Who Gets to Shape the Future?

Announcement for 22 October 2026 Policy Dialogue

Policy Dialogue Date: 22 October 2026

Sustainable Development Goals:

An Intergenerational Global Policy Dialogue with members of the UN High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs

Thursday, 22 October 2026

15:00-16:30 EDT

Conference Room 6, UN Headquarters, and online

Join UN DESA on 22 October for a special Global Policy Dialogue on 22 October that will bring members of the UN High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs (HLAB) into direct conversation with people whose lives are being shaped by the profound economic, social, technological, demographic, and environmental changes of our modern world. The forthcoming World Social Report 2026: New Economics of Social Inclusion: Making Transformations Work for All from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) argues that while transformation is inevitable, exclusion is not.

The Dialogue will be organized around questions submitted by members of the public, with a special effort to engage younger and older generations and ensure broad geographical representation. Selected participants based in the New York area will be invited to pose their questions in person. Selected participants from other parts of the world will be invited to submit short video questions to be shown during the event.

Expected speakers:

Ibrahim Elbadawi, Founder and Managing Director, Development Studies and Research Forum
Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue, Professor of Global Development, Brooks School of Policy, Cornell University
Anastasia Gage, Professor, Department of International Health and Sustainable Development, Tulane University
Raya Muttarak, Professor of Demography, University of Bologna
Stephany Griffith-Jones, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Chile
Nyovani Madise, President of the Union for African Populations Studies
David Smith, Director, Centre for Environmental Management, University of the West Indies; HLAB member
Joseph Stiglitz, University Professor, Columbia University
Bjørg Sandkjær, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination

This event is made possible by the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund. It will be in English with International Sign Interpretation and multilingual captioning on Zoom. It is free to join and all are welcome.

Who Gets to Shape the Future?