UN DESA | DPAD | Development Policy Analysis Division

21 November 2016

Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development Policies: Building National Capacity to Address the Economic, Social and Environmental Dimensions of Development

On 16 November, DSP/DPAD organized a side event at the COP22 in Marrakesh entitled Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development Policies: building national capacity to address the economic, social and environmental dimensions of development. The objective of the event was to present on-going work on capacity development to inform national policies. Diana Alarcon introduced DESA's vision of capacity development as a tool to strengthen countries' capacity to estimate the inter-linkages across development dimensions and the options countries have to improve policy impacts. Eduardo Zepeda (OPTIMUS) introduced the tool box available to countries and development practitioners on an open source basis. Mark Howells (KTH) presented country examples of the policy insights derived from the use of available tools.

Attendance to this side event was restricted by room size, there were not enough seats for people willing to participate. The audience included government representatives, think tanks, academics, civil society organizations, and business people. Presentations were followed by a large number of relevant questions asking about details on the modelling tools and their application in various national contexts. There were several expressions of interest from government representatives to learn about ways to join DESA's capacity development projects in this area as well as inquiries from other participants on possible collaboration on the development and use of tools. Bilateral conversations followed once the time slot for this session was exhausted. Several areas for possible collaboration were identified with a number of participants.

16 November 2016

Integration and the 2030 Agenda—what does it really mean?

Perhaps no other word has been repeated more frequently than “integrated” to describe the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. Yet policymaking is approached sector-by-sector. The allocation of resources and the political accountability at the national level lie with sectoral ministries.

So what does "integration" mean for national policymaking in the context of the 2030 Agenda? Does an integrated perspective really lead to any changes in policy decisions?

Let us consider an example...

Read more at UNDP >>

14 November 2016

Highlights of the Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), No. 96.

• Surge in global bond issuance may pose a risk to the global economy
• Saudi Arabia raises $17.5 billion in record sovereign bond sale by an emerging economy
• Egypt devalues pound to alleviate persistent foreign currency shortages

Read more >>

10 November 2016

World Economic and Social Survey at COP22

In the context of the COP22 in Marrakesh, DPAD organized a side event to present the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: Building Climate Resilience, an Opportunity for Reducing Inequalities. The event was well attended by a diverse group of people from government delegations, civil society and the private sector. Three panelists, Diana Alarcon (DESA) Chief of Development Strategy and Policy Analysis (DESA), Amparo Martinez, Director of the National Institute for Climate Change (Mexico) and Paula Caballero, Global Director for the Climate Program in the World Resources Institute (USA) discussed the main message of the Survey: climate hazards have a disproportionate impact on people and communities afflicted by poverty and long entrenched inequalities in the access to assets and opportunities; governments, through their global and national actions play an important role to play in reducing risk and building resilience by closing long standing development gaps and by strengthening the capacity of people to shocks.

Amparo Martinez provided illustrations of the way socio-economic vulnerability and climate change risks coincide in the mapping of 2,500 municipalities in Mexico and highlighted the policy challenges of building the resilience of people and communities. Paula Caballero elaborated on the importance of building the nexus between climate change risks and the human development agenda as part of the global challenge involved in the implementation of the global agenda for sustainable development. Interventions from participants in the panel discussion spoke to the relevance and timely messages of the Survey and the need to strengthen the international mechanisms to meet the global commitments towards the provision of sufficient financial resources, technology and capacity building for climate resilient development. These issues are at the core of the 2030 Agenda and the international commitments made by world leaders in 2015.

8 November 2016

Launch of the ePing system

The ePing system, an SPS and TBT notification alert system developed by UN DESA in cooperation with the WTO and ITC, is officially launched on 8 November 2016 at the WTO, by UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in UN DESA Lenni Montiel, WTO Deputy Director General Karl Brauner and the Executive Director of ITC Arancha González.

• ePing system
• Brochure on ePing system
• UN News: Global trade alert system launched to boost market access for developing countries
• DESA News: New global trade alert system launched to boost market access for developing countries
• World Trade Organization Press Release
• International Trade Centre Press Release
• DESA Voice: UN DESA, WTO and ITC partner on ePing notification alert system

7 November 2016

Building capacities in Uganda for integrated water modelling

DPAD conducted the 2nd Training Workshop in the Water Evaluation and Planning System (WEAP) in Kampala, Uganda (31 October- 4 November). The WEAP model for Uganda, developed by experts from KTH, is one of the components of the climate, land-use, energy and water (CLEWS) integrated assessment of the country, prepared under the supervision of DESA staff as part of ongoing capacity development activities aiming to support countries in identifying interlinkages and trade-offs between strategic sectors through a nexus approach for sustainable development.

The workshop was attended by 12 technical government officials from the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), whom fully engaged in the calibration of the model and development of policy scenarios. Follow up exercises by participants will focus on the elaboration of policy briefs informed by the scenarios developed during the training, through which they will identify areas for improvement of both model and scenarios, as well as the data required to achieve precise and reliable model-based information for the policy issues that require attention, as requested by the Commissioner for Water Resources of the MWE.

Training was conducted by Francisco Flores, water modelling expert from the Stockholm Environment Institute in California (SEI-US), with support from researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology of Sweden (KTH) and DESA staff.

4 November 2016

How can climate change resilience bring opportunities to reduce inequalities?

Our Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Lenni Montiel, and the team of authors behind the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: “Climate Change Resilience – An opportunity for reducing inequalities” in UN DESA's Development Policy and Analysis Division, organized a Facebook Live event to discuss the findings of the Survey and answer questions from all over the world.

According to the survey, evidence is increasing that climate change is taking the largest toll on poor and vulnerable people, and these impacts are largely caused by inequalities that increase the risks from climate hazards.

During the chat, the team of authors and Mr. Montiel answered questions on many issues, including:

• How governments can play a vital role in reducing the risks of climate change to vulnerable populations;
• How to deepen the understanding about the links between climate and development;
• What type of policies would address root causes of inequalities and build climate change resilience.

“Building resilience to climate change provides an opportunity to pay extra attention and allocate additional resources to reduce inequalities once and for all,” Mr. Montiel said ahead of the event. “Making communities resilient to climate change will therefore make sure we achieve all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”

The questions and videos are available at the Facebook page or by searching for the #WESSchat tag. 

For more information and to access the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: wess.un.org

Read more on Facebook >>

3 November 2016

Launch of the ePing system

The ePing system, an SPS and TBT notification alert system developed by UN DESA in cooperation with the WTO and ITC, is officially launched on 8 November 2016 at the WTO, by UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in UN DESA Lenni Montiel, WTO Deputy Director General Karl Brauner and the Executive Director of ITC Arancha González.

• ePing system
• Brochure on ePing system
• Article on DESA Voice

3 November 2016

Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development Seminar

On November 2^nd 2016, the Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit of the Development Policy and Analysis Division (DESA/DPAD/DSP) hosted a Development Policy Seminar on "Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development", presented by Diana Alarcon (Chief of DESA/DPAD/DSP and co-editor of "Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development"), Marco V. Sanchez-Cantillo (Senior Economic Affairs Officer in DESA/DPAD/DSP) and Richard A. Roehrl (Senior Economic Affairs Officer in DESA/DSD). The panelists provided insights about the behavioral and policy changes that would need to accompany the technical transformation needed for sustainable development and underlined the challenge of improving and adapting existent technology to the specific local needs of countries. After the presentation, the audience, mostly comprised of DESA colleagues, engaged with the speakers through questions and comments, from more technical to general.

1 November 2016

World's poorest and most vulnerable countries look to advance strategies for graduating from least developed country status

Capacity Development Workshop and LDC Graduation, Beijing, China,
10-12 November

New York, 1 November – Government policymakers from 16 least developed countries (LDCs) and one graduate, Samoa, will gather in Beijing, China, from 10-12 November to discuss strategies needed to successfully graduate from LDC status and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Read more >>

28 October 2016

On 24 October 2016, the 2016 World Economic and Social Survey; “Climate Change Resilience: an opportunity for reducing inequalities” was launched in Mexico City for a regional audience in Latin America. The regional launch was conducted by Diana Alarcón, chief of the DSP unit of DPAD, together with María Amparo Martínez, Director of INECC (the Institute for the Environment and Climate Change) and Enrique Eliseo Minor, Director of CONEVAL (National Commission for Policy Evaluation). The press conference was broadcasted live from the facilities of UNIC Mexico and it can be watched online at http://www.cinu.mx/multimedia/estudio-economico-y-social-mun-2.php/.

WESS 2016 advances our understanding of the climate and development nexus, particularly as it relates to the challenges for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It builds upon the recognition that climate change and inequalities are locked in a vicious cycle: climate change triggers hazards which put at greatest risk people affected by poverty and vulnerability—population groups already excluded from socioeconomic progress. In order to prevent climate change from exerting further devastating impacts, countries will have to close the development gaps that leave people and communities at risk.

The representatives from INECC and CONEVAL illustrated the inter-relations between the impact of climate change on the one hand and poverty and inequalities on the other, in the specific context of Mexico. Following the messages of the Survey CONEVAL mapped a series of indicators to confirm the fact that it is indeed the 319 poorest municipalities in Mexico that are at high and very high risk of being affected by climate hazards. The representative from INECC highlighted the importance of the theme in the Survey and timely publication; when national governments will start implementation of the Paris agreements on climate change. Bringing the discussion on climate resilience to the core of the development challenges faced by countries will help to further the agenda for sustainable development.

28 October 2016

Economy-wide modelling for policy analysis started in Costa Rica

On 24-27 October, 2016, UN/DPAD conducted the first training workshop for analysts of Costa Rica’s Government, in San José, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Planning (MIDEPLAN). A total of 17 analysts from different government institutions initiated their training in the use of an economy-wide model with which they will develop scenarios delineating implementation strategies for national development plans and public policies. The training constituted in itself a policy analysis exercise, since analysts engaged in the type of analysis that will eventually support decision making with regard to implementation of policies of national interest. Additional workshops to transfer an extended version of the economy-wide model, including details for energy and carbon emissions as well as a poverty module, will be organized in 2017.

24 October 2016

Facebook chat: How can climate change resilience bring opportunities to reduce inequalities?

Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development Lenni Montiel, and the team of authors behind the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: “Climate Change Resilience – An opportunity for reducing inequalities”, will discuss the findings of this survey and answer questions.

• Find out how governments can play a vital role in reducing the risks of climate change to vulnerable populations;
• Deepen your understanding about the links between climate and development;
• Learn what type of policies would address root causes of inequalities and build climate change resilience.

“Building resilience to climate change provides an opportunity to pay extra attention and allocate additional resources to reduce inequalities once and for all,” Mr. Montiel said ahead of the event. “Making communities resilient to climate change will therefore make sure we achieve all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”

To share comments and questions via Twitter, use the hashtag #WESSchat, along with the additional hashtags #SDGs and #GlobalGoals. For more information and to access the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: wess.un.org

24 October 2016

On 19th October 2016, the DPS unit organized a Development Policy Seminar on “Deviant Development? Lessons from the Rhino Poaching and Charcoal Trades in Mozambique”, presented by Dr. Julie Silva, Associate Professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences in the University of Maryland. The presentation delved on what has been defined as deviant development or the improvement of income and living standards from illegal activities. This research project illustrates the use of a very innovative methodology that investigates the linkages between perceptions of risk, changes in socio-economic wellbeing, land cover and land use change, including deforestation in the case of charcoal production, and shifting livelihood activities of the rural poor. Overall, the research advances approaches combining socio-economic and remote sensing techniques that can be applied to assess human wellbeing over time, improve understandings of factors driving participation in illegal activities, and enhance predictions of the growth in illegal sectors across Africa and potentially around the world. A lively discussion followed with the audience, mostly comprised by colleagues from UN/DESA.

20 October 2016

Expert Group Meeting on the World Economy

As part of the process in preparing the flagship publication of the 2017 World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), DESA Expert Group Meeting on the World Economy (the LINK meeting) is being held on
19-21 October 2016 in Toronto, Canada, in cooperation with Project LINK. More than 70 experts from near 60 individual countries and several international organizations, including the UN, IMF, UNCTAD, ILO, and the five UN Regional Commissions are participating the meeting. The main focus of the meeting is on the global economic prospects for 2017-2018. The DPAD team presented the LINK Global Economic Outlook, which is based on inputs from the LINK country experts, the regional commissions and the staff assessment, inviting comments from the experts. Other topics include the outlook for different regions, emerging issues in international trade and finance, the uncertainties associated with the Brexit, and some econometric modeling issues. The materials of the meeting will be used as inputs to WESP 2017, which will be released in January 2017.

The LINK Global Economic Outlook can be found at:

• 2016 Global Economic Outlook, October

20 October 2016

During 24-27 October, the UN expert team, comprising theCDP unit of DESA/DPAD, UNDP, UNCTAD and OHRLLS, conducts a joint mission in Luanda, Angola to support the Government of Angola on the graduation from LDC category. The UN team will hold consultation meetings of with various stakeholders and partners on drafting the National Roadmap for the LDC Transition Strategy towards Graduation. On 27 October, a national workshop on the Angola graduation: Challenges and opportunities will be held in order to identify the main steps until February 2021.

• The workshop agenda

Related documents:

• CDP Report 2015 (page 18)
• GA Resolution
• Angola Snapshot 2015

17 October 2016

The CDP Policy Review series is a collection of background publications prepared by members of the CDP. The publications focus on sustainable development policy issues dealt with by the CDP in its discussions for preparing its reports to ECOSOC.

10 October 2016

On the 13th and 14th of October 2016, the Development Strategy and Policy Analysis (DSP) Unit will hold the First Expert Group Meeting to support the preparation of the 70 year anniversary issue of the World Economic and Social Survey 2017 (WESS 2017) on “The contribution of the World Economic and Social Survey to development, theory and practice”. The meeting will bring together the lead authors of the chapters in WESS 2017, members of the UN DESA Team, experts in the selected subject matter and colleagues from UN member organizations. The objective of the meeting is to review the draft chapters for WESS 2017 with the expectation of receiving comments and suggestions for the preparation of the final text.

10 October 2016

Highlights of the Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), No. 95.

• The Bank of Japan announces decision to cap 10-year bond yields to address deflation and restore profitability and growth
• United States household incomes rise sharply in 2015
• The Nigerian economy contracts at a faster pace amid significant macroeconomic challenges
  

Read more >>

6 October 2016

DPAD develops policy scenarios to inform Kyrgyzstan’s development strategy

Responding to a request from the Kyrgyz Government, DPAD presented a set of model-based policy scenarios to the Office of the President and other government institutions in Bishkek, on 4-5 October 2016. These scenarios considered various aspects of development, including economic growth, employment, investment paths, financing needs, poverty, and human development, among others. The Kyrgyz Government will use these scenarios to inform the process of drafting the concept note of the national development strategy up to 2030.

3 October 2016

The World Economic and Social Survey 2016 – Climate Change Resilience: an opportunity for reducing inequalities has been launched by Mr. Wu Hongbo, USG of DESA, at the opening of the 71st Session of the Second Committee on Monday, 3 October 2016.

The Survey advances our understanding of the climate and development nexus, particularly as it relates to challenges for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It builds upon the recognition that climate change and inequalities are locked in a vicious cycle: climate change triggers hazards which put at greatest risk the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized—population groups already excluded from socioeconomic progress. In order to prevent climate change from exerting further devastating impacts, countries will have to close the development gaps that leave people and communities at risk.

For more information, please visit: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wess/index.shtml

28 September 2016

On 28th September 2016, the DPS unit organized a Development Policy Seminar on the topic of “The Internet of Things in transportation and its promise for Sustainable Development”. The seminar was presented by Mr. Viral Chawda (Managing Director - Data & Analytics at KPMG, Dallas) and Ms. Gaya Branderhorst (Director Data & Analytics at KPMG, New York), and it was chaired by Ms. Diana Alarcon (Chief, Development Strategy and Policy Analysis unit (DPAD/DESA)). A brief presentation introduced the concept of Internet of Things (IoT) and its different possible applications in the world today, including support to sustainable development. IoT can, for instance, help in the measurement of the Sustainable Development Goals or even be an integral part of policies for sustainable development. The presenters then discussed specifically the application of IoT in the transportation sector and the potential it holds to support sustainable communities, especially in the urban setting. A lively discussion followed with the audience.

26 September 2016

The Committee for Development Policy will hold a virtual expert group meeting on 29 September 2016 to discuss development strategies that particularly promote the well-being of the worst off, as a part of the Committee's multi-year work programme on the theme of "Leaving No One Behind".

13 September 2016

Highlights of the Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), No. 94.

• Global growth prospects restrained by persistent weak labour productivity growth
• Services trade as a potential source of global growth
• Growth moderation in India amid a contraction of investment activity

Read more >>

30 August 2016

Bridging the science-policy interface: using modelling tools to inform integrated approaches for sustainable development

DESA/DPAD in partnership with UNDP launched an initiative to develop a training course aimed at strengthening the science-policy interface to inform sustainable development strategies; raise capacity to establish the inter-linkages across the three dimensions of sustainable development; acquaint participants with the technical tools available; and the implications of an integrated approach for policy decision making. The course is being designed for a wide range of middle to high level government officials, development practitioners and UN staff.

With the purpose of pilot testing the training program, on the week of 22-26 August, DESA and UNDP organised the workshop “Modelling tools-integrated approaches for sustainable development policies” at the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa in Addis Ababa. The workshop gathered 30 government officials and UN staff in the field joining from 15countries.

In its current format, the training program covers some of the tools available in DESA’s web platform “Modelling tools for sustainable development policies”. Namely: integrated assessments methodologies, energy systems modelling, energy and electricity for all using geographic information systems, and the analysis of social inclusion through microsimulations. The 5 days hands-on training program was conducted by modelling experts from the Royal Institute of Technology of Sweden (KTH), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and led by Eduardo Zepeda, recently retired from DESA. Presentations were also made by government officials from Uganda, Bolivia and Nicaragua who have participated in DESA’s capacity development projects in the past. They made important contributions demonstrating the use of modelling tools to inform national policies for sustainable development in the concrete policy context of their own countries.

At the end of the workshop participants expressed the importance of this initiative as a unique effort to support development practitioners to understand the interlinkages and trade-offs between goals, policies and dimensions of sustainable development, and to reflect on these issues under a different scope, with support of modelling tools to illustrate the underpinnings for the development of coherent and integrated policy frameworks.

This pilot workshop has provided valuable insights on areas that need improvement in the design of the final training program. The revised version of the training program will be ready in late October for replication at a larger scale as needed. All course materials, including the learning guide for users, will be available through DESA’s web-platform “Modelling tools for sustainable development policies”.

Agenda

List of participants

23 August 2016

Policy modelling capacity building started in Paraguay

On 16-19 August, 2016, UN/DPAD conducted a training workshop for analysts of Paraguay’s Government, in Asuncion, in close collaboration with the Technical Secretariat of Planning. Government analysts began their training in the use of an economy-wide model to develop scenarios delineating implementation strategies of the National Development Plan 2030 and other policies. Messrs. Jose Molinas, Minister of Planning of Paraguay, and Marco V. Sánchez, UN/DPAD staff, held a working meeting and agreed upon scenarios that will be developed as well as next steps (see picture).

8 August 2016

Highlights of the Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), No. 93.

• Brexit triggers policy responses from central banks in both the developed and developing regions
• The weak global economy restrains remittance flows
• China’s GDP growth stabilizes

Read more >>

29 July 2016

The #Electricity4All Python Challenge: an opportunity to engage the public in improving modelling solutions for sustainable development policies

During the HLPF 2016, the Development Policy and Analysis Division/DESA organized an Event on “Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development Policies: A platform to address the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development”. During the event Mr. Lenni Montiel, ASG for Economic Development of DESA, announced Ms. Monica Chelliah as the winner of the #Electricity4All Python Challenge.

The Challenge, launched by OICT and DESA in collaboration with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH-Sweden), was an open call for students, programmers and data scientists to improve the Universal Access to Electricity Tool, one of the models that are hosted in DESA’s web platform: “Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development Policies”. The tool, developed by KTH, in collaboration with DESA, provides an assessment of different options to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030 in 44 African countries.

The model uses geospatial data in order to estimate, analyze and visualize the most cost effective electrification option (grid, mini grid & stand-alone) for electrifying presently unserved areas, aiming at ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (SDG 7).

The winning submission of Ms. Monica Chelliah, a New York City-based associate software developer, provided an elegant and well-written code in Python, an open source programming language, using the hashing technique for finding nearest neighbors. Her solution managed to reduce the computational time of the model from 50 hours to approximately 3.5 minutes and is currently being used by UN/DESA and KTH colleagues to update and expand the Universal Access to Electricity Tool to other regions. The new developments will be launched later this year in UN/DESA’s web-based platform “Modelling Tools for Sustainable Development Policies”.

The #Electricity4All Python challenge is an example of the innovative contributions different communities of practice, such as developers, programmers and data scientists can provide in our joint efforts to make modelling tools accessible to countries to inform their policy decision making processes for sustainable development. 

UN Press release link: http://ow.ly/eJiz302C6IT

19 July 2016

Climate change resilience

On Wednesday 20 July, the Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit organized a side event under the auspices of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2016. Under the theme “Climate Change Resilience: An Opportunity for Reducing Inequalities and Ensuring that No One is Left Behind”, the event presented the main messages of the World Economic and Social Survey 2016 (forthcoming) to a well-attended audience composed of representatives from members of NGOs and UN colleagues.
Mr. Pingfan Hong, Director of DPAD, opened the event by introducing the team and the context surrounding the Survey, one of the oldest reports of the United Nations. DSP Chief, Ms. Diana Alarcón, proceeded to present the story line and key messages of the report, highlighting three main policy recommendations: strengthening policy options via integrated assessments, building coherent and flexible policy frameworks, and fostering more cooperation with regards to financing adaptation and the compilation of data and statistics. An interactive discussion with the public followed, with participation of the members of the writing team of the Survey.

18 July 2016

The CDP Secretariat, jointly with OECD, will organize a high-level panel discussion during the United Nations Development Cooperation Forum (Thursday 21 July 2016, New York). The Future Measurement and Monitoring Framework for Development Finance in support of the 2030 Agenda - Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD), will aim to advance understanding of the components of a more comprehensive measure of development finance – distinct from and complementary to ODA – to underpin catalytic effect of aid and support the SDGs, and to identify avenues for broad-based consultation with all stakeholders to facilitate international consensus, to ensure that TOSSD will be able to support UN monitoring activities.

11July 2016

Highlights of the Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), No. 92.

• UK vote to leave the EU adds significant uncertainty to the global economy
• Prolonged weak global growth poses a challenge to sustainable development
• India further liberalizes its FDI regime

Read more >>

01 July 2016

DPAD mission to Beijing

Hamid Rashid and Pingfan Hong took a scoping mission to Beijing on 20-24 June, as part of the DESA capacity development project funded by RPTC on "macroeconomic implications of the Belt and Road Initiative", in cooperation with the State Information Centre of China. The Executive Secretary of ESCAP also sent Hamza Malik to join the mission. The project is intended to promote the Belt and Road Initiative for contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, through a study of macroeconomic implications of the Initiative and the policy options for the countries along the Belt and Road and the world as a whole, in the broad context of the three dimensions of sustainable development.

During the mission, the team held intensive meetings with a number of government agencies and other institutions, including (1) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (two separate meetings: a team meeting with the Focal Point for the Belt and Road and his team, and Pingfan's meeting with the First Deputy Minister, H.E. Yesui Zhang); (2) National Development and Reform Commission (two separate meetings: one with the Department of the International Cooperation, and another with the Department of the Western Region Development, which is directly responsible for the policies of the Belt and Road); (3) The State Information Centre (a think tank of the National Development and Reform Commission and a long-time partner of the DESA Expert Group on the World Economy (Project LINK)); (4) Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commissions; (5) China Development Bank; (6) Tsinghua Unigroup Co. (a high tech company); (7) Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce; and (8) UNDP China.

The different perspectives of these meetings deepened the team's understanding of the Belt and Road Initiative. The team shared with these agencies and institutions two main points: (1) the five priority areas for international cooperation as defined in the Belt and Road are closely linked to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and the Belt and Road can make an important contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; (2) the project on "macroeconomic implications of the Belt and Road" can provide a useful macro framework and policy options for the decision-making of the Governments and businesses in the countries along the Belt and Road. Our counterparts in those meetings agreed in principle with these views and made some constructive suggestions.

By the end of the mission, the team reached agreement with the State Information Centre on the work plan for the project.

23 June 2016

Panel discussion on the state of the world economy and the SDGs

On 14 June, the Development Policy and Analysis Division (DPAD) organized a panel discussion on the state of the world economy and its implications for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Mr. Pingfan Hong, Director, DPAD moderated the discussion, which included Mr. Axel Bertuch-Samuels, Special Representative of the International Monetary Fund to the United Nations, Mr. Thangavel Palanivel, Senior Strategic Advisor & Chief Economist, UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific; and Mr. Hamid Rashid, Chief, Global Economic Monitoring (GEM) Unit, DPAD. The panellists highlighted that the current global economic environment poses great challenges to the implementation of the sustainable development agenda. They discussed some of the critical transmission channels through which macroeconomic policies are affecting growth, income distribution and sustainable development and underscored the need for effective policy measures.

17 June 2016

Building capacity for sustainable transport pathways in Costa Rica

DPAD in close collaboration with the Ministry of Planning, other government institutions in Costa Rica, and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), completed a third training workshop on energy systems modelling, in San José, on 6-10 June 2016. As a result of the cumulative training, a number of government experts now possess the skills to use the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system for policy analysis. Their preliminary analysis suggests that aggressive policies for the transport sector will be needed to live up to the expectations of the Seventh National Energy Plan of abating GHG emissions by 2040. These results were presented to the Minister of Planning, Ms. Olga Marta Sanchez Oviedo (in the picture), the Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy, Ms. Vivian Calderon Cordero, and a number of directors and managers from different institutions. Further support for Costa Rica will be aimed at fine-tuning the LEAP model and building scenarios for analysis of targets of the 7th National Energy Plan. Trainees will also acquire stills for better communication of results from models—such as LEAP—to policymakers.

13 June 2016

Highlights of the Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), No. 91.

• World gross product projected to expand by just 2.4 per cent in 2016
• Forthcoming referendum on EU membership has increased financial market volatility in the United Kingdom
• Ongoing fiscal adjustment in Africa, the CIS, Latin America and Western Asia continues to constrain prospects

Read more >>

26 May 2016

Promoting policy dialogue through economy-wide modelling in Bolivia

UN/DESA conducted a training workshop in La Paz, Bolivia from 17-20 May to support the elaboration of policy notes through the use of an economy-wide model. A total of 12 government experts, mostly from UDAPE, the Analysis Unit of the Ministry of Development Planning, attended the workshop. The policy notes will report the results of assessing the socio-economic impacts of investments of the National Development Plan (PDES), planned electricity exports, and declining oil prices. The workshop helped to redesign existing simulations and to improve the drafting of analysis of simulation results using language accessible to policymakers. The policy notes will be presented to and discussed with the Cabinet of the Government in July 2016. This activity was conducted under the auspices of capacity development project “Supporting developing countries in their transition from MDGs to broader Sustainable Development Strategies through modelling based policy analysis”.