United Nations Research Institute For Social Development (UNRISD)
Development Social inclusion Trackbacks (0)The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is
an autonomous UN agency engaging in multidisciplinary research on the
social dimensions of contemporary problems affecting development.
Through its research, UNRISD stimulates dialogue and contributes to
policy debates on key issues of social development within and outside
the United Nations system.
UNRISD was created in 1963 as part of the first United Nations
Development Decade. The Decade emphasized a “new approach to
development”, in which “purely economic indicators of progress were seen
to provide only limited insight and might conceal as much as they
indicate”. UNRISD thus became a pioneer in developing social indicators
and broadened the development debate. Since then, the Institute has
sought to promote a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to social
development by focusing on decision-making processes, often conflicting
social forces, and the question of who wins and who loses as economies
grow or contract and societies change.
Over the years, UNRISD research has been guided by two core values: that
every human being has a right to a decent livelihood and that all
people should be allowed to participate on equal terms in decisions that
affect their lives. The challenge for research is not only to reinforce
and help operationalize these values, but also to expose the extent to
which they are ignored.
Programmes and Areas of Research 2005 - 2009:
