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Transforming economies, states, and societies
At its core, development is about the well-being of people. But it is also about creating societies which provide fundamental rights and just social political outcomes. Sustainable and inclusive development requires transformative changes across three fundamental areas: in the structures of economies, in the state, and institutions that govern social and market interactions and broader developmental processes, and in society itself. These transformations are central to the achievement of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 2019–23 UNU-WIDER work programme focuses on the interlinked development challenges of transforming economies, states, and societies and maps them against SDGs 5, 8, 10, 16, 17. By mobilizing research evidence for action through the ongoing processes in the UN and its member states, the institute continues to work with stakeholders to strengthen capacities for research, technical, and policy analysis, and facilitate exchange of experiences and knowledge towards bold and collaborative development solutions for countries and regions around the world.
Click on the table below to explore our current work or scroll down to search past projects.
19 active and previous projects
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2006-07
Country role models for development successIn the development literature, some countries are cited more often than others as examples of development success. These countries are believed to have policies and institutions that could be transferred, at least in part, to less successful...
2006-07
Southern engines of global growthThe project centers on the inter-linkages between the major developing countries of Brazil, India, China and South Africa and the global economy, with a special emphasis on the implications of China’s growth on smaller economies and the rest of the...
2006-07
Fragility and developmentIn recent years there is a growing concern within the international donor community regarding the plight of a special group of countries labeled as 'Fragile States'. These states, which according to current donor lists currently numbers more than 40...
2006-07
Conference on aid - principles, policies and performanceAid is one of the most challenging development issues facing the international community. There is now a pressing need to evaluate performance to date, and the future for aid in light of recent events such as the post-Monterrey consensus to...
2006-07
Gender and food securityUNU-WIDER’s recent project ‘Hunger and Food Security’ exerted a strong attraction for academia, international organizations (FAO, WFP, and UNCTAD), civil society organizations, and the media. The first project meeting, held in Jaipur in March 2005...
2006-07
Designing Africa's poverty strategies - expanding local capacity to simulate policy optionsIn 2003, UNU-WIDER launched its project on Designing Africa’s Poverty Strategies: Creating the Capacity for Policy Simulation to develop economic modelling capacity in African countries. The project director provided regular training workshops (14...
2006-07
Health inequalities and developmentThe purpose of this project was to investigate issues related to health inequality. Although health is an important indicator of overall wellbeing, it is only recently that research has focused on health inequality. This project brings forth issues...
2004-05
Jubilee conference - WIDER thinking aheadAbout 200 participants attended the conference, more than 150 of them coming from outside Finland. The conference was open to younger researchers as well as established scholars. A list of participants is available on WIDER’s website. Conferences...
2004-05
Personal assets from a global perspectiveThe project aims to assemble data about the distribution and composition of personal assets in developing, transition, and developed countries and to study the implications of personal asset-holding for economic development. The most important asset...
2004-05
Unlocking human potential conferenceConferences: 17 September 2004 EGDI-WIDER Conference on Unlocking Human Potential: Linking the Informal and Formal Sectors
2004-05
Inequality and poverty in ChinaGetting an accurate picture of poverty and inequality trends and patterns in the world’s most populous country is central to understanding changes in global inequality and poverty – these alter significantly when China is included or excluded. China...
2004-05
International mobility of talentInternational development in the era of globalization needs an effective transfer of knowledge and human capital from the main centres of knowledge creation to developing countries for supporting their growth and development process. Most of the new...
2004-05
Millennium development goals - assessing and forecasting progressAchievement of the MDG goals by 2015 is an ambitious undertaking. The donor community is now mobilizing resources behind the goals, and efforts to implement the goals are now underway at national and international levels. It is inevitable that...
2004-05
Development aid - a fresh lookDevelopment aid has become an increasingly hot topic in international research and policy circles, especially following the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals. Donors are paying increased attention to how they allocate aid across countries...
2004-05
Financial sector development for growth and poverty reductionThe mobilization of domestic savings for private investment plays a crucial role in achieving growth and poverty reduction; this is demonstrated by the historical experience of the now developed countries as well as East Asia. However two problems...
2004-05
Hunger and food security - new challenges and new opportunitiesMillions of people remain desperately food insecure, and over a decade of agricultural-sector reform appears to have achieved little in the way of improving entitlement to food in many countries. This project will investigate why progress in...