United Nations in Bonn New UN research institute begins work
Bonn · The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is now part of the UN family in Bonn. Its focus is on sustainability issues and social justice.
The United Nations in Bonn continues to grow. At the beginning of the year, a new office began operations at the UN Campus: The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is now part of the UN family in Bonn. On Thursday afternoon, the institute introduced itself at a reception in the Old Town Hall. In addition to Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan, Paul Ladd, Director of UNRISD, and Ambassador Jutta Schmitz, Head of the Liaison Office of the Federal Foreign Office, also attended.
UNRISD is an independent research institute within the UN that conducts interdisciplinary research and policy analysis on the social dimensions of current development issues. According to Director Ladd in his welcoming remarks, the aim is always to build a bridge between science and political application. With its research, the institute wants to contribute to the fact that social balance, inclusion and justice are central aspects of thinking, policy and practice in the field of development.
The institute's Bonn office, which will initially have three staff members, will now focus its work entirely on the link between sustainability issues and social justice, explains the head of the bureau, Isabell Kempf. "Social policy and environmental policy must go hand in hand." That is why the aim is to help other organizations and programs to think of these two issues together.
The decision to be located in Bonn was made because the UN works a lot on the topic of sustainability here. Initially, the start of three projects is planned, Kempf continued. "First, we want to examine the impact of financial crises on environmental protection." It has been observed that whenever money becomes scarce, environmental protection projects are the first to be cut back. A project on the social aspect of the restoration of ecosystems (i.e. reforestation) is also planned. "It is important to involve society in such measures," says Kempf.
The third project is concerned with research into the influence of precisely such a restoration project on society. The object of investigation here is the "Great Green Wall of the Sahara and Sahel Initiative", a landscape project of the African Union.
Mayor Sridharan was visibly satisfied that UNRISD has found its way to Bonn. "From the beginning, it was my ambition to further expand the UN family in Bonn," said the CDU politician. He had met twice with Director Ladd in Geneva, where UNRISD has its headquarters, and had held talks. The fact that it finally succeeded in attracting UNRISD to Bonn was also thanks to the support of the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
(Orig. text: Matthias Lorenz / Translation: Carol Kloeppel)
