Human Development Reports - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

National Human Development Report Unit

Our Mission

To design the systems and tools to encourage the highest standards of quality of regional, national, and sub-national HDRs and their impact on policy agendas.

Our Approach

The model of technical support adopted by the NHDR Unit is one that sees knowledge residing in a network of people and institutions, both within and outside UNDP. Our approach is to set up and facilitate a framework of corporate support for HDRs that encourages shared responsibility for HDR quality and impact, and dynamic sharing and building of knowledge among a community of HD practitioners.

What We Do

While national teams write and produce the HDRs, UNDP's NHDR Unit, located within the Human Development Report Office of UNDP in New York, was formed in 2001 to encourage the highest standards of quality and policy relevance and to nourish and sustain a global HDR network. The NHDR Unit's principal aims are as follows:

1. Establish Standards, Capacity Building and Knowledge: The NHDR Unit seeks to build the capacity of UNDP and its partners for higher quality HDR analysis and greater policy impact through standard setting, training, and knowledge building and sharing. Ongoing initiatives include:

• The Unit facilitates the HDR-Net consisting of approximately 2000 human development practitioners who exchange experiences and strategies through virtual discussions.
• HDRO provides technical support to NHDR teams through every stage of the HDR cycle, including plans for theme and team selection, resource mobilization, concept notes, outlines, research, draft peer reviews, statistical reviews, publication, launch and follow-up activities. This support is often provided virtually, and on a case-by-case basis through in-country missions.
• Thematic Guidance Notes are prepared in collaboration with the UNDP Bureau for Development Policy (BDP) and other partners for NHDR teams working on such topics as Human Security, Decentralization, and HIV-AIDS .
• HDRO has developed a Primer on Measuring HD, to support HDR teams in the use of statistics and indicators in the reports.
• The biennial Human Development Awards developed by the NHDR Unit, recognizes excellence and provides incentives for high quality processes and products.
• The Unit supports the biennial Oxford course, the Advanced HD Virtual Development Academy Training Course, as well as Regional and National HDR Training Courses.

2. Enhance HDR Influence: The NHDR Unit seeks to increase the influence of HDR ideas and policy approaches through targeted media outreach, greater political engagement, and presentation of innovative report findings. Ongoing initiatives include:

• The Unit aims to further integrate the research and analysis undertaken in the HDR process into the programming and policy work of UNDP.
• By systematically supporting greater prominence of HDRs at key international fora and in the media, and through targeted dissemination strategies, the Unit aims to elevate their visibility and policy influence.

3. Strengthen Global - Regional - National Linkages: The NHDR Unit aims to strengthen the link between global and national HDR ideas and processes. Ongoing initiatives include:

• The Unit aims to identify HDRs addressing common themes and to engage in mutually supportive research.
• The global HDR process now systematically draws on the HDR-Net to enrich the production process.

Who We Are

	Eva Jespersen Deputy Director Head of the NHDR Unit		Mary Ann Mwangi Programme Associate
	Paola Pagliani Policy Specialist HD Networks Facilitator

Back to top

2013 Report