Serving the well-being of future generations

DESA News got an exclusive interview with the department’s new Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Wu Hongbo, who took office on 1 August, bringing over 30 years of experience from leadership roles in international relations and diplomacy. Prior to joining DESA, Mr. Wu was the Ambassador of China to Germany. Read more

A digital bridge to civil society

“Our times demand (…) a new constellation of international cooperation – governments, civil society and the private sector, working together for a collective global good”. In line with this statement of the UN Secretary-General, DESA and its UN partners continue to enhance their services to civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across the globe. Read more

Building the future we want

On 24 September, ECOSOC arranged a special meeting under the theme ‘Building the Future We Want ’ focusing on sustainable development. “Rio+20 has given us a solid platform to build on, and the tools to build with. Now is the time to follow up, to get down to work, to get practical. There is no time to waste,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Read more

Websites

Launch of the Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform (SDKP)

This new website has been launched by DESA’s Division for Sustainable Development following-up to Rio+20. The platform contains information on the past 19 years of normative and analytical work of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), a wealth of content from the preparatory process of Rio+20, and is the go to place for Rio+20 follow-up. Read more

Ms. Kathleen Abdalla, Chief of the Emerging Issues Branch of the Division for Sustainable Development, retired at the end of September 2012 after serving more than 15 years in DESA and more than 27 years in the United Nations. An economist, she specialized in energy and sustainable development issues and during her tenure also served as Chief of the Energy and Transport Branch. In addition to preparing numerous UN reports and papers, she has published in professional journals on these topics. Read more