Launch of the Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform (SDKP)
This new website has been launched by DESA’s Division for Sustainable Development following-up to Rio+20. The platform contains information on the past 19 years of normative and analytical work of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), a wealth of content from the preparatory process of Rio+20, and is the go to place for Rio+20 follow-up.
To browse: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.html
Technical reports
MDG Gap Task Force Report 2012: The Global Partnership for Development: Making Rhetoric a Reality
“Do not place the burden of fiscal austerity on the backs of the poor,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the international community, as he launched the MDG Gap Task Force Report 2012 in New York on 20 September. In its 2012 Report, the MDG Gap Task Force has had difficulty identifying areas of significant new progress towards delivering on commitments to the Global Partnership for Development, and for the first time there are signs of backsliding.
The volume of official development assistance (ODA) fell for the first time in many years, obstacles to exports from developing countries are on the rise, and numerous developing countries are facing debt difficulties. With less than three years until 2015, there is no apparent commitment by donor Governments to reverse the trend in time, and it is likely that fewer MDGs will be reached in fewer countries as a result.
Download report: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/mdg_gap/index.shtml
Read the story Significant MDG gains risk slowing under declining aid
Statistical compilations
Monthly Bulletin of Statistics and MBS Online
The Monthly Bulletin of Statistics presents current economic and social statistics for more than 200 countries and territories of the world. It contains over 50 tables of monthly and/or bimonthly, quarterly and annual data on a variety of subjects illustrating important economic trends and developments, including population, prices, employment and earnings, energy, manufacturing, transport, construction, international merchandise trade and finance.
Vol. LXVI – No. 8, August 2012
In addition to regular monthly tables, this issue includes the following quarterly and bimonthly tables:
8. Retail price indices relating to living expenditures of United Nations officials
12. Earnings in manufacturing, by sex
38. Total exports and imports by regions: volume and unit value indices and terms of trade
For more information: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mbs
Meeting records
Secretary-General’s Report on International Migration and Development
In resolution 65/170, the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of that resolution at its sixty-seventh session. The report was also to include organizational details of the 2013 High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, including possible themes.
The first section of the report includes recent data on migratory patterns by origin and destination. The information allows for an assessment of the scope of international migration from developing countries, providing a critical underpinning to the debate on international migration and development. It describes recent levels of remittance transfers, including evidence on the costs of transferring remittances, and highlights recent activities to safeguard the rights of migrants and to combat irregular migration. It also discusses gaps in protecting and assisting migrants, including “stranded migrants” and people who move in the context of environmental change.
The second section synthesizes recent efforts of the UN system to enhance partnerships, coordination and cooperation, including through the Coordination Meeting on International Migration and the Global Migration Group. It contains a review of the support provided by the Group to Member States, including the Global Forum on Migration and Development.
The third section contains proposals for the organization of the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, to be convened by the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session in 2013. It also contains a suggested structure and format for the event, as well as possible themes, preparatory activities and outcomes.
The report concludes with a set of concrete recommendations to enhance the benefits of migration and to reduce its negative impacts on development and recounts the steps that are being taken to prepare for the 2013 High-level Dialogue.
For more information: http://www.unpopulation.org/
Outreach material
Social Development Link Newsletter (SDLN)
The August-September issue is now available online. The newsletter, which is now published monthly by the Civil Society and Outreach Unit of the Division for Social Policy and Development, aims at providing a sharp and synthetic summary of major activities carried out by DSPD.
As its title shows, the newsletter will serve as a link between DSPD and its major partners, from civil society actors to social development practitioners and scholars.
View full issue at:
http://social.un.org/index/Newsletters/SDLNewsletter/AugustSeptember2012.aspx
Youth Flash Newsletter
The August-September issue is now available featuring the story “Empowering Young Australians”, by Ella Fisher. The newsletter is a service of the UN Programme on Youth to keep the public informed about the work of the UN on youth issues. It is prepared with input from UN offices, agencies, funds and programmes, and from youth organisations around the world.
View full issue at: http://social.un.org/index/Youth/YouthFlashNewsletter/2012/AugustSeptember.aspx
ENABLE Newsletter
The June-August issue is now available. ENABLE Newsletter is prepared by the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD) within UN DESA’s Division for Social Policy and Development, with input from UN offices, agencies, funds and programmes, and civil society. It highlights among other things how many and which countries have ratified the convention.
View full issue at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/
DESA NGO News
The September issue is now available. The online monthly newsletter provides the most up-to-date information on news and upcoming events of interest to civil society at UN headquarters in New York, Geneva and elsewhere.
View full issue: http://csonet.org/content/documents/sept.html
Discussion papers
Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects
The latest issue states that the weak demand in Europe is directly affecting the growth prospects of many developing countries and economies in transition by reducing demand for their exports. The briefing also highlights the initiation of the European Central Bank (ECB) programme of “outright monetary transactions”, through which it would buy sovereign debt of eurozone countries with maturities of one to three years.
Download: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_mb/wesp_mb47.pdf
