Launch of the 2013 United Nations Human Development Report at UJ

Date: May 22, 2013 | News

The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World

The Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Johannesburg (UJ), Prof Ihron Rensburg, will be hosting the first dialogue session of a series of high profile international dialogues at UJ’s School of Tourism and Hospitality at the Bunting Road Campus, on Wednesday, 22 May 2013. ​

The dialogue session, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme; the National Research Foundation (NRF) SARChi Chair for African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy; and UJ’s School of Leadership, will mark the South African launch of the Human Development Report (HDR) entitled The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World. The launch, hosted by UJ’s Division for Internationalisation, is scheduled for 17:30 –19:30, today.

The Report is released at a time when South Africa has become an important player in global affairs by joining multilateral fora such as IBSA, G-20 and BRICS. It examines the profound shift in global dynamics driven by the fast-rising new powers of the developing world and its long-term implications for human development. Policies rooted in this new global reality that could promote greater progress throughout the world for decades to come are also identified in the Report. The Human Development Report calls for far better representation of the South in global governance systems and points to potential new sources of financing within the South for essential public goods.

The launch session will take the form of a panel discussion reflecting on key issues related to South Africa’s development and the implications of the “Rise of the South” for South Africa. The discussion will be facilitated by Prof. Chris Landsberg​, SARChi Chair: African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at UJ. Key speakers include, Dr Agostinho Zacarias, UNDP Resident Representative for South Africa and Dr Candice Moore, Department of Politics,​ UJ.

The launch will also be a platform to discuss how Turkey, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia and many other developing nations are becoming leading actors on the world stage. A key element of the international leadership platform is its character of engagement between scholars, researchers, higher education leadership, students, and international policy makers.​​​​