Convened by Kunal Sen (UNU-WIDER and University of Manchester)

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, UNU-WIDER, as a global think-tank on development economics and an UN agency, works 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.

The roundtable will discuss UNU-WIDER's synthesis of its 2019-2023 work programme, titled Peace, jobs and social contracts: Research evidence on rebuilding economies, states and societies. The synthesis address the following three questions:

•    What is the research evidence on a particular challenge, around transforming economies, states and societies?
•    What are the policy implications?
•    What else do we need to know?

The synthesis will be available as a report in mid 2023 for wide dissemination.

Speakers:
Kunal Sen (UNU-WIDER and University of Manchester)
Laura Camfield (University of East Anglia, UK)
Andy Sumner, Kings College London
Enilde Sarmento, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Government of Mozambique