HDialogue

Implementing the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing: What have we learned? And, where do we go from here?

29 January 2018 | Asghar Zaidi, Professor of International Social Policy, University of Southampton
It is no secret that the world’s population is ageing. As fertility declines and life expectancy increases, the proportion of older people is projected to grow across the world. Therefore, it is increasingly important to develop metrics that assess...Read more

Leveling the playing field: Human development and sports

28 November 2017 | Andréa Bolzon, Coordinator of the National Human Development Report, UNDP Brazil
There is a positive relationship between human development and practicing physical sports. Exercise is associated with improvements in health, cognitive processes, sociability, productivity (due to better physical and mental health) and quality of...Read more

Violence against women: Unacceptable and unmeasured

22 November 2017 | Yu-Chieh Hsu, Statistics Analyst, and Milorad Kovacevic, Chief Statistician, at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
One third of women—and more than two-thirds in some countries—have experienced physical or sexual violence inflicted by an intimate partner or sexual violence inflicted by a non-partner, according to the World Health Organization. Violence...Read more

Biodiversity and human development: Letting Mother Nature do her job

07 November 2017 | Jon Hall, Policy Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
One of the greatest strengths of the human development approach is its emphasis on viewing the world – and people’s lives – as complex, interconnected systems in which, to paraphrase the former Norwegian Prime Minister and Sustainable Development...Read more

New hope through youth

31 October 2017 | HOPE XXL
Human development is about everyone’s future. But no one should have a greater interest in that future than the world’s young people because the future will shape so much more of their lives than older age groups. And yet, in most countries, young...Read more

Human security and natural disasters

16 October 2017 | Christelle Cazabat, Research Analyst at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
The last few months have seen many natural disasters across the world, raising global attention on disaster risk reduction. In August, unusually heavy rainfalls flooded South Asia, killing over 1,200 people and displacing at least 2.5 million in...Read more

Can horizontal inequalities be overcome?

04 October 2017 | Frances Stewart, Professor Emeritus of Development Economics at the University of Oxford
Horizontal inequalities are inequalities between groups with different identities, like blacks and whites, women and men, Muslims and Hindus, or Hutus and Tutsis, among many examples. Such inequalities are unjust and resented. When severe, horizontal...Read more

Life does not end after 60 and neither should the data

29 September 2017 | Karoline Schmid, Chief of the Fertility and Family Planning Section of the UNDESA Population Division
Our world is rapidly ageing. By 2050, our planet will be home to twice as many people aged 60 or more than there are today. At the same time, the population aged 80 or more will triple in size, according to UN Division for Economic and Social Affairs...Read more

Lessons from the success of human development

26 September 2017 | Robert Berg, Chair of the Alliance for Peacebuilding and a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center
Earlier this month I spoke at an event to launch a new book - “Human Development and Global Institutions: Evolution, Impact, Reform” - by Richard Ponzio and Arunabha Ghosh (Routledge, London). It provided a welcome opportunity to reflect on the role...Read more

Counting what counts in development

25 September 2017 | Selim Jahan, Director of the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
To most people, “development” is best measured by the quantity of change – like gains in average income, life expectancy, or years spent in school. The Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure...Read more
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