Partnering with islands for a sustainable world

The global community is now only two months away from the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, which offers a once in a decade opportunity to focus the world’s attention on a group of countries that remain a special case for sustainable development. Final preparations are now being completed and on 24 July, Conference Secretary-General Wu Hongbo will engage in a live Google+ Hangout on how to empower youth for sustainable islands. Read more

Building the future we want at ECOSOC

From 30 June to 11 July, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will connect the many related efforts to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and consider how to set the stage for success of the global development agenda that will follow the Goals after 2015.
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Revealing urbanization trends worldwide

The world’s urban population has grown rapidly since 1950 and the coming decades will bring further profound changes to its size and distribution. On 10 July, UN DESA’s Population Division will release the latest urbanization trends, providing data that are critical for assessing current and future needs with respect to urban growth. Read more

Technical reports

Launch of the 2014 Millennium Development Goals Report

The report will be launched in New York by the Secretary-General on 7 July and presents the yearly assessment of global and regional progress towards the MDGs. In addition to regular assessment of the latest progress, this year’s report features a special section discussing the role of data in monitoring the progress of MDGs. The report is based on comprehensive official statistics compiled by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG indicators led by UN DESA’s Statistics Division.  Read more

Pingfan Hong was appointed Director of the Development Policy and Analysis Division (DPAD/DESA) effective on 1 July 2014. A Chinese national, Pingfan Hong joined the United Nations in 1989 and has since worked mostly in the areas of economic research and policy analysis, particularly on global economic outlook, macroeconomic policies, and international policy coordination. Read more