Recent years have seen the topic of migration rise to the top of political agendas in many parts of the Global North, propelled by images of overcrowded boats on the Mediterranean and migrant caravans in Central America. In recent weeks tragic events have been unfolding a stone’s throw from the Netherlands, in the English Channel, and on the borders of Belarus. For better or worse, policymakers at different levels of governance have responded to these events. Migration was a central feature of t...
A joint post by Ortrun Merkle, Loes van Heugten and Ashleigh Bicker Caarten … This year’s International Anti-Corruption Day has the hopeful motto: ‘Your right, your role: Say no to Corruption’, highlighting the important role that each individual, from politician to activist to citizen has in fighting corruption. The big question is, though, when it comes to saying #NoToCorruption, can everyone actually do so? Activists often pay a high price for their fight against corruption, and while m...
On 25 November 2021, staff and students representing our Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP) commemorated the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The event aimed to raise awareness about the issue, while also presenting the MPP’s new Sexual Harassment Document. This awareness document reflects the commitment of the MPP to contribute to the elimination of gender-based violence, and provides students and staff with resources to...
“Seventy-six years ago, the United Nations was created as a vehicle of hope for a world emerging from the shadow of catastrophic conflict. Today, the women and men of the UN carry this hope forward around the globe. COVID-19, conflicts, hunger, poverty and the climate emergency remind us that our world is far from perfect. But they also make clear that solidarity is the only way forward. “We need to come together to tackle great challenges and advance the Sustainable Developme...
“The Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways. The point is however to change it” reads the tombstone of Karl Marx in London quoting one of his works. Of course, this applies not only to the worldly philosophers but to economists as well. And in homage to his call, most of our articles carry at least a paragraph on ‘insights for policy’ or ‘policy recommendations’. Usually our work also starts with some anecdotal evidence on the problem to which the inferences of the article ...
Thinking ahead to International Women’s Day on Monday I recalled two pivotal resolutions the United Nations General Assembly had adopted within a week of each other in 1972, one (27/2951) on December 11 establishing the United Nations University and the other (27/3010), on December 18, proclaiming 1975 as International Women’s Year. It is instructive to put those two resolutions in the chronological context of the Education Amendments of 1972 in the United States, enacted barely six months earli...
Women researchers have been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, with female scientists across the globe playing pivotal roles, from advancing knowledge on the virus, to developing vaccines, treating patients and assessing the pandemic’s devastating economic and social impact. However, the health crisis has laid bare disparities in the scientific system. Girls are significantly under-represented in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at school, and women occ...
As many as 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to functioning toilets, and more than 4 billion use toilets that may be contaminating water sources, according to the latest Sustainable Development Goals Report (2020). This matters because sanitation feeds into almost every other SDG through improving heath, reducing child mortality and school absenteeism, and even promoting gender empowerment. Governments, public agencies, firms and charities are working hard to build toilets for the po...
#EarthDay2020 The Green Academy Project proved to me yet again that if we as academics participate in co-designed projects with social enterprises and NGOs, we can create real community value as well as scientific papers! This project is also a milestone for SITE4Society for it is serving to train students from Maastricht University’s School of Business and Economics, making them grow and providing them with splendid material for their Bachelor dissertations...
A UN Day 2019 message from UNU Rector and UN Under-Secretary-General David M. Malone ••• United Nations Day (24 October) is a time to reflect on how the UN benefits us all by addressing vital issues that are the common concern of all humankind. The UN Charter was written in the name of “We the peoples of the United Nations,” but the UN is inherently an organisation of its member states. The paradox is that it relies tremendously on public support, as the struggle against climate change makes cle...