Publications

The MDG Gap Task Force Report 2013, entitled, “The Global Partnership for Development: The Challenge We Face,” tracks delivery on commitments listed under Millennium Development Goal 8—the global partnership for development— including aid, trade, debt relief, access to essential medicines and access to new technologies.

“The picture is mixed,” Mr. Ban said. “We can do better. The best way to prepare for the post-2015 era is to demonstrate that when the international community commits to a global partnership for development, it means it and directs its resources to where they are most needed.”

To deepen the global partnership of UN Member States, international organizations…

The experience from the Millennium Development Goals has shown that well-defined, objectively measurable indicators can help to maintain focus on internationally agreed development goals and targets, while keeping the world informed of achievements, problem areas and emerging issues.

Looking ahead to the post-2015 development agenda, it will be important to develop a robust monitoring system that draws on traditional data collection methods and innovations in statistics and data collection to develop a monitoring framework that can measure progress on the various thematic areas.

While it is still too early to define a set of indicators and targets for the development…

“The Millennium Development Goals have been the most successful global anti-poverty push in history,” Mr. Ban said. “The MDGs have proven that focused global…

The global partnership for development, as crystallized in Millennium Development Goal 8, has played a crucial role in galvanizing international support for development. Given the global challenges at hand, there is an urgent need for true collective action from all countries to create an enabling environment for development at all levels. The latest report of the UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda provides a set of recommendations on the global partnership for development in the post-2015 era.

A renewed global partnership for development, which is broader in scope and deeper than the current one, is needed to underpin any post-2015 development agenda.…

UNDESA-DSPD, from 8 August to 5 September 2012, conducted a global online survey to gather inputs for consideration by the 51st session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD), which took place from 6 to 15 February 2013.

The survey enabled the public worldwide to respond to a set of questions that were related to the priority theme of CSocD on “Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all”.

The responses collected and selected from the first question “Empowerment: What does it mean to you?” was published in a separate booklet.

The “Definitions of Empowerment” represents a collaborative effort, made possible by the answers received from people all over the world on the Empowerment theme. Their invaluable contributions were essential for the preparation of the Empowerment Publication.

In order to collect people’s ideas and experiences, the Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) of UNDESA launched an on-line survey on “Promoting Empowerment of People”.

We were glad to receive tens and tens of responses from young individuals, persons with disabilities, older persons, and people working for various institutions and organizations committed to social development issues. Their keen interest…

In its 2012 Report, the MDG Gap Task Force has had difficulty identifying areas of significant new progress towards delivering on commitments to the Global Partnership for Development, and for the first time there are signs of backsliding. The volume of official development assistance (ODA) fell for the first time in many years, obstacles to exports from developing countries are on the rise, and numerous developing countries are facing debt difficulties.

With less than three years until 2015, there is no apparent commitment by donor Governments to reverse the trend in time, and it is likely that fewer MDGs will be reached in fewer countries as a result.

The Report finds…

The financial needs of developing countries have long outstripped the willingness and ability of donors to provide aid. Addressing this challenge, the survey proposes an international tax, combined with other innovative financing mechanisms, to raise more than $400 billion annually for development and global challenges such as fighting climate change.

Launched on 5 July, the survey reveals that in the midst of difficult financial times, many donor countries have cut back on development assistance. In 2011, for the first time in many years, aid flows declined in real terms.

“We are suggesting various ways to tap resources through international mechanisms, such as…

The report presents the yearly assessment of global progress towards the MDGs, highlighting several milestones – three important MDG targets have been met well ahead of the target date of 2015. The report says that meeting the remaining targets, while challenging, remain possible – but only if Governments do not waiver from their commitments made over a decade ago.

Based on a master set of data compiled by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG indicators led by DESA’s Statistics Division, the 2012 report outlines gains in poverty reduction and access to safe drinking water, and an improvement in the lives of slums dwellers in urban areas. The report also highlights important…

The World Youth Report 2007 examines the challenges and opportunities existing for the roughly 1.2 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the world. Distinct from the 2003 and 2005 editions, it provides a regional overview summarizing the major youth development trends in the fifteen priority areas of the World Programme of Action for Youth.

The report explores major issues of concern to youth development, including employment, education, health, poverty and violence. At the same time, it highlights youth as a positive force for development and provides recommendations for supporting their essential contributions.

The Demographic Yearbook 2009-2010 is the sixty-first in a series published by the United Nations since 1948. It contains tables including a world summary of selected demographic statistics, statistics on the size, distribution and trends in national populations, fertility, foetal mortality, infant and maternal mortality, general mortality, nuptiality and divorce. Data are shown by urban/rural residence, as available. In addition, the volume provides Technical Notes, a synoptic table, a historical index and a listing of the issues of the Demographic Yearbook published to date.

The report focuses on the social and economic wellbeing of older persons and documents the demographics of older age; their economic status and participation in the labour force; the health of older persons; and the societal perceptions and social integration of older persons. On each of these topics, the report attempts to account for the diversity of situations of older persons in society and across the world. It also attempts to capture the changing reality and perceptions of old age as well old persons’ own views.

The report is based on recent research and empirical data from various sources available to the United Nations Secretariat, and includes a range of up-to-…