Keeping the momentum beyond 2015

With less than three years to the deadline, significant progress has been made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Meanwhile, the UN is now working closely with different international stakeholders to ensure a sustainable development path beyond 2015. Read more

UN helps create a positive future for persons with disabilities

What do Jiří Ježek and Chantal Benoit have in common? They both live with disabilities. In the upcoming Paralympics Jiří will cycle with a prosthetic leg and Chantal will shoot hoops from a wheelchair. This is just one example of how people living with disabilities can flourish when they are empowered and when barriers for their inclusion in society are removed. Read more

Empowering people to advance development

“Empowerment has many meanings. I think ultimately it is about people and the human potential that is within us all,” says Daniela Bas, Director of DESA’s Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD), as her team prepares for an expert group meeting on this topic. Ahead of the September meeting, they seek people’s input and questions on empowerment. Read more

Technical reports

MDG Gap Task Force Report 2012: The Global Partnership for Development: Making Rhetoric a Reality

To be launched the third week of September, the report notes that out of the 23 donors that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC), 16 reduced their aid in 2011. This was mainly as a result of fiscal constraints due to the current economic crisis, negatively affecting their official development assistance (ODA) budgets. Read more

Mr. Wu Hongbo assumed the office of Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs on 1 August 2012, following his appointment to this position by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 31 May. “I am honoured for the opportunity to serve the United Nations and I look forward to working closely with DESA colleagues in the coming years,” Mr. Wu said in a message to DESA staff on his first day in the office. Read more