Publications

The United Nations Manual for the Negotiation of Bilateral Tax Treaties between Developed and Developing Countries (2019) is a compact training tool for beginners with limited experience in tax treaty negotiation. It seeks to provide practical guidance to tax treaty negotiators in developing countries, in particular those who negotiate based on the United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries. It deals with all the basic aspects of tax treaty negotiation and it is focused on the realities and stages of capacity development of developing countries.

While every country should form its own policy considerations and define…

The 2019 Financing for Sustainable Development Report (FSDR) of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development warns that mobilizing sufficient financing remains a major challenge in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite signs of progress, investments that are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain underfunded and parts of the multilateral system are under strain.

The FSDR recommends that the international community should use this opportunity to reshape both national and international financial systems in line with sustainable development. If we fail to do so, we will fail to deliver the 2030…

The 2018 report of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development finds that most types of development financing flows increased in 2017, and that there has been progress across all the action areas of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda. This progress was underpinned by an upturn in the world economy, but at the same time the report warns that risks could derail development progress and structural impediments continue to undermine sustainable development prospects.

The 2018 report provides policy options which, if implemented, would put the world on a sustained and sustainable growth and development path. It also examines the financing challenges to the SDGs under…

There are now an estimated 258 million people living in a country other than their country of birth — an increase of 49% since 2000 — according to new figures released by UN DESA today, on International Migrants Day. The International Migration Report 2017 (Highlights), a biennial publication of the department, states that 3.4% of the world’s inhabitants today are international migrants. This reflects a modest increase from a value of 2.8% in 2000. By contrast, the number of migrants as a fraction of the population residing in high-income countries rose from 9.6% in 2000 to 14% in 2017.

The report reviews the latest migration trends, assesses the demographic contribution of…

The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a new United Nations report being launched today. With roughly 83 million people being added to the world’s population every year, the upward trend in population size is expected to continue, even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline.

The World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, provides a comprehensive review of global demographic trends and prospects for the future. The information is essential to guide policies aimed at achieving the new Sustainable…

Continued slow global economic growth is likely to leave about 6.5 per cent of the world population extremely poor in 2030 without national actions supported by international cooperation, according to a new report issued by the United Nations today.

A continuation of the status quo would severely hamper efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The Goals call for eliminating poverty by 2030.

According to the 2017 “Financing for Development: Progress and Prospects” report, under current trends, least developed countries (LDCs) are likely to fall short by large margins.

Projections indicating that global gross product will grow at less than 3…

The first edition of the report of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development maps out the commitments and action items contained in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and lays out how the Task Force will monitor their implementation in future years.

The Task Force has carefully gone through the full range of these commitments and action items to create a framework for monitoring. It compiled them into nine chapters — on cross-cutting issues, the seven action areas of the Addis Agenda, and on data. In each chapter, commitments and actions are organized by thematic clusters, for which the Task Force presents options for monitoring.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) achieved significant progress over the past 15 years, but persistent gaps in official development assistance and an insufficient access to markets, affordable medicines and new technologies have highlighted the need for a rejuvenation of the global partnership for development, according to a new report launched today by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The “Taking Stock of the Global Partnership for Development” report of the United Nations MDG Gap Task Force monitors the recent achievements and challenges in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goal 8, while looking ahead towards the new…

The current world population of 7.3 billion is expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a new UN DESA report, “World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision”, launched today.

“Understanding the demographic changes that are likely to unfold over the coming years, as well as the challenges and opportunities that they present for achieving sustainable development, is key to the design and implementation of the new development agenda,” said Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

Most of the projected increase in the world’s population can be attributed to a short list of high-…

Targets for the Millennium Development Goals related to the global partnership to improve people’s lives and end poverty show mixed results on providing the poorest developing countries with greater access to aid, trade, debt relief, essential medicines and technologies, according to a new report launched today by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The lives of millions of people worldwide have improved due to concerted efforts – at the global, regional, national and local levels – to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Recent statistics show that with many MDG targets already met – including reducing poverty, increasing access to clean drinking…

World Population Policies 2013 report is part of a series that provides comprehensive and up-to-date available information on the population policy situations and trends for all 193 Member States, two Observer States and two non-member States of the United Nations. The publication documents changes in Government views and policies from 1976 to 2013 with respect to population size and growth, age structure, fertility, reproductive health and family planning, health and mortality, spatial distribution and internal migration, and international migration within the context of demographic, social and economic change.

The publication provides a coherent accounting framework of economic flows from one age group or generation to another, typically for a national population in a given calendar year. This manual presents the concepts, methods and estimation procedures to measure these flows over the life-cycle. The NTA estimates are useful to understand and analyse the implications of changing age structures for the fiscal sustainability of social programs, the accumulation of physical and human capital, economic growth, and familial support for children, youth and older persons.

National Transfer Accounts are consistent with the System of National Accounts (SNA), and provide measures by single…