Jan Vandemoortele, former Director of the UNDP Poverty Group and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator to Pakistan, presented his paper on "Inequality and Gresham's Law: Does the bad drive out the good?" in an open forum organized by DPAD/DESA today. Using a combination of research and philosophy, Vandemoortele makes a compelling case that "bad inequalities drive out good inequalities in that high inequalities of outcomes make equality of opportunity virtually impossible".

On 10-13 September 2013 in Managua, DPAD lead the presentation of two policy research papers and three policy notes produced by government experts trained in the framework of the project, and worked to fine-tune policy simulations. The results were presented to 150 experts at the Central Bank, and to 30 experts from different government institutions at the Ministry of Finance. DPAD also held meetings with high level policy officials on the impact of the policy notes will have on informing policy makers and follow-up activities.

On 21-22 August 2013 in Manila, Philippines, DESA/DPAD staff held a working meeting and took part in the final workshop to discuss the results of policy simulations. These results will form the basis for policy notes on issues ranging from financing scenarios for MDG achievement, impact of social programmes, agricultural price shocks, and others. This marked the successful completion of training activities in the Philippines, but DESA/DPAD will continue to provide technical backstopping to the participating institutions if needed to ensure the sustainability of capacities.

On 27 August 2013 in La Paz, Bolivia, DESA/DPAD staff held a working meeting and took part in the final workshop to discuss policy notes to be presented to government officials. The notes reported simulation results and recommendations by government experts from UDAPE and the Central Bank of Bolivia covering three areas of analysis: economic growth and financing scenarios for MDG achievement by and post 2015, the impact of remittances on economic growth and poverty, and the impact of food price crises on food security and poverty.

"All partners must deliver on commitments – on official development assistance, climate finance and domestic resource mobilization...For all our efforts, we will need one thing above all: a renewed and stronger global partnership – and we are here today to help advance that effort for one and all". Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

On 8-9 August 2013 in San José, DESA/DPAD staff conducted a hands-on refresher on modelling methodologies for members of the Forecasting Unit of the Ministry of Planning, marking the successful completion of the project in Costa Rica. The Chief of the Forecasting Unit, Mr. Mario Robles, expressed his and the Minister's gratitude for DESA/DPAD's support and the accomplishments of the project. DESA/DPAD will continue to provide technical backstopping to the Ministry and other participating institutions if needed to ensure the sustainability of capacities.

The Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit (DSP) of DESA-DPAD organised a live Facebook chat on the World Economic and Social Survey 2013 which focuses on Sustainable Development Challenges. DSP wishes to use the social media to reach out to interested audiences across the globe. The chat engaged 1,364 Facebook users from all over the world and also invited comments and questions from users of Twitter. The panellists included Willem van der Geest, Chief DSP and the authors of the WESS2013.

In an open forum on Sustainable Development Challenges held today, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Shamshad Akhtar, emphasized the need for immediate collective action to address the challenges of food security, energy transformation and sustainable cities to achieve sustainable development.

The World Economic and Social Survey 2013: Sustainable Development Challenges was launched today in Geneva by the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Shamshad Akhtar, and the Chief of the Development Strategy and Policy Analysis Unit of DPAD, Willem Van Der Geest, during the High-level session of the Economic and Social Council. The Survey focuses on the challenges that will have to be addressed to achieve sustainable development.

In an article published in Project Syndicate today, Prof. Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University and Hamid Rashid, Senior Advisor for Macroeconomic Policy in DPAD, discuss the recent spree of sovereign bond issues by a number of sub-Saharan economies and their impact on macroeconomic stability, long-term debt sustainability and development.