HDialogue

Predictably irrational—helping advance human development in a less than rational world

03 July 2017 | HDRO. Interview with Dan Ariely, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University
How did you get into studying how individuals make decisions or choices? Was this a rational decision? I got into this following my experience of being in hospital for a very long time. I was badly injured when young. While in...Read more

Peace in Colombia is also Peace for the World

27 June 2017 | Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia and 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
In Colombia we are more determined than ever to end the longest running and only remaining internal armed conflict in the Americas. Colombians were divided over the agreement that was negotiated between the Government and the FARC guerrillas....Read more

Are people the drivers of change and development?

20 June 2017 | Juergen Nagler, UNDP Partnerships Advisor and UN Transformation Network Co-Facilitator
"We the peoples…" are the opening words of the UN Charter and UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has reiterated calls for people-centered development. But what do we actually mean by putting people at the center of development? What new...Read more

Planet Ocean

08 June 2017 | Christina Lengfelder, Research Specialist, and Jon Hall, Policy Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
Today is World Oceans Day. What better day to reflect on the role our seas have on human development? Arthur C Clarke famously remarked at the inappropriateness of calling our planet Earth, when it is quite clearly Ocean. Indeed, to say that...Read more

Future of work: Yet an evolving territory

05 June 2017 | Selim Jahan, Director of the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
What will be the nature of work in future? This million-dollar question is being discussed in cafes, schools and work places around the world right now. Some say –with growing automation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, many areas of work would...Read more

The biggest barriers to universal human development

31 May 2017 | Astra Bonini, Policy Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
A decent and dignified life for all 7.5 billion people in the world is possible. The world is not short on technological and financial resources. And so everyone could have a quality education, a secure income, access to good healthcare and live in a...Read more

Financing for Human Development

25 May 2017 | Jacob Assa, Policy Specialist at the Human Development Report Office, UNDP
The Second Forum on Financing for Development is taking place in New York, with a focus on mobilizing means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). How can we ensure that investments in human development are not forgotten?...Read more

Getting a clearer picture of poverty

24 May 2017 | Melinda Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
I was asked last year to select one photograph that has profoundly influenced my life. I chose an image known as Migrant Mother— a haunting picture of a woman named Florence Owens Thompson sitting with three of her children in their makeshift home, a...Read more

The power of culture to prompt action

22 May 2017 | Olafur Eliasson, Artist and founder of Little Sun
My son recently asked me whether he had saved much CO2 from being emitted into the air by using the Little Sun solar lamp I designed. He also wanted to know why, if a tonne of CO2 weighs so much, it does not drop to the ground. And where is it? To him...Read more

The world has much to learn from indigenous peoples

02 May 2017 | Mirna Cunningham Kai, indigenous peoples rights activist and former Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
From my lifelong experiences, being an advocate for the rights of some of the most marginalized peoples, allow me to share what I have learned and come to see as essential elements to ensure peaceful societies and sustainable development in a plural...Read more
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