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UN DESA Policy Brief No. 169: How Shocks Turn into Crises: national policies for advancing social development in turbulent times
Shocks and crises have become more frequent, intense and widespread in an interconnected world. Looking toward the Second World Summit for Social Development in 2025, this policy brief focuses on explaining how shocks turn into crises and how national policies, supported by the international community, can help counter shocks, build resilience, and advance social development objectives, namely eradicating poverty, promoting full and productive employment, and fostering social inclusion in times of converging crises.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 167: Leveraging population trends for a more sustainable and inclusive future: Insights from World Population Prospects 2024
Understanding how population trends are likely to unfold in the short, medium and long terms is critical for achieving a more inclusive, prosperous and sustainable future. This policy brief provides an overview of some of the main findings of the World Population Prospects 2024: Summary of Results with the aim of helping countries prepare for population sizes, age structures and spatial distributions that may differ appreciably from those of their recent past.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 166: Global action is needed to advance social development amidst converging crises
In an interconnected world, more frequent, severe and far-reaching shocks and crises are derailing key social development objectives such as poverty eradication, full employment and inequality reduction through a range of channels. Global action is needed to advance social development and build resilient and inclusive societies for all.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 163: Policy Choices for Leaving No One Behind (LNOB): Overview From 2023 SDG Summit Commitments
Prioritizing leaving no one behind (LNoB), 31 countries have introduced new policies and commitments aimed at eradicating poverty, enhancing human capital, addressing uneven access to basic necessities, improving decision-making processes on sustainable development and ensuring no country or locality is left behind.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 161: On the path to an older population: Maximizing the benefits from the demographic dividend in the least developed countries
While many least developed countries (LDCs) are still experiencing persistently high fertility and rapid population growth, they have also begun to experience progressive population ageing. Preparing for population ageing in LDCs will be critical for achieving sustainable development and ensuring that no one is left behind. Maximizing the benefits from the demographic dividend will provide an opportunity for these countries to develop economically before their populations become much older.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 157: How Can Governments Strengthen Their Relationships with Society to Meet the Sustainable Development Goals? Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked innovation and experimentation in public institutions. Institutional and policy changes can improve Governments’ relationships with other actors and highlight opportunities to accelerate SDG progress. Renewed social contracts, built on trust, are crucial if societies are to meet today’s compounding challenges, better respond to future crises, and achieve the SDGs.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 151: Why Indigenous languages matter: The International Decade on Indigenous Languages 2022–2032
Indigenous languages hold vital information about scientific and traditional knowledge on ecosystems, conservation and sustainability that benefits the whole of society. Every time an Indigenous language becomes extinct, the millennial knowledge of a culture is lost forever to the detriment of Indigenous Peoples and humanity. Inclusive policies can help reverse the trend and preserve the existence of Indigenous Peoples, their languages, cultures and knowledge.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 150: Economic well-being at older ages: prospects for the future
More must be done to tackle decent work challenges, promote transitions from informal to formal employment, combat long-term unemployment and strengthen mechanisms to set and adjust wages.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 147: Old age inequality begins at birth: life course influences on late-life disability
Improving working conditions and access to quality education across the lifecycle can help reduce inequality in health outcomes among older adults. Expanding healthcare coverage and addressing the social determinants of health are also vital.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 145: On the importance of monitoring inequality in life expectancy
Financing and enhancing statistical capacity for high-quality, timely and reliable disaggregated data in developing countries, is essential to better understand and respond to inequalities in life expectancy.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 143: Caregiving in an ageing world
Rethinking approaches to long-term care will benefit today’s older persons and those who care for them, but also future generations of older persons. Countries should consider a more equitable, person-centred approach to care, operating across governments, businesses, civil society, communities and households to address needs in the provision of both formal and informal care.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 142: Old-age poverty has a woman’s face
An agenda on gender equality aimed at reducing women’s poverty, including in old age, should promote women’s labour market participation and decent work, ease their care burden and improve women’s pension coverage as well as pension adequacy.
UN DESA Policy Brief No. 133: Migration Trends and Families
It is indispensable to incorporate a family perspective into migration policy analysis. Since families socialize and provide economically and emotionally for the next generation, they should be seen as essential for migrants’ integration into new societies. Thus, policies facilitating family reunification, social protection and intergenerational support are key in successful integration.
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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #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.