The voice of civil society at Rio+20

It has become something of a given that significant new national or international issues that are addressed by government must include a component of multi-stakeholder involvement. That multi-stakeholder model was invented at the United Nations’ 1992 ‘Earth Summit’ and formalized in Agenda 21. For Rio+20, Major Groups have been invited to present general policy inputs for the “zero draft” document. Read more

Indigenous peoples and the right to food

Where data exist, they show that levels of hunger and malnutrition among indigenous peoples are much higher than among the non-indigenous population. Indigenous peoples and their right to food and food sovereignty will be one of the focus of the Eleventh Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), to be held at UN Headquarters in New York from 7 to 18 May 2012. Read more

Urban population to grow more than ever

The Population Division of UN DESA launched on 5 April the 2011 Revision of the World Urbanization Prospects.  “Urban areas are expected to absorb all future population growth between 2011 and 2050. They will effectively have to cope with the equivalent of the world population of 1950 by the year 2050″, said Mr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development. Read more

Technical reports

World Urbanization Prospects, the 2011 Revision

The report, published by the Population Division of DESA, states that Africa’s urban population will increase from 414 million to over 1.2 billion by 2050 while that of Asia will soar from 1.9 billion to 3.3 billion. According to the report, both regions together will account for 86 per cent of all increases in the world’s urban population.  Read more