Publications

This publication sets out to examine the major challenges for indigenous peoples to obtain adequate access to and utilization of quality health care services. It provides an important background  to many of the health issues that indigenous peoples are currently facing. Improving indigenous peoples’ health remains a critical challenge for indigenous peoples, States and the United Nations.

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-…

Parliaments play a central role in enacting legislation that recognizes indigenous peoples’ rights and adopting budgetary measures to implement those rights, both of which are critical enablers to drive the implementation of the UN Declaration at the national level. This handbook aims to be a practical instrument to enable parliamentarians around the world to understand indigenous peoples’ rights better and to provide practical ideas for the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which defines the minimum standards necessary for the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples of the world.

The handbook presents good practices in…

In General Assembly resolution A/RES/50/81 the World Programme of Action for Youth, Member States were called upon to address health issues of young people. In this context, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs has prepared a publication on the emerging issue of the Social Inclusion of Youth with Mental Health Conditions.

The publication raises awareness on the situation of youth with mental health conditions among relevant stakeholders and aims to start a global conversation regarding strategies for addressing the specific challenges faced by young people with mental health conditions.  It underscores the critical need to move beyond treatment-oriented mental health…

On 23 September 2013, the General Assembly convened the first ever High Level Meeting on “the Realization of the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities.” During the opening segment, Member States unanimously adopted the Outcome Document, which is reproduced in this brochure.

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 2013 Report on World Social Situation: Inequality Matters brings attention to inequality, with a particular focus on policies and the disadvantaged social groups. Tracing the recent trends and the consequences of inequality, the Report shows that inequality matters not only for people living in poverty, but also for the overall wellbeing of society at large.

The Report further demonstrates that growing inequality is neither destiny nor a necessary price to pay for economic growth. It explains the consequences of high inequality and further examines the experience of some countries that have defied the general trend and have managed to reduce inequality, showing that…

This E-publication is based on papers presented at two Expert Group Meetings (jointly organized by DSPD and the ILO) that brought together specialists to undertake a review of progress in eradicating poverty and to analyse policy responses to the global jobs crisis in different countries and regions of the world. It calls for a reorientation of macroeconomic policies from the current heavy emphasis on short-term stability to the promotion of sustained, inclusive and equitable growth. It stresses the need for the integration of social and economic policies to enable the attainment of people-centred development outcomes.

The publication reviews the concept of accessibility and its role in achieving inclusive and sustainable development. It propositions that accessibility be, not only a means and a goal of inclusive development, but also an enabler of an improved, participative economic and social environment for all members of society, including persons with disabilities.

Three key issues are addressed in the publication: (1) Accessibility in the context of human rights and development; (2) accessibility in policy and practice; and (3) accessibility and a disability-inclusive post-2015 development agenda.

The publication reviews good practices and lessons learned from both top-down and…

The objective of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) was the elimination of all forms of neglect, abuse and violence against older persons (MIPAA, 2002).

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), together with its focal point on ageing in the Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD), began a discussion based on current research, available data and the terminology used in academic circles to describe and classify violence and abuse against older women. The majority of academic research and discourse has been conducted in developed countries, and agreement on terminology and meanings has—by no means—been clear or agreed.…

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…

The current world population of 7.2 billion is projected to increase by 1 billion over the next 12 years and reach 9.6 billion by 2050, according to a United Nations report launched today, which points out that growth will be mainly in developing countries, with more than half in Africa.

“Although population growth has slowed for the world as a whole, this report reminds us that some developing countries, especially in Africa, are still growing rapidly,” said the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo in a press release on the report.

The report, World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision, notes that the population of developed regions will…