Engaging with the Global South…in Geneva

On 8 December 2014 UNRISD organized a Breakfast Meeting with country representatives from the global South. The 14 participants included Ambassadors, Deputy Ambassadors and senior representatives of the Permanent Missions in Geneva, who devoted two hours to getting to know UNRISD and exploring priorities and potential for future collaboration.

With this event UNRISD extended the conversation begun formally at our Stakeholder Meeting held in September 2014. Such consultations are contributing valuable insights for the design of our new research agenda. The Breakfast Meeting also helped the Institute make the most of the ideas and knowledge of our extensive Southern networks, and put to good use its ability to support the global South in its role in setting development agendas.

Issues of concern raised by the participants at the Breakfast Meeting included inequality, poverty and hunger, migration, water and sanitation, and the humanitarian-development nexus. Questions around the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals were also discussed, such as how to monitor progress and the need for disaggregated data, and policy solutions.

UNRISD will be pursuing follow-up conversations with the participants and other stakeholders to deepen relationships and further explore possibilities for collaboration that can enhance the presence of Southern partners in global dialogues.