Occasional Papers

Mahbub-ul-Haq-Lecture

Inaugural Mahbub ul Haq-Amartya Sen Lecture, UNIGE

Advancing, Sustaining Human Progress: From Concepts to Policies
By: Malik, Khalid
2014
Mahbub was that rare combination of thinker-doer. A former Minister of Finance in his home country Pakistan, he was acutely aware that theoretical debates were not enough, and that we have to think about policies that make a difference in the lives of...Read more

Vulnerability Traps and Their Effects on Human Development

By: Rehman Sobhan
2014
This paper explores asymmetrical risks that leave some people more vulnerable than others, and relates these asymmetries to the structurally derived variations in socioeconomic circumstances. It focuses on vulnerabilities originating in inequitable...Read more

Reducing Vulnerability in Critical Life Course Phases by Enhancing Human Capital

By: Samir KC, Wolfgang Lutz, Elke Loichinger, Raya Muttarak and Erich Strießnig
2014
This paper takes a demographic perspective and addresses differential vulnerability for men and women as they pass through their life cycles. A particular focus lies on differential vulnerability by level of education. The analysis starts with a global...Read more
Inventory

An Inventory of Composite Measures of Human Progress

By: Yang, Lin
2014
Since the first Human Development Index (HDI) was published in 1990, a wealth of composite measures of human progress and well-being have been developed to varying degrees of acclaim and scrutiny. The range of authors has likewise been broad, including...Read more
Mary Young Paper

Addressing and Mitigating Vulnerability Across the Life Cycle

The Case for Investing in Early Childhood
By: Young, Mary
2014
Our current understanding of the neurobiology of early childhood is that the development of the brain’s architecture and function in early life affects health, learning and behaviour until we die. This means that what is done or not done in early...Read more
Zaidi Paper

Life Cycle Transitions and Vulnerabilities in Old Age: A Review

By: Zaidi, Asghar
2014
This paper reviews the concepts of vulnerability and resilience, and their applications for ageing and older people through literature in this area. Concurrently, it reviews the life course framework and the capability approach, and their relevance to...Read more
2013 Occasional Paper

Transforming Global Governance for the 21st Century

By: Woods, Ngaire; Betts, Alexander; Prantl, Jochen; Sridhar, Devi
2013
The rise of the global South is transforming global governance. It is creating new demands for multilateral institutions and jumpstarting regionalism. The result is a new range of strategic choices available to developing countries, and a new imperative...Read more
Good Practices

Good practices in addressing human security through Human Development Reports

By: Gómez, Oscar A.; Gasper, Des; Mine, Yoichi
2013
In 2012, for the first time, the United Nations General Assembly agreed on a common understanding of the essence of the human security concept. This is a major advance in the mainstreaming of the concept, proof of the increasing recognition it has gained...Read more
Good Practices

Good practices in addressing human security through Human Development Reports

By: Gómez, Oscar A.; Gasper, Des; Mine, Yoichi
2013
In 2012, for the first time, the United Nations General Assembly agreed on a common understanding of the essence of the human security concept. This is a major advance in the mainstreaming of the concept, proof of the increasing recognition it has gained...Read more
2013 Occasional Paper

Financial architectures and Development

Resilience, Policy Space and Human development in the global south
By: Grabel, Ilene
2013
The current crisis is proving to be productive of institutional experimentation in the realm of financial architecture(s) in the developing world. The drive toward experimentation arose out of the East Asian financial crisis of 1997-­‐98, which provoked...Read more