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Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit

The Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit takes primary responsibility for the World Economic and Social Survey and for analysis of long-term economic trends and related policy issues. The coverage of the work undertaken by the unit is broad in scope and includes, inter alia, the challenges of economic catch-up and structural change; institutional development and growth; poverty reduction, human development and equality; and social and economic insecurity. Each year, the WESS provides an in-depth analysis of a chosen theme of relevance to the international community, drawing on expertise from across DPAD as well as the other divisions of DESA, along with complementary inputs from outside experts and other parts of the UN system. The work of DSP is therefore both strongly research oriented and responsive to the demands of ECOSOC and the periodic major UN conferences and summits. The findings of the Survey are also disseminated through discussion papers, policy briefs and opinion pieces produced by the unit.

Rob Vos, Director

Rob Vos joined the United Nations in 2005 as Director of DPAD. Before joining the UN, he was a Professor of Finance and Development at the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, and Professor of Development Economics at the Free University Amsterdam. Between 1999 and 2002, he was Deputy Rector of the Institute of Social Studies. He has also worked as a senior economist at the Inter-American Development Bank where he co-founded the Inter-American Institute for Social Development (INDES) and initiated the programme on improving surveys of living conditions in Latin America (MECOVI). He has also been a visiting professor at numerous universities in and outside of Europe. He has worked as a policy advisor and consultant to numerous governments in Latin America, Africa and Asia. His academic and advisory work covers a broad range of development issues, including trade policy, inequality and poverty; financing for development; poverty and social policy analysis; and macroeconomic and general equilibrium modeling for development policy. His most recent books include Globalization and Economic Diversification: Policy Challenges for Economies in Transition (with MalinkaKoparanova, Bloomsbury, 2011), Economic Insecurity and Development (with Richard Kozul-Wright, United Nations, 2011), Public Policies for Human Development (Palgrave, 2010), Ageing and Development (with José Antonio Ocampo and Ana Luiza Cortez, Oriental Blackswan/Zed Books, 2007), Uneven Economic Development (with José Antonio Ocampo, Longman Oriental/Zed Books, 2007); Growth Divergences (with José Antonio Ocampo and Jomo K.S., Longman Oriental/Zed Books, 2007), Who gains from Free Trade in Latin America? (Routledge, 2006), and Illusions and Disillusions with Pro-Poor Growth (SIDA, 2006).

Rob Vos is a national of the Netherlands and has a Ph.D in Economics from the Free University Amsterdam.

Rob Vos
Director, Development Policy and Analysis Division
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations
2 United Nations Plaza
DC2-2020
New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 963 4838
Fax: (212) 963 1061
email: