UNRISD/WHO Workshop --A New Equity Agenda: Reflections on the New Equity Agenda for Development and its Implications for the Social Determinants of Health

In 2005, the international community was focused on reducing $1-a-day poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals. However, towards the end of 2005, three major Development Reports were produced which focused attention not so much on the amount of absolute deprivation in the world, but on the large inequalities in people's life changes and life outcomes which exist within and between countries. These are the 2006 World Development Report (WDR), the 2005 Human Development Report (HDR), and the 2005 Report on the World Social Situation (RWSS). This paper describes the main messages contained in these reports related to the issue of inequality, and their implications for policy makers in governments and donor organisations.