UNU-WIDER: Some Basic Questions What is it? What does it do? Why - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

UNU-WIDER: Some Basic Questions

• What is it?
• What does it do?
• Why should we care?
• Opportunities for collaboration ?
• Any perspectives?
• http://www.wider.unu.edu/

UNU-WIDER – What is It?

• WIDER is the first research and training centre of the

United Nations University (UNU) established in Helsinki, Finland, 1984

• WIDER - from where did the acronym come?
• 8 - 10 research staff, a secretariat and an international

network of international researchers

• A research (and training) institute with funds (about 4.5
• mill. US$/year – with 50-50 funding situation) – but not a

funder of research ...

UN University worldwide

UNU-WIDER – What Does it Do?

• Undertakes research and policy analysis on issues that

affect the living conditions of the world’s poorest people

• Provides a forum for professional interaction and for the

advocacy of policies for robust, equitable, gender- balanced, and environmentally sustainable growth

• Promotes capacity building and training for scholars and

policymakers

WIDER

Academic Institutions and Research Centres Nordic Governments and Communities

UNU-WIDER’s Main Partners

UNU and RTCs UN, UNDP, UNRISD, World Bank, UNHCR, UNCTAD, ILO, IMF

Programme for visitors Research

Activities

Annual Lectures Teaching

Courses in development economics at universities in Helsinki and elsewhere

Public Lectures

Public lectures are given by WIDER research staff and visiting scholars Douglass North Joseph Stiglitz Anthony Atkinson Jagdish Bhagwati Frances Stewart Jeffrey Williamson Sabbatical programme for scholars to undertake research on topics related to WIDER’s research programme Internship for PhD students in economics Recent research projects have covered themes such as: poverty and inequality; development finance; growth and trade; conflict and reconstruction; international migration Kaushik Basu Dani Rodrik Nancy Birdsall Angus S. Deaton Kemal Dervis Deepak Nayyar

WIDER Publications

WIDER website is a search- able source of information and publications, including the WIID: www.wider.unu.edu WIDER Discussion Papers, Research Papers, Policy Briefs, and other publications available on the website Over 1500 titles, issues of journals, >120 commercially published books (2/3 of OUP development economics books!) WIDER Angle newsletter is a monthly email update, with

• nline and printed editions

that summarize our research and activities for a worldwide audience

Past Themes

• Conflict and Humanitarian Emergencies
• Causes of Rising Income Inequality
• Poverty and Vulnerability
• Reform of Global Institutions
• Global Digital Economy
• Sustainability of Development Finance
• Spatial Disparities in Human Development
• Millennium Development Goals
• Impact of the WTO Agreement on Low Income Countries
• Long Term Development in the CFA Zone Countries

Recent Projects

• International Migration & the Mobility of Talent
• New Sources of Finance for Developing Countries
• Financial Sector Development
• Development Aid
• Institutions for Economic Development
• Conflict and Reconstruction
• Measuring Human Well-being
• Inequality and Poverty in China
• Hunger and Food Security
• Global Trends in Inequality and Poverty

Current Projects

• Building African Capacity for Policy Simulation
• World Distribution of Wealth
• Globalization and Poverty
• Southern Engines of Growth
• Fragility and Development
• Health Inequalities and Development
• Development in an Urban World
• Country Role Models for Development Success
• Promoting Entrepreneurial Capacity
• African Development: Myths and Realities

WIDER Helsinki Conferences

• Making Peace Work June 2004
• Unlocking Human Potential: Linking the Informal and Formal Sectors

September 2004

• WIDER Thinking Ahead: The Future of Development Economics

June 2005

• Aid: Principles, Policies and Performance June 2006
• Advancing Health Equity September 2006
• Fragile States – Fragile Groups June 2007
• Southern Engines of Global Growth September 2008
• Country Role Models for Development Success June 2008
• Frontiers of Poverty Analysis September 2008
• The Role of Elites in Economic Development June 2009
• Reflections on Transition: Twenty Years After the Fall of the Berlin

Wall September 2009

UNU-WIDER: Why Should We Care?

• An independent voice, a global network of scholars .......
• A builder of bridges into the UN system and back
• Jobs and research opportunities
• Visiting scholars’ programme
• Ph.D. Internships
• NNDE: we could use and influence WIDER actively

UNU-WIDER: A Perspective on Collaborative Research Possibilities

• The 2010-2011 strategy/work plan in the making
• Three pillars (the triple crises): food and agriculture, the

economic crisis, climate change

• Cross-cutting: inequality and poverty, foreign aid,

governance

• Now looking for concrete activities/partners

UNU-WIDER: Conclusion

• Nordic countries recognized world leaders in commitment

to development and to the environment

• Should assume a distinct intellectual leadership role in the

field of development economics research

• UNU-WIDER is only UN research institute in Nordic

countries – it is there – use it ...

• Next NCDE – 2010
• Teaching and capacity building: WIDER, AERC and the

Nordic countries –possibly very exiting and rewarding

• How to engage, mobilize funding etc

UNU-WIDER: A Post Script

• The draft strategy looks good and should provide a good

framework (or bone work) for the meat. The devil will be in the detail and in the individual decisions you make to say yes and no. The broad vision will help, but it will only crystallize in the actual decision making.

• An observation: I think the teaching materials on the web

targeted to developing countries is a great idea and should be a major focus. More thought and preliminary piloting would be needed to identify more clearly the nature of the gap and what skills (pedagogical, curriculum design, distance learning etc) that would be needed to implement this.