“Life knew that I had a mission”

Daniela Bas was only six years old when doctors found a tumor pressing on her spine. Beating the odds, she survived but became paraplegic in less than 20 days before surgery. Now, Daniela heads UN DESA’s Division for Social Policy and Development, where one of the tasks is to promote the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implementation worldwide.  Read more

What to make of the recent global financial turmoil?

Is it fair to compare the recent plunge in stock markets with the early stages of the crisis in 2008 and are we heading towards a double-dip recession? These and other frequently asked questions on the current economic turmoil are addressed by UN DESA’s Development Policy and Analysis Division (DPAD). Read more

Indigenous rights: a celebration and a caution

Indigenous peoples make up more than five per cent of the world’s population. Although their societies have contributed much to scientific and cultural knowledge, their ways of life continue to be threatened by the pace and scale of global development.
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Technical reports

MDG Gap Task Force Report 2011:
The Global Partnership for Development: Time to Deliver

The report to be launched the third week of September monitors the progress made in achieving the targets of MDG 8. Continued attention is given to the impact of the global crisis on meeting the targets set under MDG 8 and embedding any new commitments resulting from the High-level Plenary Meeting of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly on the MDGs into the monitoring process. Read more

Tariq Banuri retired on 31 August as Director of the Division for Sustainable Development and Head of Office of the Conference Secretary-General for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). Mr. Banuri has broad experience on the interface between policy, research and practical actions on the realization of the goal of sustainable development. Read more

Nikolai Zaitsev retired on 31 August as Head of DESA’s Capacity Development Office. Mr. Zaitsev joined the UN in March 1982 as an economic research staff of the UN Centre on Transnational Corporations. He initiated and produced a study on TNCs and the environment, which led to many subsequent UN publications in this field. Read more

Ndey Isatou Njie joined the Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) as Chief of the Water, Energy and Strategies Branch, effective 8 August. Ms. Njie has 32 years experience in water resources and environmental management, managing strategic framework processes for sustainable development, and capacity development. Read more