News by Date

• Global Summit Announced for a New Eco-Social World (15 Jul 2021)
  Help us build a new eco-social world that leaves no one behind: there are important preparations under way for a huge people’s summit in 2022.
• UNRISD at the HLPF: Science-to-Practice in Action (14 Jul 2021)
  UNRISD research is playing a vital role supporting the wide-ranging discussions around countries’ progress so far on achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development taking place at the 2021 UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). Find out more.
• Fresh Expertise and Leadership in the UNRISD Board (12 Jul 2021)
  UNRISD is delighted to welcome three new members, including a new chairperson, to its Board, the body which oversees the Institute’s work. Azita Berar Awad is the new chairperson, and she will be joined by Olivier De Schutter and Graziella Moraes Silva.
• Call for Papers for the 2021 Social Policy in Africa Conference—Development, Democracy and Social Policy: Remembering Thandika Mkandawire (19 May 2021)
  The conference organizers invite submissions in the following thematic areas: Critical reflections on development, democracy and social policy; Social policy for inclusive and democratic development; Social policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic; Poverty and inequality; Critical perspectives on social protection; Non-formal social provisioning; Land and agrarian reform. Contributions are welcome on contexts and experiences of the global South broadly. Abstracts accepted through 27 August 2021.
• Expressions of Interest in the Position of UNRISD Board Chairperson (3 May 2021)
  To commence responsibilities in July 2021, we are inviting expressions of interest in the position of Chairperson of the UNRISD Board. This person will be a recognized leader in a field of relevance to UNRISD’s research programmes, aware of UNRISD’s previous research contributions, and with demonstrated values and reputation aligned with our mandate and mission. Deadline 23 May 2021.
• “Feminism Frees Women But Also Frees Men”. Interview with Francisco Cos-Montiel, New Lead of UNRISD’s Gender Programme (16 Dec 2020)
  Francisco Cos-Montiel joined UNRISD at the beginning of November 2020 as research coordinator for our reconceptualized and renamed Gender Justice and Development Programme (more details on that coming in 2021). Francisco brings with him a wealth of experience, having worked at the National Institute for Women and the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs in Mexico, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada, and two UN agencies: UN Women in Bangkok and United Nations University in Barcelona. In this interview we wanted to learn a little more about him and what his plans are for the Programme.
• “The World Came To Class”. UNRISD At The UN Summer Academy (3 Sep 2020)
  As part of a continued capacity-building partnership with the United Nations System Staff College, UNRISD research findings presented by insightful staff contributed to this year’s first-of-a-kind virtual edition of the UN Summer Academy, held online on 24-28 August 2020.
• HLPF in the Times of Covid-19: UNRISD’s Contribution (31 Jul 2020)
  The 2020 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF, the UN’s central body to review progress on the Sustainable Development Goals) was marked, of course, by the COVID-19 pandemic and UNRISD rose to the challenge. In varying formats, evidence from UNRISD research enriched debates with national policy makers and civil society representatives.
• Help Shape UNRISD’s Next Institutional Strategy (6 Jul 2020)
  We are conducting a global consultation on our Institutional Strategy 2021-2025 and we would like your input. Share your views on the current social development context and research priorities for the next five years of UNRISD’s work by filling in our survey.
• The UNRISD Anti-Racism Reading List: Research to Challenge Racial Injustice (17 Jun 2020)
  Protests sparked by recurring incidents of racially motivated police brutality in the US, and the larger racist structures such incidents are both embedded in and actively reproduce, have spread across the world. Individuals, particularly those who do not experience systemic racism and structural forms of racial injustice and discrimination, are being called upon to educate themselves about the injustices behind current inequities, and to work to challenge these. UNRISD proposes the following resources in support of this global effort.
• Global Institutions Unite around Key Actions for Green and Fair Economic Recovery from COVID-19 (5 Jun 2020)
  On World Environment Day, 5 June 2020, global institutions working on development, labour and environment have united around set of actions to spur a green, just and transformative recovery. UNRISD has joined the Partners for Inclusive Green Economy statement that calls for recovery efforts that recognize the interdependencies between human and environmental health, and integrated policy approaches, developed in consultation with stakeholders and civil society, that respond to COVID-19 in ways that accelerate efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.
• First Results From New UNRISD Research on Measuring Corporate Sustainability Performance (6 May 2020)
  Rethinking corporate sustainability disclosure and reporting is the ambitious goal of the UNRISD Sustainable Development Performance Indicators project, and the first set of research findings from one of the main workstreams is well on its way to achieving that aim. With the full report on transnational corporations and other large companies due out in a couple of months, the accompanying Research and Policy Brief setting out the main highlights is already available, providing a preview of the innovative insights from this research. The Brief casts into startling relief the gaps in the system that need to be changed if sustainability reporting is to assess the issues, indicators and targets that really matter from the perspective of sustainable development.
• Evidence for Transformative Change: UNRISD Survey on Responses to Covid-19 and Vulnerable Communities (27 Apr 2020)
  UNRISD launches global survey to gather data and analyse how well current government policies on Covid-19 in all countries and regions are responding to the needs of vulnerable people.
• In Memoriam – Thandika Mkandawire (10 October 1940 – 27 March 2020) (31 Mar 2020)
  Thandika Mkandawire passed away on 27 March 2020 in Stockholm. In mourning this loss, UNRISD joins Thandika’s family, as well as innumerable friends, colleagues and students: Thandika was well loved, well known and well regarded, and he will be truly missed.
• “Climate action has to be fast but also fair”. Interview with Isabell Kempf, Head of UNRISD Bonn Office (19 Feb 2020)
  With a new office in Bonn, launched on 6 February, UNRISD aims to create new interagency collaborations and strengthen research uptake linkages to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. We sat down after the launch event for a short interview with Isabell Kempf, the newly appointed Head of UNRISD’s Bonn Office, who told us about her vast experience with knowledge challenges at the United Nations, the role of research in the face of the current climate crisis, how science and action can work together, and much more.
• Call for Papers: Financial Crises, Poverty and Environmental Sustainability [International Workshop] (15 Jan 2020)
  The Sussex Sustainability Research Programme, UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals, and UNRISD are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for an international workshop which aims both to advance state-of-the-art research in the financial distress-poverty-environmental sustainability nexus, and to produce recommendations for policy action needed in the framework of the SDGs.
• We’re Expanding! Seeking a Senior Research Coordinator for Our New Work Programme in Bonn, Germany (23 Sep 2019)
  Thanks to support from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), UNRISD is embarking on a new work programme that aims to strengthen research-uptake linkages through an integrated approach to knowledge and skills development, where our research feeds into training and capacity building activities and is informed by their needs.
• Into the SDG Mix: UNRISD Research Mingles with Policy Makers and Activists at the 2019 HLPF (12 Jul 2019)
  As the international development community gathered in New York for this year’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) from 9-18 July, UNRISD research findings made their presence felt at (at least) five different events. The HLPF is the UN’s central body which reviews progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, where evidence from UNRISD’s research on transformative policies that help leave no one behind can inform debates and lead to a better implementation of the SDGs.
• UNRISD Research Strengthening the Capacity of African Governments to Achieve the SDGs (29 May 2019)
  Ilcheong Yi, a Senior Research Coordinator at UNRISD, was invited back as a resource person to the UN Office for Sustainable Development’s annual Executive Training Course for Policymakers on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 20 to 24 May 2019. The course brought together high- and middle-ranked civil servants from 54 low- and middle-income countries mandated with leading their governments’ implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Call for Papers for the 2019 Social Policy in Africa Conference—Governance of Africa’s Social Policy: Subverting Development and Democracy? (10 May 2019)
  The 2019 Social Policy in Africa Conference will address a wide range of issues in the sphere of inclusive development in Africa—from the different national and regional modes of governance of the African social policy space, to the drivers of policy preferences and the dynamics of social policy making, to the nature of politics and the public sphere necessary for economic transformation, human flourishing, and new forms of social compact in 21st century Africa. The Call for Papers is open through 30 August 2019.
• Call for Expressions of Interest: Universities and Social Inequalities in the Global South (28 Jan 2019)
  UNRISD invites expressions of interest from researchers to prepare papers that will feed into the development of a research proposal for a project on the relationship between universities and social inequalities in low- and middle-income countries. UNRISD particularly welcomes expressions of interest from women, young researchers, and researchers from and based in developing countries. ***THIS CALL IS CLOSED***
• Connecting with Governments and Civil Society (23 Jan 2019)
  On 11-21 February, UNRISD will be using its channels within the UN to connect with government representatives and civil society organizations from UN member states at the Commission for Social Development, held every year at UN Headquarters in New York.
• Using Census Data to Simulate Society and Test Public Policy: Discussing an Innovative New Tool (17 Jan 2019)
  UNRISD Senior Research Coordinator Ilcheong Yi will be the discussant at a lunch-time seminar at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies at which Peter Davis, Emeritus Professor from the University of Auckland, will present SociaLab, a new open-source tool for policy development.
• From the Human Rights Council to the High-Level Political Forum on the SDGs: Channeling UNRISD Research (14 Jan 2019)
  UNRISD is teaming up with the Human Rights Council (HRC) to make sure that research findings on synergies between human rights and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development feed into this year’s High-Level Political Forum, which reviews progress on the SDGs. Find out how.
• UNRISD Expertise to Strengthen UN Capacity on SDGs at Country Level (11 Dec 2018)
  Identified as one of the most relevant and knowledgeable thought leaders in the United Nations, UNRISD has been appointed to the new United Nations Learning Advisory Council for the 2030 Agenda, created this month by Deputy Secretary-General and UN Sustainable Development Group Chair, Amina J. Mohammed. The purpose of the Council—to challenge conventional thinking and develop new insights on knowledge and learning around key global and national SDG-related challenges—aligns well with UNRISD’s mandate.
• UNRISD at Science-Policy Dialogue on Just Transitions to a Low-Carbon World at UN Climate Conference (6 Dec 2018)
  "The transition must accelerate. (...) Only a transition that challenges systems of exclusion and discrimination, and seeks to improve prosperity and well-being for all, can be considered a truly Just Transition." This was one of the main messages presented by UNRISD on behalf of the Just Transition Research Collaborative to participants at the UN Climate Conference, COP24, currently under way in Katowice, Poland.
• “Inequality is a result of policy choices, it's not an economic inevitability.” Round-up of the UNRISD Conference Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World (13 Nov 2018)
  Insightful, inspiring and relevant were perhaps the most frequent words that participants used to describe the UNRISD Conference Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization, which took place on 7-9 November 2018 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Find out which sessions are now available on video.
• UN Public Service Award Goes to Switzerland’s Federal Office for Gender Equality (7 Aug 2018)
  UNRISD Board Member Sylvie Durrer was in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 23 June–UN Public Service Day—to accept the UN Public Service Award presented to Switzerland for the work of the Federal Office for Gender Equality, of which she is the Director. Find out more about the successful initiative to reduce the gender pay gap in Switzerland.
• Call for Papers for the UNTFSSE: Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: What Role for Social and Solidarity Economy? (1 Jun 2018)
  The United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE) launched a Call for Papers to assess the contribution of SSE to inclusive and sustainable development, with a particular emphasis on local contexts. Organized by UNRISD, in its role as coordinator of the Task Force’s recently established Knowledge Hub, the Call for Papers aimed to identify and mobilize research from different regions and territories that critically examines the role of SSE as a means of implementation for the SDGs for a conference planned for 2019.
• Call for Papers—Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilization (9 Mar 2018)
  UNRISD invites researchers and practitioners to take part in our Call for Papers! Key themes include the role and influence of elites; the role of institutions in perpetuating or curbing inequalities; shifting class structures and identities; the effects of deepening inequalities on local lifeworlds; and actors, alliances and social mobilization for progressive change. The call is open from 1 - 29 April. The papers selected will be presented at UNRISD’s next major international conference in Geneva in November 2018.