Special Representative of IDLO; Former Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office; Former UN Resident Coordinator in China; Former Director of UNDP Evaluation Office

 

Professor and Party Secretary, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University

 

Time: Wednesday, October 23, 2019 14:00-15:00

Venue: Room 302, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University

 

Progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. It is the product of enhanced capabilities of individuals coming together in a functioning society. With the right policies and institutional and societal support, much can be achieved. Like the MDGs before, the 2030 development agenda (SDGs) represents a global framework for the acceleration of human progress. At the core of the 2030 agenda of course is the search for justice.

 

Eliminating poverty, reducing inequality, and addressing discrimination, are all essential for a more just and sustainable society. SDG 16 in particular is about access to justice and the need for accountable institutions. But the analytical narrative that can help to achieve results and understand how the pursuit of justice profoundly influences the achievement of the SDGs is often lacking. In his paper on SDGs and Justice, Khalid Malik seeks to contribute to that narrative, with a focus on SDG 16, and presents the argument that we have to shift gears in our understanding of justice as we seek to deliver on the SDGs. It draws upon human development thinking and positions the conversation in the context of the debate about fair societies and equity.

 

Khalid Malik was a former Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office from June 2011 until 31 August 2014. He has held a variety of senior management and substantive positions in the United Nations. He served as UN Resident Coordinator in China (2003–2010), Director, UNDP Evaluation Office (1997-2003) and Chair, UN Evaluation Group, and other senior level advisor positions. Earlier he was UN Representative in Uzbekistan. He has been active on UN reform and has worked closely with development partners and UN intergovernmental bodies. In 2009, Mr. Malik was one of ten “champions” - and the only foreigner - to be honored for their contributions to the protection of the environment in China. 

 

Mr. Malik has written widely on a range of topics. His latest book "Why China Has Grown So Fast for So Long" was published in 2012 by Oxford University Press.  Earlier, he co-edited “Capacity for Development: New Solutions to Old Problems” (2002), and Lessons Learned in Crisis and Post Conflict Situations (2002). Before joining the UN, Mr. Malik taught and conducted research at the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (1975) and at Pembroke College, Oxford (1974-75). He studied economics and statistics at the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Essex and Punjab.