Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to this session of the UN DESA Editorial Board training series – “Making of the Human Development Report”. I am happy to see so many of you joining today’s virtual session.
You may recall that the UN DESA Editorial Board training series was launched in 2021. It was part of our effort to strengthen the impact of UN DESA publications. This series aims to provide opportunities for DESA colleagues to engage with experts within the Department and the UN system, as well as external professionals, and learn from their expertise. The goal is to enhance DESA publications, and ensure our analytical products are communicated effectively to a wider audience, with greater impact.
Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to be a major challenge in delivering our work. However, with your support, DESA was able to help Member States navigate the crisis and continue to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our strengthened thought leadership, through improved data and evidence-based publications, policy briefs, global policy dialogues, and other streams of analytical and communication work, have been instrumental to our delivery.
Looking ahead, DESA will continue to provide further focus and attention on socioeconomic development issues – particularly in the areas of poverty, inequality and leaving no one behind. In doing so, strengthening our thought leadership by adopting a more multidimensional approach, and analytical framing to these issues, will be crucial to our delivery and success.
With this aim in mind, in today’s session, we welcome our guest speaker Mr. Pedro Conceição, Director of the Human Development Report Office of UNDP, and the lead author of the Human Development Report. As you know, this is the one of UNDP’s most-renowned annual flagship reports.
Many of you may also know that the report has been instrumental in developing the Human Development Index (HDI). It is a measure of achievement in the basic dimensions of human development across countries, including:
- a decent standard of living,
- knowledge through education, and
- a long and health life.
During the session, colleagues will have the opportunity to learn about the:
- process and methodology of developing the HDR,
- challenges faced, and
- how the team approaches promoting and communicating the key messages of the report.
I strongly encourage colleagues to make the most of this session. I can assure you there is a lot to learn from our guest speaker today.
I thank you.