Accelerating progress towards fairer societies

At its core, development is about the well-being of people. But it is also about creating fairer societies which provide fundamental rights and just economic, social and political outcomes. With impacts on education, public health and life expectancy, economic performance, and democratization, focusing on reducing within country inequality to foster fairer societies will be particularly essential in achieving the aspirations of humanity in our lifetime.  

What are the most recent trends in income inequality, inequality in the labour market, economic opportunity and social mobility? How can we reduce international inequalities? What is the role of international tax fairness, redistributive taxation and social protection policy? 

On 4 October 2023, on the sidelines of the Second and Third Committees of the General Assembly, UNU-WIDER, in collaboration with UN DESA, organizes a debate to answer these questions and discuss how to build fairer societies. 

The event begins with a presentation of UNU-WIDER's synthesis of its 2019-2023 work programme, titled Towards peace, decent work, and greater equality, which synthesizes the institute’s most salient research and policy lessons on the three universal aspirations shared by humans everywhere—peace, decent work, and fairer societies. It outlines major findings that support fulfilment of these universal aspirations and identifies opportunities for action that can accelerate progress towards the SDGs. A panel discussion with experts from the UN and academia follows, exchanging ideas and opportunities for progress towards greater equality to achieve the global goals by 2030 and beyond.

The event will be livestreamed and available to watch on the UN Web TV website at this link.

Programme