Reduced Inequalities

With its central pledge to leave no one behind and to reach the furthest behind first, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development echoes the commitment to promoting social inclusion contained in the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development. In SDG Target 10.2, countries explicitly committed to promoting the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status. Yet in many contexts, these ascribed characteristics remain a significant source of disadvantage. A sizeable share of total inequality in income is explained by inherited characteristics that should have no bearing on life chances, for example, 77 per cent in South Africa, 66 per cent in Brazil, 50 per cent in India and 49 per cent in Bulgaria. These inequalities are unfair and persistent, often passed from one generation to the next through interlinked disadvantages in health, education, nutrition, and access to decent work. Given persistent and high inequalities, improving the terms of participation for people who are disadvantaged on the basis of their group characteristics through enhanced access to opportunities, resources, voice and respect for rights is crucial to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This brief illustrates how inequality in opportunity between different population groups can be quantified using existing household survey data, drawing on analysis conducted for the 2025 edition of the World Social Report.

Research and data indicate that wealth inequality is more concentrated than income inequality and that there is a high correlation between both variables. Yet, most empirical studies on the determinants of economic inequality focus on income and not wealth inequality and they rarely examine the nexus between the two variables. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the impact of income inequality on the distribution of wealth using panel data and controlling for the roles of financial inclusion and other potential drivers of wealth inequality. We find evidence that lagged wealth and savings rates increase wealth inequality globally as well as in the developed and developing countries samples. We also find that income inequality and return on deposits are dis-equalizing in developing countries while financial inclusion is equalizing in developed countries. In both the global and developing countries samples, financial inclusion has a negative relationship with wealth inequality, but the coefficients are not statistically significant. The findings of the paper have important policy implications for national efforts to address wealth inequality.

This paper empirically explores the relationship between export diversification and income inequality. Using a sample of 182 countries from 1998 to 2018, the study employs a fixed effects model to examine the interaction between diversification and inequality. The results show a statistically significant linear positive association between export diversification and income inequality. The study also finds heterogeneity in the association across income and commodity-dependence groups, with the result holding in the subsamples comprising low-income, and commodity-dependent developing countries. The results remain significant to a series of robustness checks. This suggests that while export diversification is associated with rising income, it may initially benefit specific groups, leading to higher inequality. The paper emphasizes the importance of inclusive policies to ensure that the benefits of diversification extend to vulnerable groups from an early stage; it proposes recommendations for governments to promote inclusive diversification efforts.

The World Social Report 2025 warns that piecemeal approaches are no match for the scale and interconnectedness of today’s challenges. Rising economic insecurity, persistent inequality, eroding trust, and social fragmentation demand coordinated responses grounded in a shared commitment to equality, social justice, and solidarity. The 2025 World Summit for Social Development offers a chance to reaffirm the Copenhagen Declaration and reapply its principles to current realities, restoring a holistic vision of social progress as the foundation of a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future.

The book “When Juncture Meets Structure: Vignettes on Development and the COVID-19 Crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean” is based on the “Graph for Thought” series, and brings together 30 data-driven vignettes to tell the story of structural development challenges in the LAC region and how this is changing in the wake of the pandemic.

This policy brief draws attention to the value of external audits to Governments’ efforts to leave no one behind. It highlights some impacts of audit reports on equity, equality and inclusion. It then presents observations and examples from a review of audit report recommendations, which can inform and guide Governments in strengthening their work in this area.

The post-electoral survey presents the most important facts and results about 2021 Parliamentary Elections. The main purpose of the survey was to measure the impact of civic education campaigns of voters aimed at changes in voters’ perception of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training (CCET) activity. The data are analyzed in comparison with three other poste-electoral surveys: Presidential Elections held in November 2020, Parliamentary Elections held in February 2019 and Local General Elections held in October 2019. The research was conducted on the basis of a nationally representative sample, covering both rural and urban areas. The target group included the population with the right to vote aged 18 years and over, residing in 314 localities across the country. 70% of questionnaires were developed in Romanian, and 30% in Russian. The sampling error is ± 2.6%. The data were collected in August – September 2021. The opinion survey has been conducted in the framework of the “Enhancing Democracy in Moldova through Inclusive and Transparent Elections” project implemented by UNDP Moldova, with the financial support from the American people provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The expressed points of view belong to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the UNDP, financing institution or Government of the Republic of Moldova.

Thirty years ago, Member States gathered at the first World Summit for Social Development recognized that good health is both a consequence and a driver of social development and committed to reducing mortality rates among children under age 5. Since then, levels of child mortality have fallen significantly (United Nations, 2024). Yet, as the world prepares for the Second World Summit for Social Development in November 2025, profound disparities in child health and survival persist within and among countries, making it difficult for those furthest behind to break out of mutually rein-forcing cycles of poor health, poverty and social exclusion. This policy brief explores disparities in child mortality within and among countries and provides a series of recommendations aimed at ending preventable child deaths and reducing inequalities in child survival in different contexts.