An expert team of contributors to the World Economic and Social Survey 2016, led by UN DESA’s  Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development Lenni Montiel, took the chance to interact with people from around the globe during a Facebook Live Chat on 3 November.

The chat allowed for a global discussion on some of the key issues in the WESS2016, themed: “Climate Change Resilience: an opportunity for reducing inequalities”.

The online event started off with a live broadcast in which Mr. Montiel welcomed all participants, and encouraged them to send in their questions for the team. “Certainly, this will be a very interesting session, very active and very dynamic,” Mr. Montiel said.

A diverse the team of writers, all of them contributors to the report, were ready to answer questions in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Japanese, allowing for a more global online discussion.

The WESS2016 team streamed a second live broadcast towards the end of the chat session, and team members shared their favorite moments and questions with the participants.

“We have had many questions on how people can participate in the building of climate resilience, and some questions as well on how governments can be responsible for action,” Helena Afonso recapped.

“I’m very glad that they are interested in all forms and aspects of climate change, and especially on building resilience,” Alex Julca, another contributor to the report said.

Over the course of the Facebook chat, the team managed to answer more than 40 questions, and the conversation was followed by people from at least 100 different countries.