshore financial centers (OFCs) as a way to promo.
• UNRISD Director to give a presentation on social policy at the ISS Seminar in The Hague (18 Sep 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will give a presentation at the ISS Seminar in The Hague on 18 September 2008.In his presentation, titled “Lessons from the UNRISD Research Project on Social Policy”, Thandika outlines the challenge to construct developmental, democratic and socially inclusive societies.
• UNRISD Vacancies - Internship (Social Policy and Development) (15 Sep 2008)
  UNRISD is now accepting applications for a three-month internship position to begin in mid October 2008.The intern's main area of responsibility will be to assist with the collection and analysis of social and economic data. Eligible candidates must be enrolled in a postgraduate university degree programme in economics, development studies and related issues.
• UNRISD Deputy Director to present a paper on development and corporate social responsibility at York University in Toronto, Canada (9 Sep 2008)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will present a paper titled, “Achieving Development through Corporate Social Responsibility? The Problem of Policy Incoherence” at York University in Toronto, Canada.
• UNRISD Director to present the opening paper at the Guy Mhone Memorial Conference in Lusaka, Zambia on July 25 (23 Jul 2008)
  UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire will present the opening paper at the 2008 Guy Mhone Memorial Conference on Development coordinated by the Council for Economic and Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).
• UNRISD Director to present a paper at the Africa Task Force Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on July 10 (7 Jul 2008)
  UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire will participate in Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue Africa Task Force Meeting in Addis Ababa on July 10 and 11 at the Ethiopia Development Research Institute. Thandika will present a paper entitled “Institutional Monocropping and Monotasking in Africa” on July 10. In this paper, he argues that, while the current upsurge of interest in instit...
• UNRISD Director at CRISE Panel in London, July 7 (2 Jul 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will participate in a panel discussion hosted by CRISE (Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity) on July 7 at Sixty One Whitehall in London. On the occasion of the launch of a new book titled “Horizontal Inequalities and Conflict: Understanding Group Violence in Multiethnic Societies”, by Frances Stewart and the CRISE team, the panel w...
• UNRISD Vacancies - Research Analyst: Democracy, Governance and Wellbeing (25 Jun 2008)
  UNRISD requires a Research Analyst to work under the direction of the Research Co-ordinator responsible for the ‘Poverty Reduction and Policy Regimes’ project, the Flagship Report on Poverty to be published in 2009 and future projects under the ‘Democracy, Governance and Wellbeing’ programme.
• UNRISD Team to participate in the 12th EADI General Conference, June 24 - 28 (19 Jun 2008)
  An UNRISD research team will participate in the 12th General Conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), which is to take place from 24 to 28 June 2008 in Geneva. Under the title “Global Governance for Sustainable Development: The Need for Policy Coherence and New Partnerships”, the conference will investigate the current development global challe...
• UNRISD Director to take part in the ‘Ghana Speaks Lecture Series’ on June 18 (16 Jun 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will be speaking at the Ghana Speaks Lecture Series in Ghana on 18 June 2008. The event, organized by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), represents an opportunity to create a public platform for informed debate on the development challenges that the country faces and to identify its strengths and weaknesses, discuss the challenges and obstacles it...
• UNRISD - INEQ Seminar on “Social and Political Dimensions of Inequality”, June 16- 17 (13 Jun 2008)
  UNRISD is hosting a two-day closed seminar on the “Social and Political Dimensions of Inequality” at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on June 16 – 17 2008.The seminar will present some research findings of the European Research Consortium on "Inequality: Mechanisms, Effects and Policies" (INEQ). INEQ is financed by the European Commission, and comprises research institutes from five European countr...
• UNRISD project on Gender and Land to be presented at Humboldt University, June 12 (11 Jun 2008)
  As part of a series of seminars held by the Humboldt University on the topic of Gender and Agrarian Change, UNRISD Research Coordinator Shahra Razavi will present the results of her research project on “Agrarian Change, Gender and Land Rights” on June 12 in Berlin, Germany. The presentation, titled ‘Accessing land through markets? Liberalisation and the debates on women’s access to land’ will expl...
• UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire to present at Democratic Developmental State Conference in South Africa (2 Jun 2008)
  On June 4 near Pretoria, South Africa, UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will present a paper titled “From Maladjusted States to Developmental States” at a conference hosted by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Development Bank of South African. His lecture will address the issue of state capacity building in Africa and the need for governments across the continent to allow st...
• UN Research Project on Indigenous Rights to be Presented in Auckland, New Zealand (23 May 2008)
  Results from the UNRISD research project entitled ‘Identity, Power and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ are to be presented and discussed at a public meeting in Auckland, New Zealand. The seminar will take place at the Northey Lecture Theatre (Building 801, Room 204) of the Faculty of Law at Auckland University, on 28 May, from 2 - 5 pm. The meeting aims at securing feedback on the research results from academia, NGOs, indigenous peoples, representatives of international organizations and governments, and the general public.
• UNRISD “Identity, Power and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” seminars in New Zealand – May 28 - and Nigeria – June 9 (22 May 2008)
  As part of the Identity, Conflict and Cohesion programme, UNRISD is holding a series of seminars entitled “Identity, Power and Rights of the Indigenous Peoples”. UNRISD researchers are organizing these seminars at various venues around the globe in order to secure feedback on the results of their research on this project.The discussion at the seminars will focus on the disparities of power evident...
• UNRISD Director to be Discussant at UNITAR Panel Discussion on Conflicts in Africa, May 16, Geneva (14 May 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, is participating as discussant at the Panel Discussion organized by UNITAR on the occasion of the 46th session of the Institute’s Board of Trustees on 16 May in the Palais des Nations. The discussion, titled ‘Conflicts in Africa: Any Good News?’, is a good opportunity to review African recent history and to re-address the issue of the ‘challenge for Africa’ – ...
• UNRISD Internships (13 May 2008)
  UNRISD is currently accepting applications for three internships working on different areas within the organization. Two of the internships are research based – one working within the programme on Identities, Conflict and Cohesion and the second working on the Poverty Reduction and Policy Regimes project. The non-research based internship will involve working within the Publications and Dissemination Unit, mostly within the UNRISD Press Office.
• UNRISD Director to Give Keynote Speech at the New School for Social Research Conference ‘When will African Economies Develop?’ (28 Apr 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, is the keynote speaker at a one-day conference at the New School for Social Research that is taking place on May 2 in New York. Under the title ‘When will African Economies Develop?’, the conference will focus on the economic development of sub-Saharan Africa and will investigate the connection between economic and political forces both at a national and international level.
• UNRISD Vacancies - Research Analyst: Social Policy and Development (22 Apr 2008)
  UNRISD requires a Research Analyst to work under the direction of the programme's Research Co-ordinator on ongoing research projects in Social Policy and Development.
• From Maladjusted States to Developmental States - UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire Speaking at the I.S. (International Cooperation) Academy Seminar Series, April 22, The Hague (16 Apr 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will be speaking at the I.S. (International Cooperation) Academy Seminar Series at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 22 from 12:00-14:00 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Under the title “From Maladjusted States to Developmental States”, his seminar will address the issue of state capacity building in Africa and the need for governments across the continent to...
• UNRISD Research Coordinator to Speak on Women’s Social Protection and Employment at Bangladesh Symposium (10 Apr 2008)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Shahra Razavi, is to speak on ‘Linking social protection and employment: the care economy and implications of “in-kind” social protection’ in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 16 April 2008 at 4:00pm. Her presentation is part of the UNICEF ROSA 2008 Regional Policy-Makers’ Symposium on Social Protection as a Strategy in Transformative Social Policy, which is to take place from the 15-17 April at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.
• UNRISD 46th Board Session taking place in Geneva, March 27 and 28 (27 Mar 2008)
  UNRISD is holding its annual Board Meeting on March 27 and 28, 2008 to discuss the research achievements of the past year and identify the pertinent global issues to address for the research period of 2009-2014.
• UNRISD Researchers Present on Social Policy and Growth at DFID (18 Mar 2008)
  UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire is speaking on the morning of March 19, 2008 at the Social Development/Central Research Department Seminar of the UK Department of International Development (DFID). He will be giving an overview of social policy and growth. The event begins at 9:30am on Palace Street. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the ties between social policy and growth, as well as ...
• Trends and Challenges in International Development Research – UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire speaking at Research Council of Norway Conference, March 11 (10 Mar 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will deliver a keynote speech at the Research Council of Norway’s conference Development Paths in the South on 11 March 2008, at 12.05pm, at the Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel in Oslo, Norway. Under the title ‘Reflections on New Challenges in Development Research’ his speech will address three concerns of research on developing countries – the issue of development and poverty eradication, the question of democratization, and the challenge of social inclusion – showing ways to combine them into one coherent research approach.
• UNRISD Vacancies - Research Analyst: Gender and Development (10 Mar 2008)
  UNRISD is currently accepting applications for the position of Research Analyst within its Gender and Development Programme Area.
• UN Director Giving Keynote Speech on the New Challenges of Development Research at the Research Council of Norway Conference, March 2008 (6 Mar 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, is to give a keynote speech entitled ‘Reflections on New Challenges in Development Research’ at the Research Council of Norway’s conference Development Paths in the South. He will be speaking at the fourth session of the conference on 11 March 2008, at 12.05pm, at the Radisson SAS Plaza Hotel in Oslo, Norway.
• UNRISD “Identity, Power and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” seminars in Peru – March 10 & 12. (5 Mar 2008)
  As part of the Identity, Conflict and Cohesion programme, UNRISD is holding a series of seminars entitled “Identity, Power and Rights of the Indigenous Peoples”. UNRISD researchers are organizing these seminars at various venues around the globe in order to secure feedback on the results of their research on this project.
• UN Research Team Focus on Unpaid Care Work and Social Divides (22 Feb 2008)
  Three members of the UNRISD Global Research Team will be in New York, the United States of America, on 25 February 2008 to take part in a panel considering the issues surrounding the relationship between social divides and unpaid work.
• UN Researcher Presenting a Paper on Small States’ Development at a Workshop in Trinidad and Tobago. (18 Feb 2008)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Naren Prasad, is to present a paper entitled “Small but Smart: Small States in the Global System” at the University of West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, on 20 February 2008.
• Seminar on “Social Policies in Small States” at the University of South Pacific in Suva, Fiji (26 Nov 2007)
  UNRISD Research Co-ordinator, Naren Prasad, presented a paper on “Social Policies in Small States: Human Capital, Social Welfare, and Remittance” at a seminar at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji on 26 November 2007.
• UN Research Visiting San Pedro as Part of Global Poverty Research Project (26 Jul 2007)
  Yusuf Bangura, Coordinator of UNRISD’s Poverty Project, is holding a meeting with his Costa Rican research team on the 30-31 July 2007 in San Pedro, Costa Rica and is available for interview to discuss this new and exciting work.
• UNRISD Board Member Placed Under House Arrest in Pakistan (5 Nov 2007)
  UNRISD Board Member, Asma Jahangir, has been placed under house arrest in Pakistan.
• UN Researcher Visiting Mumbai as Part of Global Poverty Research Project (12 Jul 2007)
  Yusuf Bangura, Coordinator of UNRISD’s Poverty Project, is holding a meeting with his Indian research team on the 13 July 2007 in Mumbai, India and is available for interview to discuss this new and exciting work.
• UN Director on Lecture Tour in Gurgaon and New Delhi Speaking on the Spread of Economic Ideas (31 Jan 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, is to give a lecture on ‘The Spread of Economic Ideas in Africa’ at the Action Aid IDEAs Leaders/Practitioners’ Workshop on Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for Governance on 31 January 2008 at the TERI Campus, Gurgaon, Haryana. On 1 February 2008. Dr. Mkandawire is repeating his lecture at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning DSA Seminar on Economic Structures, Growth and Development at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Delhi.
• UN Director Presenting a Paper on African Policy and Development in Tokyo (4 Feb 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, is presenting a paper with the title ‘From Maladjusted States to Developmental States in Africa’ at the International Workshop for the Stocktaking Work on Asian Experiences of Economic Development and Their Policy Implications for Africa on 6 February 2008.
• Operational Note: Paola Perez-Aleman Presenting at UNRISD Two-Day Conference on the Role of Business in Developing Countries, 12 – 13 November 2007 (13 Nov 2007)
  Large corporations and business associations exert strong and growing influence over social development and government policy in developing countries, but how do changes in state-business-society relations affect the way in which poorer countries develop?
• Conference “Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities in Transition” (6 Feb 2008)
  UNRISD researchers Virginius Xaxa (University of New Delhi, India) and Raymundo Rovillos (University of the Philippines, Banguio) will be presenting their research from the project “Identity, Power and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” at the First International Conference on Cordillera Studies on 7 February 2008.
• Policy Recommendations from the Africa-Asia Nexus (5 Feb 2008)
  UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire presenting paper before Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Tokyo
• UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire on Lecture Tour in India (30 Jan 2008)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will be lecturing on “The Spread of Economic Ideas in Africa” which will summarize the UNRISD research findings under the social policy programme, as well as outline the resulting implications on national social and economic goals.The first event is on 31 January 2008, where Thandika is speaking at the Action AID International Development Economics Associates ...
• Call for papers: Pro-poor provision of basic services (29 Jan 2008)
  UNRISD is currently seeking researchers to write three background papers for a chapter of its Poverty Report (to be published in 2009). We would like to commission three background papers on, 'GATS and Social services', 'Pro-poor social spending' and 'Social services in "high growth" countries'.
• Latest updates on UNRISD’s research on poverty (17 Jan 2008)
  Poverty Reduction and Policy Regimes is a major UNRISD project studying the causes, dimensions and dynamics of poverty. The project comprises a comparative research project and the production of a Flagship Report on Poverty in 2009.
• Fair Trade, Corporate Accountability and Beyond: Experiments in ‘Globalising Justice’ Conference in Melbourne, Australia (13 Dec 2007)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will be the keynote speaker for the “Fair Trade, Corporate Accountability and Beyond: Experiments in ‘Globalising Justice’” conference on 19 - 20 December 2007 in Melbourne, Australia.
• What is the Role of the EU in Corporate Social Responsibility? – Conference in Brussels (5 Dec 2007)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, will be participating in the conference “CSR at the Global Level: What Role for the EU?” on 7 December 2007 in Brussels, Belgium. The event is organized by the European Commission, under the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities branch, and in cooperation with the Portuguese Presidency.
• UNRISD Vacancies - Internship (Financing Social Policy) (29 Nov 2007)
  UNRISD is now accepting applications for a three-month internship position to begin in January 2008. Eligible candidates must be enrolled in a postgraduate university degree programme in economics, sociology, political science or a related field from an accredited university, and have academic and professional experience in issues related to financing social policy in development contexts.
• What's New for Africa? Seminar in Uppsala, Sweden (28 Nov 2007)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will participate in the seminar “What’s New for Africa? – Current Challenges and Future Scenarios” on Thursday 29 November at 5pm. The event will take place at the University Main Building, room IX, in Uppsala, Sweden, and is being organized by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and sponsored by the Uppsala Association of International Affairs (UF).
• Comprehensive Social Policies - Fighting Poverty Through Investing in Social Protection (22 Nov 2007)
  UNRISD Director Thandika Mkandawire and UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Shahra Razavi attended the “Comprehensive Social Policies - Fighting Poverty Through Investing in Social Protection” conference on the 20 November 2007 in Oslo, Norway. Both Thandika and Shahra presented during Session 1: Social Policy in a Development Context.
• New Book: Neoliberalism and Institutional Reform in East Asia, A Comparative Study (22 Nov 2007)
  In the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis, international financial institutions suggested various neoliberal solutions for reforming economic management within East Asian countries. This book examines the structural changes that occurred in East Asia following the crisis and explores the philosophical and empirical bases of suggested solutions, and questions how far they have been adopted.
• New Centre for Executive and Professional Education focused on Corporate and Social Responsibility (22 Nov 2007)
  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a key part of the UNRISD research programme Market, Business and Regulation. Business-state relations and the role of the market in social development have undergone profound changes in recent decades as a result of policy and institutional changes related to economic liberalization, privatization, commodification, and new approaches to regulation and gover...
• UNRISD Vacancies - Research Fellow (20 Nov 2007)
  As part of a new UNRISD Fellowship Programme for Researchers from Developing Countries, UNRISD invites applications from African social science scholars, based at an African research institution.
• The Economic and Social History of Malaysia: Celebrating 50 Years of Independence (15 Nov 2007)
  UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Terence Gomez will speak as a recognized expert at The Economic and Social History of Malaysia: Celebrating 50 Years of Independence Conference, which is taking place from 15 to 17 November 2007 in Malaysia. Terence is a well-known and respected commentator on the current events of Malaysia and a noted expert on ethnic identity in terms of social develop...
• UNRISD Research Co-ordinator attends PovPeace Conference in Oslo, Norway (14 Nov 2007)
  UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Shahra Razavi attended the PovPeace Conference on the 14th of November 2007 in Oslo, Norway. The purpose of the conference is to bring together the researchers working on the Poverty and Peace Programme, of the Research Council of Norway, in an effort to exchange and share proposals. Shahra is a Boardmember for the Poverty and Peace Programme and will be act...
• ILO Forum on Decent Work for a Fair Globalization (30 Oct 2007)
  UNRISD Research Co-ordinator, Katja Hujo, has been invited as a resource person to the International Labour Organization’s Forum on Decent Work for a Fair Globalization. She will be participating in “Session 4: Social Protection Policies for Social Cohesion and Economic Development” as a specialist in financing social policy.Specifically, the Session will be addressing the need for a global strat...
• UNRISD Researcher Receives Prestigious Prize in Economics (30 Oct 2007)
  Jomo K.S. has been awarded the 2007 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. His work on development economics was recognized at the award ceremony, which took place on Wednesday, October 17 at Tufts University, where he gave a lecture on “Climate Change, Economic Development, and Global Equity.” Jomo has been affiliated with UNRISD research in a number of areas, and is a former Board member.
• New Book: Democracy and Social Policy (25 Oct 2007)
  This new volume, of the Social Policy in a Development Context series, examines the complex relations between democracy and social policy. Economic development is necessary but not sufficient for welfare development.
• UNRISD Director goes on South African Lecture Tour (17 Oct 2007)
  At the end of October and start of November 2007, UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will be giving a lecture tour in South Africa.
• Book Launch for "Staking Their Claims: Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in South Africa" (15 Oct 2007)
  The Sociology of Work Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press are hosting a book launch of the UNRISD most recent publication, Staking their Claims: Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in South Africa.How responsive are South African corporations to their social and environmental responsibilities? Given the extremes of economic inequality...
• DFID Research Strategy 2008–2013: Baroness Vadera Round-Table with Research Leaders (5 Oct 2007)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, will participate in a round table meeting with research leaders to discuss the DFID Research Strategy 2008-2013 on Friday 12th of October in London. The meeting will be discussing the global priorities for international development research. Participants will analyze what is priority research and how it should be conducted for maximum relevance. The outcome o...
• A meeting on the Project: Social Responses to Inequalities and Policy Changes (2 Oct 2007)
  UNRISD Researchers Peter Utting and Kléber Ghimire will participate in a meeting to discuss the results of research papers on the UNRISD Project "Social Responses to Inequalities and Policy Changes" in Paris, France on 11 October 2007. This research project is integrated under the project “Inequality: Mechanisms, Effects and Policies” (INEQ), part of the Sixth Framework Program, Priority 7 – Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge Based Society, financed by the European Union.
• World Investment Report 2008: TNCs, FDI and Infrastructure (24 Sep 2007)
  UNRISD Deputy Director, Peter Utting, took part in a brainstorming meeting organized by the UNCTAD Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development that brought together a group of experts to discuss issues pertinent to UNCTAD's forthcoming World Investment Report 2008: Transnational Corporations (TNCs) , Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Infrastructure.
• Conference: Social Security in Developing and Newly Industrialized Countries: Utopia of Strategy for Keeping Peace and Fighting Poverty? (14 Sep 2007)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator Katja Hujo will make a presentation on ‘The impact of social protection on development and poverty reduction’ during an International conference in Berlin, Germany, that will address strategies for keeping pace and fighting poverty in Developing and Newly Industrialized countries. Katja Hujo will also participate as a panelist on the discussion "Enhancing Social Securit...
• Seminar: Economic Resilience in Small States, “Small States in Transition: From Vulnerability to Resilience”. (14 Sep 2007)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Naren Prasad, will make a presentation on “Social Development and resilience” during a Seminar that will address strategies for accelerating the transition of small island developing states (SIDS) from vulnerability to resilience. The Seminar will take place on September 18, 2007 at the Headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington D.C and ...
• Towards the Realisation of a United and Integrated Africa and its Diaspora: A Shared Vision for Sustainable Development to Address Common Challenges (11 Sep 2007)
  Following the African Union, Caribbean Diaspora Conference held in March 2005, a decision was taken during the African Union Summit of the Heads of State and Government held in January 2006, to designate South Africa as the host country for a summit on the African Diaspora. The Summit is scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2008. The main objective of this summit is to create sustainable partnerships between the African diaspora and the Continent through a concrete and realistic Programme of Action. The overall purpose of the RCC in Paris is to develop a concrete Plan of Action to guide the activities of the African Union and the African Diaspora in Europe.
• Identity, Power and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (7 Sep 2007)
  A series of seminars is being convened to disseminate the results from the research project ‘Identity, Power and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’, under the programme on ‘Identities, Conflict and Cohesion’. The first of these seminars was convened on 18 August 2007 in Cochabamba, Bolivia and hosted by the Universidad Superior de San Simón. The symposium was held at the Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia (CEDIB), a research centre, archive and clearinghouse for news reports on social and environmental issues in Bolivia.
• New Book: Staking their Claims, Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in South Africa (3 Sep 2007)
  This new volume asks about the responsiveness of South African corporations to their social and environmental responsibilities. It also questions whether business is generally proactive in redressing the legacy of apartheid given the extremes of economic inequality. It breaks new ground in emerging from a tradition of applied social sciences rather than industrial sponsorship. It is therefore free to ask and answer questions not usually raised in the debates about corporate behaviour.
• How Far Does it Go? The Buenos Aires Water Concession a Decade after the Reform (27 Jul 2007)
  This paper examines the evolution of the Buenos Aires sanitation system during the post-privatization period. Its purpose is to evaluate the private management experience and assess the empirical validity of the main concerns voiced in its favour and against it. The analysis therefore concentrates on the evolution of system performance as it relates to the privatization objectives of expanding coverage, reducing consumers’ tariffs and increasing service standards.
• Change and Continuity in Social Protection in Latin America: Mothers at the Service of the State? (26 Jul 2007)
  This paper has three main objectives. First, to describe the principal elements of new approaches to social policy in Latin America. Second, to examine and contrast new and older models of poverty relief with specific reference to Latin America; and third, to ask what the implications of these polices and programmes are for those who have been among the most actively engaged in them, namely low-income women.
• Social Policy and the Quest for Inclusive Development: Research Findings from Sub-Saharan Africa (26 Jul 2007)
  This paper provides a reflective overview of the eight studies commissioned under the UNRISD project on Social Policy in Late Industrializers: Sub-Saharan Africa and the Challenge of Social Policy. The studies involved subregional and thematic social policy concerns.
• New Book: Social Policy in Sub-Saharan African Context: In Search of Inclusive Development (26 Jul 2007)
  This volume reviews Africa's past experiences of social policy, with an eye on the future. Contributions examine a range of social policy issues around healthcare, education, the labour market and social welfare, and highlight important conceptual and policy issues for rebuilding Africa. What stands out from these studies is how well the post-colonial nationalist leaders understood the positive links between social policy and economic development, and the significance of economic and social policy for nation building.
• A Critical Review of Selected Time Use Surveys (26 Jul 2007)
  The main purpose of this paper is to critically review selected time use surveys conducted in countries from different regions of the world, in order to assess their quality. An additional purpose is to inform the design of the qualitative research to be undertaken by the project.
• Global Tax Initiatives: The Movement for the Currency Transaction Tax (15 Jan 2007)
  This paper asks two sets of questions. First, what have been, and are, the causes of the emergence, rise and development of both the transnational campaign for the CTT and the related worldwide movements and networks? Second, what are the conditions of success of different strategies for global regulatory change, in this case the CTT? And consequently, what models for the CTT, and strategies to realize them, are feasible, and what effects would they have?
• Political Space for Non-Governmental Organizations in United Nations World Summit Processes (21 Feb 2007)
  The paper begins with a discussion of NGOs as civil society actors, and then goes on to review the specific mechanisms for NGO participation in UN events. Next it traces how the summits served as meeting points for growing numbers of NGO representatives from across the world, with wide-ranging backgrounds, interests and experiences.
• NGOs and Social Movements: A North/ South Divide? (1 Jun 2006)
  This paper examines those contemporary agencies broadly termed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and social movements. Emphasis is placed on political differences in approach, and the paper poses the question of how such differences coincide with geographical distinctions between the North and South.
• The Politics of HIV/AIDS in Uganda (1 Aug 2006)
  This paper traces Uganda’s experience of HIV/AIDS, and the reaction of the government, civil society and communities of Uganda to the epidemic.
• New Book: Pro-Poor Macroeconomics: Potential and Limitations (30 Sep 2006)
  This volume presents a pro-poor macroeconomic policy allowing countries to recapture policy space, help promote growth, reduce inequality and diminish poverty in a sustainable way.
• The Global Justice Movement: How Far Does the Classic Social Movement Agenda Go in Explaining Transnational Contention? (1 Jun 2006)
  This paper analyses the new form of contention represented by the global justice movement (GJM) through the lenses of the classic social movement agenda for explaining contentious politics.
• Corporate Partnerships and Community Development in the Nigerian Oil Industry: Strengths and Limitations (2 Mar 2007)
  This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of different community development partnership (CDP) and poverty reduction initiatives for the Niger Delta, Nigeria, in the corporate-community relations strategies of Shell, Exxon Mobil and Total.
• Transnational Civil Society Movements: The State of Anticorruption Efforts (1 Aug 2006)
  The paper reviews the anticorruption efforts pursued by transnational CSOs, what these organizations are, their structures and how they are evolving. It seeks to capture the activities and functions of the movement and the kind of methods they employ to achieve their goals.
• Neither Public Nor Private: Unpacking the Johannesburg Water Corporatization Model (1 Jun 2006)
  The paper provides a brief overview of the service delivery history in Johannesburg during the 1990s. The paper focuses on the institutional transformation of the water and sanitation sector, with particular attention to the governance framework that shapes the accountability mechanisms between Johannesburg Water (Pty.) Ltd. (JW) and the city authorities.
• Ethnic Structure, Inequality and Governance of the Public Sector in Nigeria (16 Nov 2006)
  This paper explores the history and geography of the ethno-regional cleavages in Nigeria, and suggests reasons for their endurance. The author examines the manifestations of the inequalities associated with the cleavages and looks at various efforts aimed at reforming the lopsided nature of representation within the institutions of the Nigerian federation.
• The Global Women's Rights Movement: Power Politics around the United Nations and the World Social Forum (1 Aug 2006)
  This paper examines the discourse, inputs and reorganization of strategies that emanated from the lobbying of women’s rights movements vis-à-vis global agencies like the United Nations (UN), as well as the World Social Forum.
• The Rise and Development of the Global Debt Movement: A North-South Dialogue (19 Jan 2007)
  Potential research gaps raised in this paper include practical consequences of debt cancellation, the mechanisms that maintain the debt problem, and how these can be addressed. These issues should be thought of within a framework of developing alternative structures for the world economy.
• Beyond Pragmatism: Appraising UN-Business Partnerships (3 Oct 2006)
  The paper outlines the growing number of partnerships across the UN spectrum and notes the recent emphasis placed on mainstreaming and scaling up partnership activities in the UN system. The authors argue that the case for scaling-up, and how this should be done, rests on whether it can be plausibly demonstrated that such scaling-up would, in and of itself, have a decisive impact on the problems or issues at stake.
• Public Pensions in a Development Context: The Case of Canada (22 Feb 2007)
  This paper starts by describing the Canadian pension system, which consists of a mix of public and private elements. It then focuses on the reforms made to the public parts of the system in recent years. In particular, the paper examines the ground-breaking changes to the financing of the Canada Pension Plan. The paper concludes with some of the lessons learned from Canada’s experience.
• Trends in Government Support for Non-Governmental Organizations: Is The "Golden Age" of the NGO Behind Us? (1 Jun 2006)
  This paper looks at trends in government support for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), asking whether the “golden age” of the large international NGO (INGO) is behind us.
• Routledge/UNRISD Research in Gender and Development (26 Jun 2007)
  This new Routledge/UNRISD series engages with a wide range of contested issues—politics and governance, identity and conflict, welfare state and social policy reform, markets and macroeconomics, the care economy, migration and social rights—through a gender lens and with insights gained from feminist theory. The series is intended for scholars and students of gender studies, development studies, comparative politics and related disciplines.
• UNRISD Researcher receives ILO award (19 Jun 2007)
  On 15 June 2007, the International Labour Organization awarded its first annual Decent Work Research Prize to the eminent academic and specialist in social security, Carmelo Mesa-Lago. Mr. Mesa-Lago has carried out research for several UNRISD projects over the past 15 years.
• UNRISD Director receives a D.Litt degree from Rhodes University, South Africa. (24 May 2007)
  On Friday 13 April 2007, UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, received a D.Litt degree from Rhodes University, South Africa. The Senior Doctorate degree is based on the examination of a collection of the works of the recipient of someone who, in the estimation of the Senate of the university, is an internationally recognised and reputable scholar. Thereafter the selected works of the candidate are submitted to an international panel of assessors.
• UNRISD Director to Participate in Round Table at African Film Festival. (25 Apr 2007)
  UNRISD Director, Thandika Mkandawire, is to participate in a round table discussion at the 4th Festival de Cine Africano de Tarifa (Tarifa African Film Festival, FCAT) in Spain. The round table entitled 'A new “chance” for Africa? New IMF and World Bank programmes and initiatives', aims to focus on the most recent programmes of these two influential institutions with a view to examining their role in the African continent.
• UNRISD Researcher to speak at The International Conference on Small States and Economic Resilience (23 Apr 2007)
  UNRISD Research Coordinator, Naren Prasad, will be participating in The International Conference on Small States and Economic Resilience that is being organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Islands and Small States Institute (ISSI), in collaboration with the Economics Department of the University of Malta. The conference will be held at the Foundation for International Studies, Malta between 23 and 25 April 2007.
• UNRISD Researcher to Participate in Workshop on Legal Aspects of Water Sector Reform. (19 Apr 2007)
  Naren Prasad, UNRISD Research Coordinator, will make a presentation to a workshop discussing the Legal Aspects of Water Sector Reforms at the International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC) in Geneva on 20 April 2007.
• Applications Now Being Accepted for INEQ Summer School on Inequality: Mechanisms, Effects and Policies (19 Mar 2007)
  The evolution of inequalities in terms of incomes, economic, social and gender conditions, both within and between countries, is a major concern for scholars and policy makers. Such themes are at the centre of the EU research project on "Inequality: Mechanisms, Effects and Policies" (INEQ). The summer school, organized as one of the activities of the INEQ project, provides a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of inequality.
• Call for Papers - Business, Social Policy and Corporate Political Influence in Developing Countries (9 Feb 2007)
  The call for papers closed on 30 March 2007. It invited researchers to submit abstracts proposing papers that address one or several themes and questions concerning how large corporations and business associations are shaping patterns of social development and government policy in developing countries. The authors of the selected abstracts will be contacted in April 2007 with an invitation to submit full-length papers. Only those authors whose abstracts are selected will be contacted.
• UNRISD at the World Social Forum, Nairobi, 20-25 January 2007 (19 Jan 2007)
  UNRISD is hosting a two-part colloquium during the Forum on Monday 22 January. Forum participants are also invited to talk with UNRISD representatives, and learn more about the work and publications of the Institute, at the UNRISD stall.
• Social Development Research at UNRISD, 2005-2009 (31 Aug 2006)
  Under its 2005-2009 research agenda, UNRISD is focusing attention on social policy, poverty reduction and equity. Research is organized under six programme areas: Social Policy and Development; Democracy, Governance and Well-Being; Markets, Business and Regulation; Civil Society and Social Movements; Identities, Conflict and Cohesion; and Gender and Development.
• Development: Funding Social Change (14 Aug 2006)
  Funding Social Change: UNRISD Staff and Affiliates Contribute to the Latest Issue of Development
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 25: Pensions and Pension Funds in the Making of a Nation-State and a National Economy: The Case of Finland (10 Aug 2006)
  The history of Finnish pension policy indicates that it is possible to unify social policy and economic development in such a way that a more or less just and stable society, decent social security and strong economic growth can be achieved simultaneously.
• New Book: Ethnic Inequalities and Public Sector Governance (10 Aug 2006)
  Using empirical data and a typology that classifies countries according to their levels of ethnic polarization, contributors of this edited book discuss the links between ethnicity, inequality and governance.
• New Book: Gender and Social Policy in a Global Context: Uncovering the Gendered Structure of “the Social” (10 Aug 2006)
  This book attempts to move the gender analytical framework closer to the centre of social policy thinking by exposing how the social institutions through which social policy is filtered—families and communities, markets, informal arrangements for care, health and education systems, the public sector—are all bearers of gender
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 26: Liberalization and HIV in Kerala (10 Aug 2006)
  The HIV/AIDS epidemic illustrates the close link between poverty and ill health. Working and living conditions can put people at a higher risk for disease and infection. Job insecurity can indirectly affect people’s susceptibility to diseases and infections such as HIV. Poverty-driven sex work and labour migration, for example, are acknowledged socioeconomic risk factors for HIV. Without good nutrition and health care, people with HIV succumb to AIDS more quickly.
• New Book: Reclaiming Development Agendas: Knowledge, Power and International Policy Making (10 Aug 2006)
  This book looks at why changes in discourse and policy are taking place, as well as the potential and limits of what has been called "the new development agenda".
• New Book: Representing India: Ethnic Diversity and the Governance of Public Institutions (10 Aug 2006)
  This study highlights the potential and limits of redistributive policies in situations of durable inequalities. She evaluates India’s redistributive policies under three important measuring rods: policy outcomes, social outcomes and political outcomes.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 21: Disempowering New Democracies and the Persistence of Poverty (18 Jul 2006)
  The author argues that it is important to bear in mind the ideational and the many structural impediments to the consolidation of democracy in the developing countries. One such constraint, he says, is the predominance of orthodox economic policies that ultimately hamper democracies from addressing issues of equity and poverty.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 14: Gender Dimensions of Viet Nam’s Comprehensive Macroeconomic and Structural Reform Policies (12 Apr 2006)
  The paper contributes to a better understanding of macroeconomic policies that benefit women by analysing the links between reform, gender equality, economic development and women’s welfare.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 13: Gendered Spaces in Party Politics in Southern Africa: Progress and Regress since Beijing 1995 (12 Apr 2006)
  This paper takes stock, focusing on political parties both as possible instruments and as sites of negotiated power, against a historical background where they have also been instruments of coercion and exclusion.
• Conference News: Ethnic Inequalities and Public Sector Governance. Report of the International Conference organized by UNRISD, UNDP Latvia and the Latvian Ministry of Integration, 25–27 March 2004, Riga (12 Apr 2006)
  When inequalities in income, wealth, and access to social services or political power coincide with group differences, ethnicity may assume importance in shaping choices and mobilizing individuals for collective action.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 12: Foreign Direct Investment, Development and Gender Equity: A Review of Research and Policy (22 Mar 2006)
  In this review of the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on productivity, trade, employment, wages and working conditions, the author finds few of the straightforward conclusions that the popularity of FDI as a tool for development would seem to indicate.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 11: Feminized Migration in East and Southeast Asia: Policies, Actions and Empowerment (21 Mar 2006)
  This paper discusses the causes, processes and consequences of feminized migration in the context of East and South East Asia's expanding global capitalism, increasing feminization of the economic means for family survival, and rising civil activism both in local communities and transnationally.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 24: Mozambique's HIV/AIDS Pandemic: Grappling with Apartheid’s Legacy (21 Mar 2006)
  Mozambique's HIV/AIDS pandemic threatens to undermine the progress in economic and social reconstruction achieved since the war ended in 1992, argues Carole J.L. Collins in this recently released paper.
• Société civile et mouvements sociaux, Document de programme 20: Le commerce équitable (21 Mar 2006)
  Depuis que les produits “équitables” sont vendus dans les grandes surfaces et pour pouvoir conquérir de nouveaux parts de marché afin d’écouler le maximum de produits, le commerce équitable doit de plus en plus se conformer aux normes de l’efficacité et de la concurrence. Mais la domination de la logique économique a tendance à éloigner le commerce équitable de ses principes fondamentaux.
• New Book: Public Sector Reform in Developing Countries: Capacity Challenges to Improve Services (21 Mar 2006)
  Public sector reforms need to be grounded in a policy framework that privileges the developmental role of the state if the goal of improved delivery of services, especially as they affect the poor, is to be achieved.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 23: The Indian Parliament as an Institution of Accountability (21 Mar 2006)
  This paper assesses the performance of the premier institution of representative democracy in India: Parliament.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 22: Ethnic Structure, Inequality and Governance in the Public Sector in Switzerland (21 Mar 2006)
  Switzerland is one of the few multilingual countries in Europe that does not confront political difficulties among its linguistic minorities. Yet it would be fundamentally wrong to think of Switzerland as a country without historical conflicts: the processes of nation building, industrialization, urbanization and modernization were accompanied by societal conflicts.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 23: Targeting and Universalism in Poverty Reduction (8 Feb 2006)
  In this paper, the author discusses the forces behind the shift from universalism toward selectivity in using social policies to combat poverty in the developing countries. He then reviews the lessons from such policies while paying special attention to cost-effectiveness, because advocates of selectivity in the fight against poverty raise it as the main argument in its favour.
• New Book: Post-War Bosnia: Ethnicity, Inequality and Public Sector Governance (8 Feb 2006)
  This study shows the potential and limits of governmental and institutional reforms for managing deeply divided societies, especially when such societies have been plunged into war.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 10: "Your Justice is Too Slow": Will the ICTR Fail Rwanda's Rape Victims? (15 Feb 2006)
  The author maintains that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has delivered little justice to the victims of sexual violence. She calls for a concerted effort to learn from the experiences of the Rwandan rape victims to ensure that the United Nations does not continue to short-change victims of sexual violence in war.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 21: The Social Bases of the Global Justice Movement: Some Theoretical Reflections and Empirical Evidence from the First European Social Forum (19 Jan 2006)
  This paper discusses the main hypotheses developed in social science research with reference to the social basis for social movements and considers the relevance of these questions for research on contemporary protest, in particular those mobilized around claims of global justice.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 20: Ethnic Structure, Inequality and Governance in the Public Sector: Malaysian Experiences (18 Jan 2006)
  This paper analyses Malaysian experiences in managing ethnic imbalances between the indigenous community and immigrant communities. The analysis is given ample grounding in data.
• New Book: Social Policy in the Middle East: Economic, Political and Gender Dynamics (5 Jan 2006)
  This book provides political and economic perspectives on social policy and its evolution in the Middle East and North Africa.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 19: Economic Policy Making and Parliamentary Accountability in Hungary (5 Jan 2006)
  The authors examine the process of democratization in Hungary and discuss the fine balance between economic policy making and parliamentary accountability. They also explore the new challenges and opportunities created by the country’s accession to the European Union (EU).
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 10: Beyond Buzzwords: "Poverty Reduction", "Participation" and "Empowerment" in Development Policy (4 Jan 2006)
  This paper takes a critical look at how these three terms have come to be used in international development policy, exploring how different configurations of words frame and justify particular kinds of development interventions.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 11: The World Bank as a Knowledge Agency (4 Jan 2006)
  This paper claims that the production of social knowledge in all international organizations is problematic, because of their nature as a form of public bureaucracy. This general claim is advanced as a modification of Weber's theory of bureaucracy.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 9: The Search for Policy Autonomy in the South: Universalism, Social Learning and the Role of Regionalism (4 Jan 2006)
  Countries of the South, argues this paper, must secure greater autonomy in development policy making. But how can this be achieved?
• Responsible Sourcing conference at the EU, 18 November 2005 (24 Nov 2005)
  A conference entitled “Responsible Sourcing: Improving Global Supply Chains Management”, was held at the European Union in Brussels on 18 November 2005. UNRISD was represented by Peter Utting, Deputy Director. Peter presented on the current challenges and future of responsible sourcing. He also chaired the afternoon sessions.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 17: Economic Policy Making and Parliamentary Accountability in the Czech Republic (18 Nov 2005)
  In this paper, Zdenka Mansfeldová emphasizes the legislative power of parliament and the ways the government attempts to coordinate the decision-making process in the field of economic policy.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 21: The Politics of Welfare Developmentalism in Hong Kong (18 Nov 2005)
  This paper examines the change in social policy in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, tracing how the historical path of development, economic globalization and the state of political development have combined to structure the response of the state to growing pressures for change in its welfare regime
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 9: Neolibs, Neocons and Gender Justice: Lessons from Global Negotiations (18 Nov 2005)
  This paper is a reflection on the environment within which the struggle for gender justice is currently under way in the global arena.
• Política social y desarrollo Documento del programa número 20: Política social y reforma social "a la tica": Un caso paradigmático de heterodoxia en el contexto de una economía periférica (18 Nov 2005)
  En este trabajo ubicamos la política social costarricense en perspectiva histórica a efectos de comprender sus orígenes, sus aportes al desarrollo nacional y el curso de las reformas sociales en marcha.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 22: Transforming the Developmental Welfare State in East Asia (18 Nov 2005)
  This paper attempts to explain changes and continuity in the developmental welfare states in the Republic of Korea (Korea) and Taiwan Province of China (Taiwan) within the East Asian context. The welfare states in these two countries have undergone significant changes since the Asian economic crisis of 1997–1998.
• Démocratie, gouvernance et droits de l’homme, Document de programme 18: Le contrôle parlementaire de l’action gouvernementale en République du Bénin: Une lecture sociologique (18 Nov 2005)
  Cette étude porte sur la République du Bénin. Elle se veut une étude de cas d’une “démocratie rétablie” dans une Afrique francophone encore marquée, au plan politique, par un passé colonial récent et toujours en proie à la définition de ses propres normes de démocratisation.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 11: Inequality and Conflict: A Review of an Age-Old Concern (17 Nov 2005)
  The author states that the long history of interest in the links between inequality and violent conflict has not been matched by an evolving progression in theory or empirical certainty. There remains huge indeterminacy in the discussion of linkages between economic inequality and violent political conflict.
• Conference News: Understanding “Informational Developments”: A Reflection on Key Research Issues. Report from the UNRISD Workshop, 26–27 September 2003, Geneva (15 Nov 2005)
  On the eve of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) opening in Tunis, UNRISD is preparing to publish a report on its workshop. Participants in this workshop discussed how research findings and evidence were being used in the run-up to the summit, as well as in other global information and communication technology and development policy forums.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 16: The “Pay Your Taxes” Debate: Perspectives on Corporate Taxation and Social Responsibility in the Chilean Mining Industry (11 Nov 2005)
  The debate contributed by Manuel Riesco, Gustavo Lagos and Marcos Lima presents differences in opinion that clearly indicate the need for additional research. But they also suggest that the criteria that should inform the judgement as to what is acceptable fiscal behaviour are not only technical and legal, but also ethical and political.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 6: Approaches to Globalization and Inequality Within the International System (11 Nov 2005)
  Global poverty reduction is being taken a lot more seriously in the early decades of the twenty-first century, thanks partly to the consensus forged in the United Nations over the Millennium Development Goals. However, the author writes that a major hindrance to any initiatives to tackle growing inequality is the prevailing policy consensus favouring market-friendly policies.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 8: The Sources of Neoliberal Globalization (11 Nov 2005)
  In reflecting on the future fate of neoliberalism, it is important to understand where the doctrine has come from and what sustains it: know the past and present in order to shape the future. This is Scholte’s inspiration in offering an account of the institutional and deeper structural forces that have given neoliberalism its primacy in shaping globalization over the past quarter-century.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 7: Interpreting Globalization: Neoliberal and Internationalist Views of Changing Patterns of the Global Trade and Financial System (11 Nov 2005)
  Neither a wholesale embrace of the neoliberal conception of globalization nor an outright rejection of the processes leading to increased international integration makes sense. What is needed is a cooperative, internationalist approach to the resolution of the world’s common problems and, in particular, the achievement of reductions in poverty and inequality.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 17: Technologies, Power and Society: An Overview (11 Nov 2005)
  The paper synthesizes the findings from 10 case studies examining the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in forming contemporary Senegal and aims to predict major future trends.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 5: Methodological and Data Challenges to Identifying the Impacts of Globalization and Liberalization on Inequality (11 Nov 2005)
  Globalization and liberalization are defining features of the current era. The author reviews the evidence on how the two trends have affected inequality at the world level and within countries.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 15: Rethinking Business Regulation: From Self-Regulation to Social Control (11 Nov 2005)
  One of the greatest challenges of the contemporary era is to ensure that market liberalization and the increasing dominance of transnational corporations in global trade, investment and value chains do not undermine patterns of development that are socially inclusive and ecologically sustainable.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 19: The Contemporary Global Social Movements: Emergent Proposals, Connectivity and Development Implications (28 Oct 2005)
  This paper explores the complexities and potential for change inherent in a new wave of global movements concerned with contemporary patterns of development and globalization.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 17: Civil Society in United Nations Conferences: A Literature Review (28 Oct 2005)
  In this paper, Constanza Tabbush reviews the current literature on the role of civil society at UN conferences, discusses the key concepts involved, assesses the scope of the literature on civil society engagement, and identifies some of the gaps that might usefully be addressed by further analysis.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 4: In Quest of Sustainable Development (28 Oct 2005)
  This paper reviews research into the social dynamics of environmental change and thus makes a contribution to ongoing debates about policy options.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 16: Environmental Movements, Politics and Agenda 21 in Latin America (28 Oct 2005)
  While the Earth Summit, Agenda 21 has guided the aims, praxes and policy proposals of international institutions and governments, the spaces, mechanisms, values and agendas that could garner the favour of Latin American governments and social movements toward sustainable development have been lacking.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 18: UN World Summits and Civil Society: The State of the Art (28 Oct 2005)
  In this state-of-the-art paper, the author investigates the link between UN world summits and civil society and contends that the summits have provided challenges and opportunities for the emergence of global identities and initiatives within civil society, and have stimulated a wide range of developments within national civil societies.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 7: For or Against Gender Equality? Evaluating the Post–Cold War "Rule of Law" Reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa (25 Oct 2005)
  The author reviews the reform programme in sub-Saharan Africa, discusses the priorities that have been articulated by gender justice advocates in the region, and then evaluates the reform initiatives taken by governments and donors in order to highlight specific gender gaps in the rule of law agenda.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 8: Decentralizing Government and Centralizing Gender in Southern Africa: Lessons from the South African Experience (25 Oct 2005)
  This paper explores decentralization and local democracy in Southern Africa. It is demonstrated that even in a seemingly best-case scenario such as South Africa, it is difficult to integrate gender into the processes of local-level democratization and service delivery.
• New Book: Commercialization of Health Care: Global and Local Dynamics and Policy Responses (24 Oct 2005)
  The book aims to contribute to a shift in the international "common sense" in health policy toward a more humane, inclusive, egalitarian, and ethical framework for policy formulation.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 6: Gendering Migration, Livelihood and Entitlements: Migrant Women in Canada and the United States (24 Oct 2005)
  This paper compares migration regimes in Canada and the United States, examines gendered work environments, and studies social entitlements for migrant women in the two countries.
• Guest lecture by Jon Altman, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University, 26 Sep 2005, Geneva, Switzerland. (17 Oct 2005)
  On 26 September 2005, UNRISD received a guest lecture by Jon Altman, Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University, entitled “Nomads Triumphing Today? How some hunters in Arnhem Land, North Australia, engage with the state, the market, and globalization.”
• Online discussion with Edmund Terence Gomez regarding his paper ‘Inter-Ethnic Relations, Business and Identity - The Chinese in Britain and Malaysia’ (19 Sep 2005)
  Edmund Terence Gomez has drafted a paper entitled ‘Inter-Ethnic Relations, Business and Identity - The Chinese in Britain and Malaysia’ and would like to hear the thoughts of his peers via email or by the UNRISD discussion forum where an online debate is being held.
• New Book: Civil Society and the Market Question: Dynamics of Rural Development and Popular Mobilization (12 Sep 2005)
  Drawing on case studies from Asia, Africa and Latin America, this new volume based on research commissioned by UNRISD looks critically at how civil society organizations are able to assist poor cultivators and agricultural workers to improve their productive asset base, working conditions and group power through influencing the market mechanism.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 5: Women, Political Parties and Social Movements in South Asia (12 Sep 2005)
  In this recently released paper from UNRISD, Amrita Basu explores a range of issues concerning women, political parties and social movements in South Asia.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 4: The Politics of Gender and Reconstruction in Afghanistan (27 Jul 2005)
  The plight of women in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was invoked, among other concerns, as a humanitarian crisis justifying United States military intervention; and reversing abuses of women’s rights became an explicit policy goal, at least at the level of rhetoric.
• New Book: Social Policy and Economic Development in the Nordic Countries (27 Jul 2005)
  This volume challenges the contention that there is an unavoidable trade-off between equality and efficiency, and shows that social protection and economic development can go hand in hand.
• Un rapport de l'UNRISD critique la déréglementation néolibérale (1 Jun 2001)
  Le rapport démontre que la foi en la capacité de marchés déréglementés d’offrir les meilleures conditions possibles au développement humain est allée trop loin. Poussé par cette confiance excessive dans la "main invisible" du marché, le monde se rapproche de plus en plus de niveaux intolérables d’inégalités.
• Un informe de UNRISD que critica la doctrina neoliberal (1 Nov 2001)
  Este informe afirma que la fe en la capacidad de los mercados no regulados para proporcionar el mejor entorno posible al desarrollo humano ha sido excesiva. Una confianza desmedida en la "mano visible" del mercado está llevando al mundo hacia niveles insostenibles de desigualdad y miseria, por ello, es necesario encontrar un nuevo equilibrio entre el interés público y el privado.
• New Book: Education as Social Action: Knowledge, Identity and Power (30 Jun 2005)
  Education plays a key role in breaking the cycle of poverty and increasing opportunity. Social movements may play an important role in providing educational opportunities to communities and social groups that might otherwise be excluded, filling the gap left by the state. This book critically examines the origin and outcome of social action for education in different parts of the world.
• New Book: Racism and Public Policy (28 Jun 2005)
  This book discusses two important public policy issues that have been central to debates on racism. The first deals with citizenship while the second is about social justice and equitable governance. These are needed to achieve stability and consolidate the values of citizenship.
• UNRISD Research Findings Underline Ambivalent Developments in UN Discussions on Future Participation of Civil Society (21 Jun 2005)
  Diplomats, researchers and practitioners gathered in Malta from 11–13 February 2005 to discuss multistakeholder diplomacy and other aspects of contemporary diplomacy. The event, which was organized by DiploFoundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta, the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), was part of the preparatory process of the World Summit on the Information Society and Internet Governance’s (WSIS) second phase, to be held in Tunis in November 2005.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 3: Women at Work: The Status of Women in the Labour Markets of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (14 Jun 2005)
  The author argues that women's labour market position deteriorated in the three countries, but not to the extent that had been expected. Women improved their positions in some areas, and their losses relative to men have—so far—been minimal. The significant variations across the three countries in how women fared are also examined.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 2: Livelihood Struggles and Market Reform: (Un)making Chinese Labour after State Socialism (14 Jun 2005)
  This paper traces the historical evolution of core changes in Chinese labour reform and worker entitlements: from the introduction of labour contracts to the promulgation of a national labour law, the demolition of work-unit socialism and its replacement with a national social security system.
• Three New Research Projects Developed at UNRISD (13 Jun 2005)
  The recent arrival of Naren Prasad as a research co-ordinator at UNRISD, where he took up work in the area of markets, business and regulation and of social policy and development, has resulted in the approval by the Institute of a new research project on social indicators; the launching of the second phase of the research project on the commercialization of public services that focuses on water supply; and the elaboration of another new project on social development in small island countries that is to be unveiled soon.
• Occasional Paper Gender Policy 1: The Feminization of Agriculture? Economic Restructuring in Rural Latin America (26 May 2005)
  While methodological problems persist in analysing changes in rural women’s work over time, the dominant trend in the region over the past several decades has been towards the feminization of agriculture.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 19: The Adult Worker Model Family, Gender Equality and Care: The Search for New Policy Principles, and the Possibilities and Problems of a Capabilities Approach (18 May 2005)
  In this paper, the authors discuss the shift in policy assumptions toward an "adult worker model family" . Within this policy model, care work must be conceptualized as both a "legitimate" choice and as a necessary human activity, which provides the basis for arguing that it must be shared between men and women. However, the task of devising social policies that promote real choice for men and for women in respect of paid and unpaid work poses huge difficulties.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 18: "Globalization" and Social Policy in a Development Context: Regional Responses (18 May 2005)
  This paper critically discusses the possibilities that regional and transregional forms of collaboration in social policy offer for the progressive social reform urgently needed because of globalization.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 16: “Living for the Sake of Living”: Partnerships between the Poor and Local Government in Johannesburg (13 May 2005)
  According to the authors, the future of partnerships appears gloomy, and they argue that it is difficult to predict the impact that futher changes in the inner city may have in making future partnerships more meaningful and viable.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 13: Agricultural Restructuring and Trends in Rural Inequalities in Central Asia: A Socio-Statistical Survey (12 May 2005)
  In this paper, the author analyses agricultural reform and sector restructuring explicitly in relation to inequality and the role of civil society, based on statistical material and the author’s fieldwork data.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 12: Agrarian Research Institutes and Civil Society in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: In Search of Linkages (14 Apr 2005)
  The issue of how civil society can work better with research and extension services at the local level is frequently raised in policy debates. This paper explores this question with respect to the research programmes and agricultural production of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 15: Environmental Movements in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Political Ecology of Power and Conflict (24 Mar 2005)
  This paper critically examines environmental movements in sub-Saharan Africa by drawing on two prominent cases: the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People of Nigeria’s Niger Delta and the Green Belt Movement of Kenya.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 10: The Politics of Land Distribution and Race Relations in Southern Africa (24 Mar 2005)
  This paper discusses the politics of land distribution and race relations in southern Africa, with a particular focus on the experiences of the former colonial states of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia. It examines how inequitable land relations have contributed to intensified race-based conflicts.
• New UNRISD Report: Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World (7 Mar 2005)
  There is "much to celebrate" in progress toward gender equality, but also "much at risk", a decade after the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, UNRISD reports today.
• Women’s Influence on Public Policy and Governance (16 Feb 2005)
  In the past decade, women’s visibility in and impact on public life has grown. Although the average proportion of women in national assemblies has only increased from 9 per cent to almost 16 per cent, in 16 countries the proportion has reached 30 per cent or more. What factors promote women’s access to representative politics? Do women in public office really promote women’s interests in public decision making? Under what conditions can they and their male allies be effective in producing gender-sensitive public policy?
• New Book: Transforming the Developmental Welfare State in East Asia (4 Feb 2005)
  The book explains the way in which shifts in economic strategy have influenced social policy reforms in East Asia. It also analyses the political dynamics of social policy in which economic imperatives for social reform were transformed into social policy reform.
• New Book: From Unsustainable to Inclusive Cities (7 Feb 2005)
  This 256-page volume brings together case studies by urban development practitioners who have contributed to efforts to achieve dignified living and working conditions for some of the most vulnerable groups in large cities of the South, from Asia to Africa to Latin America.
• New Book: Social Policy in a Development Context (4 Feb 2005)
  The central message contained in the book is that social policy can be a major transformative contribution to economic development.
• New Book: Globalization, Export-Oriented Employment and Social Policy: Gendered Connections (4 Feb 2005)
  This volume finds that although there are opportunities for combining an orientation towards export markets with an emphasis on social rights, the gendered segmentation of labour markets and the architecture of social policies need considerable policy attention before this can become a reality.
• Société civile et mouvements sociaux–Document de programme No. 14: Islamisme et pauvreté dans le monde rural de l’Asie centrale post-soviétique: Vers un espace de solidarité islamique ? (2 Feb 2005)
  Cette étude montre comment des notables ruraux, notamment islamistes, organisés en réseaux locaux, cherchent à réduire la pauvreté dans les villages en réactivant des formes traditionnelles de solidarité islamique. Ils proposent un encadrement de l’espace social destiné à une population musulmane pauvre qui se sent délaissée par l’État.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 15: Chicago's Near South Side: Revisiting the South Loop and South Armour Square, 2001 (26 Jan 2005)
  Financing for urban development, including affordable housing, is now determined by the returns these investments offer creditors seeking opportunities in a globally integrated market. Because of these pressures, local governments, even when committed to reversing historical social inequalities, have little leeway in working with socially progressive forces to accomplish such ends.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 14: Communities and Local Government: Three Case Studies in São Paulo, Brazil (26 Jan 2005)
  This paper describes the fate of three forms of collaboration between the local government of São Paulo, Brazil, and civil society groups begun during the administration of Mayor Luiza Erundina from 1989 to 1993.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 11: Post-Soviet Institutional Design, NGOs and Rural Livelihoods in Uzbekistan (19 Jan 2005)
  The purpose of this study is to analyse the processes of post-Soviet transformation of rural institutions and to discuss their implications for the welfare and livelihoods of the rural population in Uzbekistan.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 14: The Political Economy of Corporate Responsibility in Brazil: Social and Environmental Dimensions (26 Jan 2005)
  This paper describes the corporate social and environmental responsibility agenda in Brazil, examines its history, identifies the factors and actors that are encouraging firms to adopt CSER initiatives, and asks whether CSER is really making a difference in terms of social and sustainable development.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 7: The New Economic Policy and Interethnic Relations in Malaysia (6 Jan 2005)
  This paper initiates a careful analysis of the Malaysian experience of "restructuring society to eliminate the identification of race with economic function" while briefly reviews the background to the country's New Economic Policy (NEP).
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 8: Peasant Associations in Theory and Practice (6 Jan 2005)
  This paper considers the ways in which liberalization and global market dependence have affected poverty, hunger and "entitlements": the political, social and economic resources that condition an individual's access to food and basic needs.
• Conference News: Social Knowledge and International Policy Making: Exploring the Linkages (6 Jan 2005)
  UNRISD organized this conference to examine the linkages between research, activism and policy making related to social development issues.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 17: The Developmental Welfare State in Scandinavia: Lessons for the Developing World (6 Jan 2005)
  This paper traces crucial steps in the history of the Scandinavian welfare state from its early beginnings in the late nineteenth century to the present time. Particular attention is drawn to the general adherence to the principle of universalism.
• Conference News: Corporate Social Responsibility and Development: Towards a New Agenda? Report of the UNRISD Conference, November 2003, Geneva (6 Jan 2005)
  This report summarizes the presentations, discussions and debates in terms of four areas of analysis: the developmental implications of CSR; the assessment of multistakeholder initiatives and public-private partnerships; corporate accountability and the regulatory role of the UN; and future directions for the CSR agenda.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 9: Exclusionary Populism in Western Europe in the 1990s and Beyond: A Threat to Democracy and Civil Rights? (6 Jan 2005)
  Since the late 1980s, a new breed of right-wing parties and movements has gained considerable political ground in a number of liberal democracies, particularly in Europe. This paper explores the ideology behind these movements and analyses the political doctrine .
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 8: Environment and Morality: Confronting Environmental Racism in the United States (29 Dec 2004)
  Environmental racism refers to any policy, practice or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intended or unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race or colour. It combines with public policies and industry practices to provide benefits for corporations while shifting costs to people of colour.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 10: Civil Society and Social Movements: The Dynamics of Intersectoral Alliances and Urban-Rural Linkages in Latin America (29 Dec 2004)
  The author argues that the sustainable livelihoods approach has the greatest potential for bringing about an improvement in the quality of life of the rural poor—that is, for providing a theoretical and practical solution to poverty, social exclusion and underdevelopment.
• Major New Series Explores Social Policy and Development (1 Dec 2004)
  The long-awaited groundbreaking UNRISD series on social policy and development is about to be launched. It is the intellectual output of a group of nine research endeavours carried out under the Social Policy in a Development Context project that mobilized researchers in many countries for over four years. The cluster of projects and the resulting books collectively explore one of the greatest challenges of our time--that is the building of a state-society nexus that is developmental, democratic and socially inclusive.
• L’UNRISD explore les causes des crises au Rwanda et au Burundi (11 Nov 2004)
  «Au coeur des crises nationales au Rwanda et au Burundi: La lutte pour les ressources», comme son titre l’indique, est un livre qui explore les causes des crises qui, depuis des années, plongent la région des Grands lacs dans un cycle d’horreurs sans nom. Le livre, écrit par le chercheur burundais Marc Rwabahungu pour le compte de l’Institut, a été coédité avec les éditions L’Harmattan.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 16: Late Industrializers and the Development of the Welfare State (12 Oct 2004)
  The author identifies certain commonalities across all later industrializers, including considerable evidence of "institutional learning". There are certain advantages in being a late-developing welfare state, and a number of states have used an active social policy as a mechanism for promoting their own social and economic development.
• Book: Living Longer: Ageing, Development and Social Protection (30 Sep 2004)
  This book examines relationships between the well-being of older people and processes of development, taking examples from a diverse range of low-, middle- and high-income countries.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 13: Technocratic Policy Making and Parliamentary Accountability in Argentina, 1983-2002 (17 Sep 2004)
  This paper examines factors that propel legislatures to develop technical and oversight capacity. It focuses on the strategies adopted by political parties for dealing with the executive. A typology of different strategies, and how each might affect congressional development, are presented and tested against the Argentine case, 1983-2002.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 11: Economic Policy Making and Parliamentary Accountability in Chile (6 Sep 2004)
  Chile’s new democracy is characterized by a consensual approach to policy efficiency, fiscal discipline and the avoidance of economic populism and ideological polarization. The enormous influence that technical cadres gained in pre-transition politics has sustained the pragmatic strategy followed since 1990.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 12: Lessons from Women’s Political Participation (6 Sep 2004)
  The persistence of inequality between different groups of women in Peru suggests two main sets of questions regarding the importance and nature of women's political participation. This papers examines both sets of questions, exploring the ways in which women entered the public scene and coalesced as major social and political players.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 6: Managing Ethnic Relations in Post-Crisis Malaysia and Indonesia: Lessons from the New Economic Policy? (6 Sep 2004)
  This paper addresses some of the problems of managing ethnic relations in Southeast Asia after the financial crisis of July 1997 by comparing the experiences of Indonesia and Malaysia.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 7: Understanding the Evolving Diversities and Originalities in Rural Social Movements in the Age of Globalization (6 Sep 2004)
  This paper aims to locate the potential social movements have for development in this age of globalization and, specifically, to trace how the politics of collective action at the local level develop as rural social movements to change and shape national and international development agendas.
• Livre: Au coeur des crises nationales au Rwanda et au Burundi: La lutte pour les ressources (19 Aug 2004)
  Depuis la décolonisation, cette région offre au monde un spectacle d’horreur et de désolation: mouvement balancier de réfugiés, crimes contre l’humanité, génocides, destruction de l’environnement, pillages.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 5: Racial Justice: The Superficial Morality of Colour-Blindness in the United States (22 Jul 2004)
  In this paper, Glenn C. Loury reflects on the interconnections between economic marginalization and racial discrimination in the United States, focusing on African-Americans.
• New Resource Guide on the Regulation of Corporations (12 Aug 2004)
  A new Resource Guide reviews a broad range of regulatory initiatives that relate to the social, environmental and human rights responsibilities and regulation of transnational corporations (TNCs). The Guide contains a brief history of TNC regulation, before classifying the initiatives under three main sections. It will be useful to anyone involved or interested in issues of corporate responsibility and regulation. While new initiatives are proposed every day, this Resource Guide gives a comprehensive overview of the main types of corporate regulation to date. Weblinks for each initiative plus a list of selected references are also provided.
• New Publication Questions Corporate Social Responsibility (27 Jul 2004)
  In November 2003, UNRISD held a two day conference in the United Nations Office at Geneva entitled "Corporate Social Responsibility: Towards a New Agenda?" The ensuing edition of Conference News, which summarizes the issues raised by speakers and presents the main findings and policy implications, is now available to download from this Web site. A recurring theme throughout the conference centred on the fact that the scope, scale and quality of CSR essentially depend on the institutional and political contexts in which companies operate.
• UNRISD at the UN Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (26 Jul 2004)
  Presentation made by UNRISD Research Co-ordinator Shahra Razavi at the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights; Social Forum, on Poverty, Rural Poverty and Human Rights, held on 22-23 July 2004, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. UNRISD will be represented at the Fifty-Sixth Session of the Sub-Commission by its Information Officer and further interventions are planned by the Institute during the event, which takes place, on an annual basis at the UN Office at Geneva.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 9: Civil Society and the Uncivil State: Land Tenure Reform in Egypt and the Crisis of Rural Livelihoods (24 Jun 2004)
  This paper examines the impact of recent changes in the relationship between landowners and tenants in Egypt. It does so by looking at Law 96 of 1992, which revoked rights of tenure that had been a hallmark of President Nasser’s social revolution.
• Failure and Success at WSIS (12 Jul 2004)
  The negotiations at the World Summit on the Information Society in December 2003 produced mixed results. On the downside, a mutually convenient alliance of powerful governments blocked action to tackle the erosion of civil and human rights in electronic space. But other areas might, in time, yield modestly positive results.
• The (Dis)information Society? (12 Jul 2004)
  The dream of subsuming the complex realities of human societies under one single concept is obviously quite tempting. The "information society" fits well within this dream. The rapidly growing importance of information as a concept, however, could not have spawned an information society all by itself; at best, it could only have prepared the ground for it and done so in an unintended manner.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 4: Policing and Human Rights: Eliminating Discrimination, Xenophobia, Intolerance and the Abuse of Power from Police Work (22 Jun 2004)
  The authors examine racism, xenophobia, discrimination, intolerance and the abuse of power in policing, based upon a critical analysis of theoretical and empirical research on selected police forces in England, South Africa, Australia and the United States.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 3: Poverty and Prosperity: Prospects for Reducing Racial/Ethnic Economic Disparities in the United States (22 Jun 2004)
  This paper focuses on trends in racial/ethnic disparities in employment, earnings and family income over the past 25 years. It also reviews several areas in which persisting racial inequalities affect life chances.
• The Civic and Political Participation of Women in Central and Eastern Europe (21 Jun 2004)
  While the enlargement process of the European Union has not explicitly emphasized equal opportunities for women and men, the new member states have implemented equality legislation, and now have statutes to deal with gender issues and non-discrimination clauses in their constitutions. They are also paying more attention to the challenge of increasing women’s parliamentary representation.
• UNRISD Launches New Series of Research and Policy Briefs: Facts, Figures and Concise Analysis for Decision Makers (8 Jun 2004)
  UNRISD Research and Policy Briefs aim to improve the quality of development dialogue. They situate the Institute’s research within wider social development debates, synthesize its findings and draw out issues for consideration in decision-making processes. They provide this information in a concise format that should be of use to policy makers, scholars, activists, journalists and others.
• New Paper Focuses on Corporate Accountability Movement (7 Jun 2004)
  Released today, the Technology, Business and Society (TBS) Programme Paper, titled "Barricades and Boardrooms: A Contemporary History of the Corporate Accountability Movement", presents an in-depth analysis of the history, current challenges and future directions of a movement that is challenging the global growth of corporate power. In the context of a growing debate about the impacts of and resistance to globalization, the author argues that world development is being undermined by corporate power.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 2: Migrant Workers and Xenophobia in the Middle East (7 Jun 2004)
  This paper analyses trends in migration to oil-rich and other labour-receiving countries in the Middle East. It examines causes, patterns and cases of discriminatory or xenophobic practices by employers, civil society and the state.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 13: Barricades and Boardrooms: A Contemporary History of the Corporate Accountability Movement. (7 Jun 2004)
  On the eve of the latest round of protests at the G8 summit in Georgia, USA, the paper presents an in-depth analysis of the history, current challenges and future directions of the movement that has been challenging the global growth of corporate power.
• UNRISD Prepares Research-based Policy Report on Gender and Development (24 May 2004)
  To complement the ten-year review of the Platform for Action of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, the Institute launched an ambitious project involving over 70 researchers from diverse regions, and commissioned over 60 background papers to examine some of the most serious and controversial issues that currently preoccupy a wide range of actors and thinkers in the field of gender and development. The research findings will be synthesized in a flagship Report on Gender and Development.
• UNRISD to Hold International Conference on Ethnic Inequality and Public Sector Governance in Riga (19 Mar 2004)
  On 25-27 March 2004, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP-Latvia), and the Latvian Ministry of Integration, will be co-hosting an international conference on Ethnic Inequality and Public Sector Governance. The event will be held at Reiterna Nams Conference Centre, 2 Marstalu iela, Riga LV1050, Latvia, starting at 09:30
• New Book: Deforesting Malaysia: The Political Economy and Social Ecology of Agricultural Expansion and Commercial Logging (30 Jan 2004)
  The book critically examines the major economic, political and social forces responsible for deforestation in Malaysia today.
• UNRISD Launches New Research Project on Transnational Social Movements (4 Mar 2004)
  UNRISD’s programme on Civil Society and Social Movements takes a new orientation with additional research project on transnational social movements. The Institute is now orienting its future research work on civil society activism and policy influence at the international level, but which also have significant impact at national and local levels. Deeply concerned with the many negative aspects of globalization and the concentration of economic and political power...
• Bridging the Gap: Conference to Explore Links Between Knowledge and Policy Making (4 Mar 2004)
  The UNRISD Conference "Knowledge and International Policy Making: Exploring the Linkages", will be held from 20-21 April 2004, in Geneva. A question often asked of United Nations organizations is whether their research on social development issues is useful for international policy making. Implicit in this question are concerns about the relevance, quality, dissemination and impact of research.·Are researchers addressing the sorts of issues and questions of concern to policy makers?
• UNRISD Conference Examines Corporate Social Responsibility and Development Today (3 Mar 2004)
  While transnational corporations (TNCs) are increasingly acknowledging the need to improve their social, environmental and human rights record in developing countries, the voluntary initiatives they have adopted have generated considerable criticism and prompted calls for alternative regulatory approaches. In November 2003, UNRISD hosted a two-day conference that brought together some leading researchers and writers...
• Book: Development at Risk: Rethinking UN-Business Partnerships (11 Feb 2004)
  Published with the Geneva-based South Centre, this book reviews the factors contributing to closer relations between business and the UN, and examines a range of issues that affect the extent to which these partnerships are likely to contribute to development. It suggests that there are various grounds for concluding that close relations between the UN and business will do little to promote development.
• Conference News: The Need to Rethink Development Economics (30 Jan 2004)
  How can economics serve to empower the South? And how can development economics be revived, not as a deviant branch of mainstream economics, but as a discipline whose role is to address the vital problems that developing countries typically face?
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 11: The Political Economy of International Communications: Foundation for the Emerging Global Debate about Media Ownership and Regulation (30 Jan 2004)
  In this paper, the authors examine the changing balance of public and private control over media and telecommunications in the global political economy, patterns of concentration and investment in the overall communication sector, and possibilities for improving the contribution of media and communications to development in different parts of the world.
• New Book "Communicating in the Information Society" Launched at WSIS (16 Dec 2003)
  A well-attended press conference was held on 10 December 2003 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, to launch UNRISD's new publication, Communicating in the Information Society. The publication's two editors, Bruce Girard and Seán Ó Siochrú, presented the book, along with Michael Powell, who is in charge of the Institute's project on development and information and communication technologies.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 15: Global Capitalism, Deflation and Agrarian Crisis in Developing Countries (5 Dec 2003)
  This paper seeks to analyse the nature of the economic policy regimes associated with globalization, and to contextualize the issues of land rights and gender in the present era. It illustrates the main theoretical propositions with reference to the experience of India in the 1990s.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 10: Technology and Transformation: Facilitating Knowledge Networks in Eastern Europe (4 Dec 2003)
  This paper explores how civil society organizations can be a source of organizational and technological innovation necessary for their societies' continuous adaptability in a fast-changing global economy.
• Identities, Conflict and Cohesion Programme Paper 1: The Historical Construction of Race and Citizenship in the United States (4 Dec 2003)
  This paper reviews how race has been socially constructed in the United States since the founding of the republic, and how conceptions of racial difference and inequality have affected, and been affected by, prevailing views of citizenship and American national identity.
• New Book: Communicating in the Information Society (10 Dec 2003)
  This volume brings together various perspectives on the information society questions which information society we are building, and who will benefit most from it. The contributions range from practical, down-to-earth advice on concrete implementation of an information society, through strategies to enrich the potential of WSIS, to philosophical insights into the central concepts. They all support the idea that the process of communicating must be at the centre of such a society
• UNRISD at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) (1 Dec 2003)
  The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is participating in the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which is being held from 10-12 December 2003 in the PALEXPO exhibitions' centre, adjacent to Geneva International Airport. Along with other UN institutions and agencies, UNRISD will have a stand at PALEXPO (Halle 4).
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 12: Waking Up to Risk: Corporate Responses to HIV/AIDS in the Workplace (17 Nov 2003)
  This paper presents results and analysis from the first global survey of TNC responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and complementary research in developing countries, conducted together with UNAIDS.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 3: Globalization, Liberalization and Equitable Development: Lessons from East Asia (9 Oct 2003)
  This paper assesses the developmental effects of globalization and economic liberalization on five economies: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan Province of China (PoC) and Thailand.
• Book: Global Presciptions: Gendering Health and Human Rights (2 Oct 2003)
  This book is a deeply informed analysis of women's efforts to affect health policy at international and national levels. It is also a major contribution to contemporary debates on gender, health and human rights in the contemporary world.
• Overarching Concerns Programme Paper 2: Needs, Rights and Social Development (3 Oct 2003)
  Stavenhagen points out that it is "development" itself that is the problem, when it is imposed without taking into account of specific contexts. He also maintains that development policies designed to alleviate poverty, overcome social exclusion and reduce inequalities must focus on the needs and rights of specific categories or groups in society, and insists on the role of the state in doing this.
• New Released Book Explores Gender, Health, and Human Rights in a Contemporary Setting (2 Oct 2003)
  Titled "Global Presciptions - Gendering Health and Human Rights", Rosalind Pollack Petchesky's new book, is a deeply informed analysis of women's efforts to affect health policy at international and national level. This 306-page volume, co-published with Zed Books, is also a major contribution to contemporary debates on gender, health, and human rights in a post 9/11 world dominated by militarism.
• Peter Utting Appointed UNRISD Deputy Director (22 Sep 2003)
  Research Co-ordinator Peter Utting has been appointed Deputy Director at UNRISD in September 2003.
• Conference News: Ageing, Development and Social Protection, Report of the UNRISD International Conference, Madrid, Spain (14 Aug 2003)
  UNRISD released this report of its conference on Ageing, Development and Social Protection, which was held from 8-9 April 2002 in Madrid.
• UNRISD Organizing Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and Development (12 Aug 2003)
  UNRISD will hold a two-day conference entitled "Corporate Social Responsibility and Development: Towards a New Agenda?" on the 17th and 18th November 2003 in the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.This conference will provide an opportunity for researchers from UN agencies, universities and NGOs to examine the relationship between CSR and development, and to debate alternative approaches and...
• Book: Agrarian Change, Gender and Land Rights (26 May 2003)
  This edited volume focuses on recent shifts in thinking about land rights, particularly as they relate to women. Leading feminist scholars in the field provide searching treatment of the long-neglected subject of gender and access to land.
• Technologie, entreprise et société document de programme 8: Enjeux et rôle des nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication dans les mutations urbaines. Le cas de Touba (Sénégal) (7 Jul 2003)
  L’étude de Cheikh Guèye, qui fait partie d’un programme plus large de l’UNRISD sur les NTIC au Sénégal, montre que la révolution technologique peut permettre de sortir d'une logique mondiale inégalitaire.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 14: Agrarian Change, Gender and Land Rights: A Brazilian Case Study (11 Jul 2003)
  The main objective of this paper is to contribute to the analysis of the marginalization of women’s land rights in Brazil by governmental institutions and rural women’s movements.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 6 : The Agrarian Question, Access to Land, and Peasant Responses in Sub-Saharan Africa (10 Jul 2003)
  The paper probes the concept of "ownership" of land in sub-Saharan Africa and finds that it is alien to African customary law. It also recalls that attempts by some African governments to introduce individual land tenure have often met with resistance from the population.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 9: The Riddle of Distance Education Promise, Problems and Applications for Development (7 Jul 2003)
  The present study probes the generally held assumption that distance education represents an unquestionably positive step forward in the developing world.
• Technologie, entreprise et société document de programme 7: Les émigrés sénégalais et les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication (7 Jul 2003)
  La présente étude examine le rôle et la place des NTIC dans les "relations à distance" entre les émigrés sénégalais et leurs familles restées dans leur pays.
• L'expansion des nouvelles technologies au Sénégal (5 Jun 2003)
  Intitulé Le Sénégal à l’heure de l’information, l'UNRISD a publié en coédition avec les Editions Karthala un livre qui fait part des réflexions d’universitaires, de journalistes et d’experts du secteur privé. Ce livre fait des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) un point d’entrée pour caractériser le Sénégal contemporain.
• Researcher Probes Marginalized Rural Youth in the South (3 Jun 2003)
  In a recently released article, UNRISD Research Co-ordinator K. B. Ghimire explores the changing environment in which young and impoverished rural people in Brazil, Egypt and Nepal currently eke out an existence and seek to get organized within civil society. The article is published in The Journal of Peasant Studies, Volume 30, Number 1, October 2002, pp. 31-72.
• Media Coverage Expands for UNRISD (3 Jun 2003)
  The Institute has always nurtured a strong relationship with a wide range of academic journals and reviews, but has tended to devote less time to cultivating links with the more general public media outlets. However, over the last few months, the Institute has been reassessing the need to cultivate new and diversified audiences. The issues that the Institute deals with are important/relevant not only to academic circles, but also to the general public. Therefore, in order to make the Institute's work more accessible to the public and also to generate debate, the Institute has been reaching out to public media.
• New Light Cast on Agrarian Change (2 Jun 2003)
  In collaboration with UNRISD, the UK-based Blackwell Publishing has released a special issue of the Journal of Agrarian Change (Special Issue 3(1&2)) in the first half of 2003. "This is a timely collection, in which careful empirical analysis is presented with considerable analytical power and great clarity. The papers are refreshingly original, always richly informative, sometimes provocative, and unfailingly of absorbing interest", said the editors Terence J. Byrnes and Henry Bernstein.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper Number 8: African Decentralization: Local Actors, Powers and Accountability (26 May 2003)
  The most recent wave of decentralization reforms in Africa has seen a shift toward democratization, pluralism and rights. The present review is concerned with the degree to which this is being codified in laws and translated into practice.
• New Book: Agrarian Change, Gender and Land Rights (26 May 2003)
  This edited volume focuses on recent shifts in thinking about land rights, particularly as they relate to women. Leading feminist scholars in the field provide searching treatment of the long-neglected subject of gender and access to land.
• New Project Launched at UNRISD (27 May 2003)
  UNRISD launches a new research project on UN World Summits and Civil Society Engagement with the objective of critically assessing the impact of the various UN summits on civil society activism at global, national and local levels. How are CSOs striving to influence international and national policies, and with what results? How are they trying to implement new approaches and policies ensuing from the summits?
• Le Sénégal à l'heure de l'information (9 May 2003)
  Ce livre fait des technologies de l’information et de la communication un point d’entrée pour caractériser le Sénégal contemporain. L’ouvrage étudie les modes selon lesquels les entreprises, l’administration et la société sénégalaises s’approprient et utilisent ces technologies.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 10: Gender Justice, Development and Rights (13 Mar 2003)
  This paper applies a "gender lens" to the analysis of political and policy processes, in order to illustrate the ways in which liberal rights, and ideas of democracy and justice, are absorbed into the political agendas of women's movements and states.
• One Step Further - Responses to HIV/AIDS (13 Mar 2003)
  Society's responses to people living with HIV/AIDS and to the pandemic's long-term impact on development need to be improved in terms of human rights, treatment, attitudes, financing, and the adoption of development plans and approaches that reduce vulnerability and offer hope for the future.
• Movimentos Sociais, Disputas Políticas e Reforma Agrária de Mercado no Brasil (13 Mar 2003)
  This publication, available in Portuguese, situates the terms of the debate on basic social transformations in Brazil, by means of mapping the conditions in which the proposal for market led agrarian reform emerged, and the criticisms this initiative generated.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 11: Agrarian Reform, Gender and Land Rights in Uzbekistan (12 Mar 2003)
  Based on fieldwork, this paper analyses the gender-differentiated outcomes of post-Soviet agrarian reforms in Uzbekistan. The paper shows, among other things, that the shift from collective farms to joint-stock shareholding companies has greatly affected women, and has consolidated farm management as a male occupation.
• Lebanese Media Reports on Launch of Visible Hands (Arabic) (20 Mar 2003)
  Under the title "UN Report Lists 'Failures of Neoliberalism'", Nada Raad of the Beirut-based Daily Star, reports on the well attended and mediatized launch, on 2 December 2002, of the Arabic version of the UNRISD report Visible Hands at the ESCWA building in the Lebanese capital.
• Corporate Social Responsibility Project News (13 Mar 2003)
  Some 50 participants attended the conference "Promoting Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility in the Philippines", organized on 7 March 2003, by the Social Development Research Center (SDRC), De la Salle University, in collaboration with UNRISD and the MacArthur Foundation.
• Global Media Governance Book Launched in Geneva (3 Mar 2003)
  A Press Conference was held on 25 February 2003 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva to launch UNRISD's new book titled Global Media Governance: A Beginner's Guide. One of the authors, Seán Ó Siochrú, Director of Nexus Research in Dublin, Ireland, presented the book to the media.
• Important News Concerning the Graduate Students' Programme/Internships at UNRISD (12 Feb 2003)
  Recruitment under the Graduate Students' Programme has been completed for 2003.
• Statement delivered by UNRISD to the Commission on Human Rights, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. Second Session, Geneva, 3-7 February 2003 (7 Feb 2003)
  Our studies found that some of the great advances that have been made in the field of citizenship are associated with efforts to roll back the pernicious frontiers of racism and incorporate previously excluded groups into the system of rights and obligations that define citizenship.
• Conference News: Improving Knowledge on Social Development in International Organizations II (6 Feb 2003)
  UNRISD has recently published this report of a seminar for high-level United Nations officials engaged in research on social development, held in Prangins, Switzerland, on 29 and 30 May 2002. The theme of the seminar was "globalization and inequality".
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 13: Reworking Apartheid Legacies: Global Competition, Gender and Social Wages in South Africa, 1980-2000 (4 Feb 2003)
  This paper examines the changing relationships between labour-intensive industrial production and the conditions of reproduction of labour in South Africa.
• UNRISD at the WSIS Second Preparatory Committee in Geneva, 17-28 February 2003 (5 Feb 2003)
  UNRISD is participating in the Second Meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom-2) for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). PrepCom-2 will be held from 17-28 February 2003 in the ILO headquarters in Geneva (first week) and at the International Conference Centre Geneva ((ICCG) - second week). UNRISD will have a stand at Prep-Com-2, from 24-28 February, at the ICCG.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 9: A Declining Technocratic Regime: Bureaucracy, Political Parties and Interest Groups in Japan, 1950-2000 (4 Feb 2003)
  This paper provides a broad picture of contemporary Japanese politics and looks at the role of civil society organizations, which have been increasing their importance and influence in policy-making processes.
• L’économie du développement refait surface à Porto Alegre (5 Feb 2003)
  Laurence Caramel, envoyée spéciale du quotidien français à grand tirage Le Monde au Forum social mondial de Porto Alegre, Brésil, fait part de commentaires receuillis auprès du Directeur de l'Unrisd, Thandika Mkandawire, au cours de la réunion. Des extraits de son article figurant dans l'édition du Monde économie du 11 février 2002 sont reproduits ci-après.
• Book: Gender Justice, Development, and Rights (10 Jan 2003)
  Rising income inequalities, coupled with widespread poverty in many countries, have been accompanied by record levels of crime and violence. This book reflects on this ambivalent record, and on the significance accorded in international development policy to rights and democracy in the post-Cold War era.
• In Memoriam: Solon Barraclough, Former UNRISD Director, 1922-2002 (31 Dec 2002)
  Solon Barraclough passed away on 19 December 2002. A former director of the Institute (1977-1984), Solon will always be fondly remembered by all his friends and colleagues at UNRISD for his dedication to his work, his achievements, his humanity, his love for humanity, and his sense of humour. A funeral service was held on 26 December. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family.
• A meeting on the UNRISD book project on Education and Social Movements (29 Nov 2002)
  Education plays a very important role in breaking the cycle of poverty and increasing opportunity. Education also helps to shape an ethnic and/or national identity. Civil society has become involved in education; in some cases providing welfare assistance to poor household and, in others, developing education initiatives to provide an alternative to government policy.
• Geneva Seminar on International Sustainable Development Policy and Tourism (26 Nov 2002)
  A Seminar on International Sustainable Development Policy and Tourism was held on Monday 25 November 2002, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. It brought together much of the findings of UNRISD research in the area of tourism conducted in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Seminar was organized by Institute jointly with the Geneva-based organization Europe-China Management Improvement Foundation...
• Beirut Event Marks Launch of "Visible Hands" in Arabic (21 Nov 2002)
  A formal launch event was organized at the ESCWA headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, to mark the release of UNRISD’s flagship publication, Visible Hands - Taking Responsibility for Social Development, in Arabic. The event took place on 2 December 2002, and was followed by a discussion involving representatives from the media, government, parliament, academia ...
• UNRISD and UNAIDS Launch Survey of World's Largest TNCs (15 Oct 2002)
  UNAIDS and UNRISD have just announced that they are conducting a survey of the world’s largest TNCs (ranked by foreign assets) and mining corporations, as well as of the largest national corporations in selected developing countries. This follows a request, by the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on HIV/AIDS.
• New Book Scrutinizes Women’s Employment in the Textile Manufacturing Sectors of Bangladesh and Morocco (8 Oct 2002)
  Today’s trade liberalization and economic restructuring affects many countries that have a large female workforce in labour-intensive industries. Given the limits imposed on productivity by low skill, labour-intensive strategies, increasing competitiveness must come in large part from technological upgrading and increasing labour productivity.
• Book: Women’s Employment in the Textile Manufacturing Sectors of Bangladesh and Morocco (8 Oct 2002)
  This book reminds us that the ability to develop successful export-oriented manufacturing has been geographically patchy and uneven, and in many cases it has not been sustainable.
• New Book on "Gender Justice, Development, and Rights" (7 Oct 2002)
  Edited by Maxine Molyneux, Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London, and Shahra Razavi, Research Co-ordinator at UNRISD.This important new 400-p. study engages with some of the most pressing and contested of contemporary issues - neoliberal policies, democracy and multiculturalism - analyzing them from a gender perspective.
• UNRISD Held Parallel Event at World Summit on Sustainable Development (1 Oct 2002)
  The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) and the University of the Witwatersrand co-hosted a one-day conference on "The Political Economy of Sustainable Development: Environmental Conflict, Participation and Movements" in Johannesburg on the 30th August 2002.
• Book: Global Media Governance: A Beginner's Guide (24 Sep 2002)
  This book aims to further our understanding of the main issues and forces at play in global media and communications governance.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 12: Women’s Employment and Welfare Regimes: Globalization, Export Orientation and Social Policy in Europe and North America (27 Aug 2002)
  Today, in developed countries, women's employment and the policies that facilitate, constrain or ignore it are central to social politics. Social policy plays a significant role in women’s employment, especially in the continuity of their lifelong participation and working conditions. It also helps build stakes in gendered social politics.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 10: Agrarian Change, Gender and Land Reform: A South African Case Study (27 Aug 2002)
  The paper examines land reform policies in South Africa from the democratic transition in that country in 1993/1994 until November 2000, and the extent to which women’s rights and interests in land were addressed during that time.
• New Report Reviews 15 Years of UNRISD Research on the Environment (21 Aug 2002)
  The global inquiry that preceded the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development has revealed that many environmental conditions appear to have worsened in the past 10 years. There are several reasons for what has gone wrong, and over the past 15 years UNRISD research has shed light on many of them.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 9: Gender and Education: A Review of Issues for Social Policy (16 Aug 2002)
  This paper reviews key issues on achieving gender equity in education. It examines contradictions and tensions in donor discourse and policy efforts, and points out some of the disjunctures between policy assumptions and the complexities of household decision making in different contexts.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 5: The Women’s Movement in Egypt, with Selected References to Turkey (15 Aug 2002)
  Women’s movements in the Middle East vary in terms of specific historical trajectories, as well as current ideas and practices. Yet, they are similar in that they share several historical and political factors, such as their links to nationalist movements, their links to processes of modernization and development, and tensions between secular and religious tendencies.
• UNRISD to Hold Parallel Event at Johannesburg Earth Summit (16 Aug 2002)
  This conference aims to highlight the importance of "political economy" and "political ecology" perspectives for understanding environmental and development problems and for formulating strategies for sustainable development.
• UNRISD Colloquium to Reflect on the State of the Scandinavian Welfare State (14 Aug 2002)
  "The End of the Scandinavian Welfare State? "On Monday 16 September 2002, 14:30, Professor Stein Kuhnle, Head of Comparative Politics Department of the University of Bergen, will give a presentation on "The End of the Scandinavian Welfare State?". It will take place in the Palais des Nations, Geneva.
• New UNRISD/NGLS Publication Looks at Corporate Responsibility (1 Aug 2002)
  Over the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in the economic power of transnational corporations. This has been due, in part, to economic liberalization and globalization, which have created a climate conducive to foreign direct investment and international trade. Yet there is serious concern that the increasing power and freedom of transnational corporations (TNCs) is not matched by...
• New Book: "Shifting Burdens" (12 Jul 2002)
  Since the early 1980s, in many developing countries, neoliberal policies have reduced the role of the state in rural development and shifted the burden to the rural poor themselves. But what are the gender implications of the new policy dispensation?In a new edited volume, Titled Shifting Burdens - Gender and Agrarian Change under Neoliberalism, Shahra Razavi and her colleagues explore some of the...
• Conference News: Social Policy in a Development Context (1 Jun 2001)
  The question of how social policies can be used to enhance social capacities for economic development without, in the process, eroding the intrinsic values of the social ends that policy makers claim to address was debated at this UNRISD conference in Tammsvik, Sweden, from 23–24 September 2000.
• Book: Shifting Burdens: Gender and Agrarian Change under Neoliberalism (10 Jul 2002)
  In this edited volume, Shahra Razavi and her colleagues explore some of the recent changes in rural development policy through regionally diverse case studies. In doing so they unravel the ways in which economic and social structures, institutions, and policy outcomes are affected by gender as a social relationship.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 7: Multiculturalism, Universalism and the Claims of Democracy (10 Jul 2002)
  Does democracy have a role in resolving the tensions between universalism and cultural relativism? In addressing this question, this new UNRISD programme paper argues that cultural relativism does not serve the cause of women.
• Conference News: Racism and Public Policy, Report of the UNRISD International Conference, Durban, South Africa (10 Jul 2002)
  This conference focused on four broad themes: the social construction of race and citizenship; the social dynamics of racism and inequalities; organized responses to cultural diversity; and the impact of public policies on race relations.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 6: Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia: Quixotic Dream or Confident Expectation? (8 Mar 2002)
  The paper addresses two central questions. First, CSR and voluntary initiatives have the capacity to change the day-to-day behaviour of TNCs? Second, at this stage of its development, and in the context of crisis, is CSR relevant to Indonesia?
• Book: The Greening of Business in Developing Countries: Rhetoric, Reality and Prospects (11 Jul 2002)
  This pioneering set of studies provides a rich seam of analysis and data on the environmental performance of big business in developing countries. It also assesses the scope for promoting corporate environmentalism in the South and the effectiveness of different types of regulation.
• New Book: "The Greening of Business in Developing Countries - Rhetoric, Reality and Prospects" (3 Jul 2002)
  Peter Utting, Ed. The rhetoric of corporate environmental responsibility is now being extended to developing countries, but very little is known about the actual environmental performance of big businesses in such settings. This 336-page book scrutinizes the environmental record of big business in developing countries, and the policy issues that arise. It provides rich empirical research data
• UNRISD Launches New Web Site! (21 Jun 2002)
  On 24 June 2002, following over one year of work, UNRISD launched its new Web site! The redevelopment project has been a collaborative effort between Blue Sky Communications Limited, and UNRISD staff members. Actual work on the redevelopment began in October 2001, and has recently been completed. UNRISD is very grateful to Blue Sky for their assistance on the project, and is pleased to launch the new site!
• Central Asia: A New Focus for UNRISD (21 Jun 2002)
  Within the framework of the Institute’s project on the "Evolving Agricultural Structures and Civil Society in Transitional Countries: The Case of Central Asia", Krishna B. Ghimire, spent much of May 2002 in Central Asia, meeting with FAO representatives, officials at the various Ministries of Agriculture and statistical bureaus, academic experts and civil society actors.The purpose of his mission ...
• UNRISD Flagship Report Launched In Moscow (20 Jun 2002)
  Visible Hands in Russian was launched at the Russian Academy of Sciences on 22 January 2002, in Moscow, in the presence of high government officials.The event, which took the form of panel presentations followed by an animated discussion, was organized in collaboration with Russian academician Valery Tishkov, a former UNRISD Board Member. UNRISD was represented by Nicolas Bovay (information office...
• UNRISD at the World Civil Society Forum: Geneva, 12-20 July 2002 (20 Jun 2002)
  UNRISD is participating in the World Civil Society Forum which is being held in Geneva from 12-20 July 2002. The Institute has a stand at the Forum, where it is presenting its wide range of new publications. You are most welcome to visit and meet with staff members who are present there.The Forum takes place at the International Conference Centre Geneva (ICCG). It is located in the immediate proxi...
• Popular Development and Democracy: A New Publication from Oslo University and UNRISD (20 Jun 2002)
  On 12 June 2002, Researcher Olle Tornquist held a press conference at the University of Oslo, Norway, to mark the public launch of his new essay titled "Popular Devlopment and Democracy: Case Studies with Rural Dimensions in the Philippines, Indonesia and Kerala.The essay is co-published by UNRISD and the Centre for Development and the Environment of the University of Oslo.What are the problems of...
• Conférence Infos: Les technologies de l'information et de la communication et le développement social au Sénégal (16 Jul 2001)
  L'UNRISD et l'équipe d'universitaires, de journalistes et d'experts du secteur privé sénégalais ont lancé le débat en insistant sur les enjeux économiques, politiques et culturels, le développement social et la lutte contre l'exclusion.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 8: Dynamique de la politique sociale en Côte d'Ivoire (10 Sep 2001)
  Le développement social a progressé. Mais sa mise en œuvre reste problématique. Un point important que relève cette étude est qu'en politique sociale, le manque de programmation réaliste pose un problème fondamental.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 5: Les politiques sociales en Afrique de l'Ouest: Quels changements depuis le Sommet de Copenhague? (24 Aug 2001)
  Même si les pays concernés ont adopté les recommandations du Sommet, les activités de suivi ont été affaiblies en raison du manque de ressources humaines et financières. Il est donc très difficile de mesurer les impacts spécifiquement liés au Sommet de Copenhague, révèle l’étude.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 1: Les technologies de l'information et de la communication et le développement social au Sénégal: Un état des lieux (6 Apr 2001)
  Un objectif de cette étude consiste à améliorer la qualité du débat entourant la politique en matière de technologies de l’information. Le problème n’est pas l’absence d’intérêt, mais plutôt une discussion tellement fragmentée qu’elle n’arrive plus à servir de fondement à un débat public soutenu. La population n’est pas assez bien informée des implications sociales, économiques et politiques de la “révolution de l’information” au Sénégal.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 3: Social Movements, Activism and Social Development in the Middle East (5 Apr 2001)
  Social Movements, Activism and Social Development in the Middle East
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 4: Decentralization Policies and Practices under Structural Adjustment and Democratization in Africa (10 Sep 2001)
  Decentralization in Africa has often been designed on the basis of ideological arguments (which extol the supremacy of party, state or market) rather than on analysis of what exists on the ground. Hence evaluations of decentralization programmes in African countries have generally produced negative findings.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 3: Corporate Environmental Responsibility in Singapore and Malaysia: The Potential and Limits of Voluntary Initiatives (1 Aug 2001)
  This paper examines the experience of voluntary environmental initiatives in Malaysia and Singapore. Based on survey findings, it identifies the influences and pressures underpinning such initiatives; examines the types of action taken, and considers the extent to which they may substitute for other forms of environmental regulation.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 4: The Development Divide in a Digital Age (1 Sep 2001)
  This paper considers the role that information and communications technologies (ICTs) can realistically play in improving the life of millions. It focuses on low-income countries, where most development assistance efforts concentrate and where the challenge of utilizing ICTs is greatest.
• Overarching Concerns Paper 1: Toward Integrated and Sustainable Development? (24 Aug 2001)
  The author argues that should present economic growth follow past trends, social polarization and environmental degradation will cause increasing political tensions and conflicts. The only way out of this dilemma is for the meaning and content of development to change in practice.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 2: Social Indicators and Welfare Monitoring (29 Aug 2000)
  The attempt to record and measure changes in welfare over the past four decades has been influenced by a number of factors, including the changing ideological climate, practical difficulties with concepts and data, and objective changes in social conditions.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 2: Fiscal Decentralization in Developing Countries: A Review of Current Concepts and Practice (24 Aug 2001)
  Economic reform in developing countries in the 1980s focused largely on increasing the role of the market and improving the environment in which it operates. Reformers almost seemed to forget the potential role of the public sector in promoting development. There are now widespread attempts both to redefine the role of the public sector in developing countries and to improve its performance.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 2: Corporate Codes of Conduct: Self-Regulation in a Global Economy (24 Aug 2001)
  This paper examines the different types of codes that have emerged and assesses their benefits and limitations. It finds that provisions for code implementation and effective monitoring are vital and constitute the basis of any real and meaningful impact.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 4: AIDS in the Context of Development (6 Apr 2001)
  Today, the spread of HIV/AIDS reflects the failure to create more equitable and prosperous societies in large parts of the world. The growing pandemic is, hence, directly linked to poverty, finds a new study commissioned by UNRISD, in collaboration with UNAIDS.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 4: Grassroots Movements, Political Activism and Social Development in Latin America: A Comparison of Chile and Brazil (10 Sep 2001)
  This paper examines the evolution of grassroots political activity in Chile and Brazil, and assesses its impact on social development. It scrutinizes transition from authoritarian to democratic rule, and focuses on the response of grassroots organizations to democracy and the rise of neoliberalism in the 1990s.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 5: Human Rights and Social Development: Toward Democratization and Social Justice (31 Jan 2002)
  The paper shows that human rights provide a highly relevant framework for the goals of the Copenhagen Declaration. It regrets, however, that little progress has been made in the realization of rights that are central to the Declaration.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 3: Efficiency, Accountability and Implementation: Public Sector Reform in East and Southern Africa (24 Aug 2001)
  Present reforms tend not only to be top-down in design and implementation, they also tend to focus on the upper levels of central and local government. This is the wrong starting point. A better understanding of the interaction between government agencies and citizens where services are delivered is necessary if reforms are to aim at improving service delivery, efficiency and accountability.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 1: Trade Unions and NGOs: A Necessary Partnership for Social Development (29 Aug 2000)
  This paper examines the conditions that unions and NGOs must meet to strengthen their alliance. It reviews the historical background, the existing record, the difficulties and the potential for co-operation.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 6: Breaking the Mould: An Institutionalist Political Economy Alternative to the Neoliberal Theory of the Market and the State (24 Aug 2001)
  In this paper, the author critically examines the neoliberal discourse on reducing the role of the state, and proposes, as an alternative, an institutionalist political economy. He demonstrates that IPE, which is a theoretical framework that takes the role of politics and institutions seriously, can overcome neoliberal limitations.
• Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper 5: Regulating Large International Firms (1 Jan 2002)
  This paper explores existing arrangements for multilateral regulation of large firms. It argues balancing strengthened global corporate property rights with more explicit and enforceable social obligations.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 1: Pay and Employment Reform in Developing and Transition Societies (29 Aug 2000)
  The author discusses the experience of reform in the light of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, with a particular emphasis on the impact of reform on workers, including those who are members of disadvantaged groups, and on the steps that governments have taken to alleviate negative impacts.
• Democracy, Governance and Human Rights Programme Paper 6: Gender of Democracy: The Encounter between Feminism and Reformism in Contemporary Iran (14 Jan 2002)
  Although the goal of feminist solidarity has so far eluded the Iranian feminist movement, like many other others around the world, women are starting to take collective action over specific rallying issues. The paper notes that feminists must now make a choice between withdrawal and engagement. If engagement prevails, then collaborative efforts between Islamists and secularists are inevitable.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 1: External Dependency and Internal Transformation: Argentina Confronts the Long Debt Crisis (29 Aug 2000)
  In this paper, Jorge Schvarzer analyses the structural impact of the foreign debt crisis that erupted in Latin America at the beginning of the 1980s and persists today. Focusing particularly on Argentina, he traces attempts to deal with the crisis and shows how, far from resolving the problem, these efforts have gradually drawn many countries into a form of "debt bondage" that fundamentally restricts their capacity to improve social conditions.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 3: Empirical Inquiries and the Assessment of Social Progress in Western Europe: A Historical Perspective (29 Aug 2000)
  In this paper, Jean-Michel Collette paints a clear, rigorous and highly entertaining panorama of a facet of Western Europe's intellectual history. It is the story of those who understood that it would be intellectually rewarding and politically useful to observe and measure the living conditions of people.
• Social Policy and Development Programme Paper 7: Social Policy in a Development Context (24 Aug 2001)
  Among other things, the study shows that while the provision of social services and reduction of poverty have intrinsic value, they constitute important instruments for economic development. Progress requires the type of dialogue between economists and other social scientists that is often lacking in social development debates, but is necessary to the advancement of humankind.
• Civil Society and Social Movements Programme Paper 2: Civil Society Organizations and Service Provision (4 Apr 2001)
  This study identifies and analyses the operational lessons concerning CSOs and service provision that have emerged to date. The analysis is based on a range of criteria: targeting the poor, quality, efficiency and sustainability.
• Conference News: The Role of Civil Society in Policy Formulation and Service Provision (1 Mar 2000)
  As part of its work for Geneva 2000, the five-year review of progress in implementing the Social Summit commitments, UNRISD held this seminar to bring some of the main messages from its current research on civil society and social movements at local, national and international levels to delegates, NGOs and agencies at the second Preparatory Committee meeting.
• Conference News: Perspectives on Social Development Research at the Millennium (1 Jun 1999)
  At the meeting, participants commented on how UNRISD currently operates and made suggestions for strengthening the role of the Institute in the development arena. They also debated priority themes for future research.
• Conference News: Technocratic Policy Making and Democratization (1 May 2000)
  While the world has seen an increase in the number of democratic states, a recent UNRISD meeting analysed another trend that threatens this worldwide quest for democratization: governments' increasing tendency to restrict economic policy making to experts thus insulating key public institutions, such as central banks, fiscal authorities and finance ministries, from democratic scrutiny.
• Conference News: Gender Justice, Development and Rights: Substantiating Rights in a Disabling Environment (1 Jun 2000)
  This one-day public workshop, held by UNRISD to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly Special Session for the Beijing+5 review, examined three dimensions of "rights-based" development: the relationship between needs and rights; whether democracy has empowered women; and women's rights and multiculturalism.
• Book: Visible Hands: Taking Responsibility for Social Development (1 Jun 2000)
  This UNRISD report for Geneva 2000, the five-year review of progress toward the goals of the World Summit for Social Development, challenges us to reassert the values of equity and social solidarity in a world where the invisible hand of the market has no capacity to imagine a decent society for all people.
• ESF/N-AERUS 2000 International Workshop: Cities of the South: Sustainable for Whom? (1 May 2000)
  Have current programmes and projects designed to promote sustainable development shown evidence of improving the quality of life for the broad majority of citizens in the South? This question was the focus of the debate during the European Science Foundation's annual N-AERUS Workshop, organized by UNRISD and IREC-EPFL at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 3-6 May.
• Conference News: Promoting Corporate Responsibility in Developing Countries: The Potential and Limits of Voluntary Initiatives (1 Oct 2000)
  One of the most hotly debated and politically controversial topics in the field of economic development is that of the regulation of international firms. This UNRISD-organized workshop brought together approximately 30 specialists from different sectors-academic, business, NGO, trade union-as well as representatives of international organizations, to engage in this debate.
• Book: Gendered Poverty and Well-Being (1 Jun 2000)
  The interlinkages between gender and poverty have, until recently, escaped careful analytical scrutiny. The contributors to this edited volume reflect on some of the key methodological and analytical issues that a gendered analysis of poverty needs to address.
• Book: Renewing Social and Economic Progress in Africa: Essays in Memory of Philip Ndegwa (1 Jun 2000)
  With contributions by eminent specialists, this book analyses critical political, social and economic problems in sub-Saharan Africa and proposes strategies and policies for revival and progress.
• Book: Forest Policy and Politics in the Philippines: The Dynamics of Participatory Conservation (1 Apr 2001)
  Through case studies of policies, programmes and projects, the contributors to this volume highlight the relevance of social and political dimensions in understanding the success and failure of initiatives that seek to integrate environmental and human-welfare objectives, and to enable local communities to participate in decision-making processes associated with forest protection.
• Book: Social Development and Public Policy: A Study of Some Successful Experiences (1 Jun 2000)
  This book shows, through in-depth case-studies, how some relatively low-income countries (and a state within a federation) have made enormous strides in overcoming acute social problems such as adult illiteracy, lack of schooling, high child mortality, rapid population growth, mass poverty and gender inequalities.
• Book: Agricultural Expansion and Tropical Deforestation: Poverty, International Trade and Land Use (1 Apr 2001)
  In search of the causal factors in this critical area of environmental decline, the authors have undertaken a multidisciplinary analysis of economic and agricultural development and their impact on increasing land-use pressure and change.
• Book: Ghana's Adjustment Experience: The Paradox of Reform (1 Mar 2002)
  Ghana has been widely quoted as an example of successful adjustment in Africa. This has been followed more recently by a successful transition to democracy. This book offers analysis of what factors have impelled these changes and how they can be interpreted.
• Book: The Native Tourist: Mass Tourism within Developing Countries (1 Aug 2001)
  This book examines a phenomenon that has not been studied before and breaks new ground. It provides information and discussion on the nature, magnitude and impact of domestic and regional tourism on diverse social groups in different socio-economic and environmental contexts.
• New Conference Newsletter (12 Feb 2002)
  Promoting Socially Responsible Business in Developing Countries: The Potential and Limits of Volunta...
• Book: Land Reform and Peasant Livelihoods: The Social Dynamics of Rural Poverty and Agrarian Reform in Developing Countries (1 Aug 2001)
  This book advocates land reform as a valid policy option for rural development and poverty eradication. Yet the market-oriented approach is found inadequate. Convincing arguments are offered for a flexible approach to re-distributive reforms as the appropriate strategy toward alleviating rural poverty.