UNU-WIDER and the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs workshop on inequality

On 6 May 2019, UNU-WIDER will partner with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in organizing a workshop on inequality. The workshop will provide an opportunity to present and discuss some of the lessons learned in measuring and understanding trends in inequality. It will bring together several outstanding international scholars and the UN community, with the aim of contributing to the in-depth review of SDG10 during the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 'Empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality', being held in July 2019.

UNU-WIDER plays a key role in conducting and promoting research on inequality and it hosts one of the most comprehensive databases on income inequality, the World Income Inequality Database (WIID). Inequality was a central theme of the 2014-18 UNU-WIDER work programme Transformation, Inclusion, and Sustainability, and it will continue to be an integral part of UNU-WIDER’s new work programme as well.

Workshop topics

The workshop will be organized around two main topics. The first topic will cover different strategies to overcome data limitations, providing examples relevant for developing countries or for comparisons across countries or over long periods of time. The second topic will look at lessons learned and implications of recent research on inequality between and within developing countries. Both topics will draw on the results of UNU-WIDER’s Inequality in the Giants project. The discussion will also touch on horizontal inequalities — a concept central to the ideal of leaving no one behind in the development process.

Introducing a new version of the WIID

During the workshop UNU-WIDER will introduce the new updated release of the WIID and present a proposal for its standardization.

Please register for the event in advance of attending.