December 2011: The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has published the October-December issue of its Inclusive Growth bulletin. The bulletin contains highlights from new IPC-IG publications and events.

In a message, Rathin Roy, IPC-IG Director, underlines that reducing inequality must be an overarching policy goal in order to achieve inclusive and sustainable development, either in the South or in the North. He stresses that the path towards inclusive growth requires a long-term perspective with a key focus on social protection and employment generation, and that ensuring food security and adaptation to climate change are of increasing importance for achieving inclusive growth. Roy highlights that IPC-IG has been advocating that “South-South cooperation today is not an alternative way of approaching the challenges of development; it is the mainstream.” He adds that as a contribution to South-South policy exchanges, IPC-IG has been actively involved in the providing fast policy responses to crises, such as the East Africa food crisis, and contributing to national development debates, ranging from Yemen to the Philippines.

The bulletin reports that the latest issue of the “Poverty in Focus” magazine examines the inter-related dimensions of growth, gender, poverty and environment for socially inclusive and sustainable development. It also highlights new IPC-IG publications, including working papers on: Dimensions of Inclusive Development; Assessment of the Implications of the Bolsa Familia Programme for the Decent Work Agenda; and Bolsa Familia as Seen Through the Lens of the Decent Work Agenda. In addition, the Bulletin presents learning materials from the IPC-IG weekly seminar series on development policy, which were promoted throughout 2011 with the objective of informing international cooperation in the field of social policy. [Publication: Inclusive Growth Bulletin Issue #11]