Welcome to the United Nations
Background
Changes in the world of work, globalization and technological breakthroughs have benefitted many people, but have also created disruption and put many others at disadvantage. These long-standing trends, which have raised aspirations but also fears, are compounded by new systemic threats, including those brought about by the Covid-19 crisis and the conflict in Ukraine. These threats expose the precarity of many people’s lives and reveal the large degree of risk embedded in today’s society.
While challenges to economic security are growing for many people, their abilities to cope and recover are not improving accordingly. Public institutions, policies and governance systems are struggling to adapt to rapidly changing needs in both developed and developing countries. There is a growing disconnect between policy and today’s needs. Persistent inequality and rising insecurity are the main consequences of this disconnect. In this sense, economic insecurity intersects with inequality and poverty to form a “critical triangle” of today’s most urgent societal challenges.
This webinar series explores issues of insecurity, inequality and poverty, and their implications for development in the aftermath of recent crises, to inform DESA’s analytical work on emerging issues and trends in social development.
