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UN/DESA Policy Brief #119: The critical role of income redistribution for poverty reduction: Alternative scenarios
Achieving SDG 1 by 2030, will require extraordinary efforts by countries, both individually and collectively.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #117: Building the capacities of public servants to implement the 2030 Agenda
The landscape of capacity building for SDG implementation appears fragmented. There likely is untapped potential for cross-fertilization of capacity-building initiatives.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #116: A view of changes in institutional arrangements for SDG implementation at the national level since 2015
There is a trend of broadening and deepening institutionalization of the 2030 Agenda. Yet institutionalization at the country level remains a work in progress – with many countries still putting in place or adjusting parts of their institutional systems for SDG implementation.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #115: Horizontal and vertical integration are more necessary than ever for COVID-19 recovery and SDG implementation
Integrated policy-making has been critical in responding effectively to the pandemic, and will be paramount in post-COVID recovery to realize the Sustainable Development Goals.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #114: Connecting the dots: The still elusive synergies between accountability institutions and the follow-up and review of the Sustainable Development Goals
Strengthening such integration can contribute to more holistic SDG monitoring efforts and strengthen accountability for progress on the SDGs. This seems particularly relevant in the context of COVID-19, as countries must urgently address the significant and differentiated impacts of the pandemic on SDG implementation.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #113: Digitally enabled new forms of work and policy implications for labour regulation frameworks and social protection systems
Social protection systems need to adapt to ensure no worker is left unprotected in a future world of work transformed by digital technology.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #112: Harnessing longevity in the future of work
Promoting the inclusion of older persons in the new realities of work requires addressing barriers in their access to decent work, including discrimination and participation in informal employment.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #111: Wildfires – a growing concern for sustainable development
This policy brief reviews trends and impacts of wildfires on sustainable development. It provides an analysis of the key drivers of wildfires and proposes measures to reduce the risk and impacts.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #109: Accelerate action to revamp production and consumption patterns: the circular economy, cooperatives and the social and solidarity economy
Achieving sustainable development requires determined actions to revamp production and consumption patterns, creating a resource-efficient and resilient post-pandemic recovery.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #108: Trust in public institutions: Trends and implications for economic security
Economic insecurity—which the COVID-19 crisis threatens to exacerbate—and perceptions of poor or corrupt government performance undermine the social contract and are closely linked to declines in institutional trust.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #107: Social protection in rural areas: achieving universal access for all
Government action is required to ensure social protection measures, including floors, are available for all in rural areas.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #106: Reducing poverty and inequality in rural areas: key to inclusive development
Countries that have succeeded in reducing both rural poverty and inequalities have promoted inclusive agricultural growth, access to land and social protection in rural areas, and paid special attention to the needs of the most vulnerable.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #105: Circular agriculture for sustainable rural development
The strengthening of institutions and incentives such as water user associations and secure water and tenure rights, along with enhanced international cooperation, can spur greater application of circular approaches in agriculture.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #104: In situ urbanization key to leaving no one behind
Expanding opportunities in non-farm activities in rural areas is a key for sustainable development without “leaving no one behind”. Where the typical farmers are small landowners, technology alone may not be able to help farmers escape from poverty, and technical advances need to be complemented by a holistic approach.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #103: Transformational partnerships and partnership platforms
Multi-stakeholder collaboration has proven to be critical to tackle the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and will be essential in the recovery efforts to ‘build back better’ towards more sustainable, resilient and inclusive societies.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #102: Population, food security, nutrition and sustainable development
Despite progress in recent decades, in 2019, almost 690 million people, or 8.9 per cent of the global population, were undernourished. After more than a decade of steady decline, the number of undernourished people has been rising since 2014.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #101: Challenges and Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples’ Sustainability
Indigenous peoples contribute to mitigation and adaptation strategies including successful struggles against deforestation, mineral, oil and gas extraction in their ancestral lands; their fight against further expansion of monocrop plantations; their promotion of sustainable production and consumption systems through traditional knowledge and values of reciprocity with nature.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #95: What triggers economic insecurity and who is most at risk?
A full recovery from the pandemic crisis is not possible without addressing economic security and reducing inequality.
This policy brief highlights inequality in the experience of economic security focusing on the risks to livelihoods and the protections against those risks as laid out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #94: A changing world of work: implications for the social contract
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the world
of work, hitting labour markets that were already weak
and fragile.
UN/DESA Policy Brief #93: Social policy and social protection measures to build Africa better post-COVID-19
This policy brief reviews the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa and presents the continent’s social protection responses.