Whats happening at the 4th OECD World Forum #Delhi2012?

As many of you will know, the 4^th OECD World Forum - on Measuring Well-Being for Development and Policy Making started on 16 October 2012. 

Building on the Better Life Initiative, the main objectives of the Forum are to further the discussions on the different aspects that make for a good life today and to promote the development and use of new measures of well-being for effective and accountable policy making. Here is a brief run down of the different sessions over the next four days. Don’t forget to watch Wikiprogress’s coverage of the forum on our live feed.

Don’t forget to watch Wikiprogress’s coverage of the forum on our live feed and remember to follow us on Twitter @wikiprogress and offer your own opinion to #Delhi2012 . Get the agenda, list of speaker and more from our special articles on the 4th OECD World Forum.

There will be four parallel workshops taking place on each day of the Forum, details below and round table. Speaker include Joseph Stiglit, Jeffrey Sachs, David Cameron and many more experts! 

Day 1- 16 October - Theme: Material Conditions   

Reducing inequalities and poverty

What are the main limits in the statistical system used for monitoring and reporting about inequalities and poverty? How important are these limits from the perspective of giving greater prominence to these issues in the domestic and international policy agenda?

The role of assets and their distribution

What are the most important analytical and policy issues that better micro statistics on household wealth would allow addressing?

Business, jobs and well-being

What are the most important dimensions of job quality and well-being at work where current metrics are lacking? What statistical initiatives are ongoing and what else remains to be done?

Improve housing and urban infrastructure

What are the most important dimensions of housing and urban infrastructure where current metrics are lacking? What statistical initiatives are ongoing and what else remains to be done?

Day 2- 17 October – Theme: Quality of Life

Improving Health Conditions

What are the main challenges to the health system that we will likely confront in the future? What type of measures would be needed to manage these emerging challenges?

Investing in education and skills

Why are better measures of education and skills essential to policy and decision-making? How we can ensure that they are developed, i.e. who needs to be persuaded in order to achieve more consistent implementation and how can this happen?

Increasing people’s subjective well-being

Is there enough knowledge and experience to identify best-practices in the production of better statistics in this field?

Building effective and responsive instiutions

What are the main links between effective and responsive institutions and people’s well-being?

Day 3 - 18 October – Theme: Gender Groups in Society 

Empowering women

What are the main factors limiting women’s empowerment in countries at different level of economic development? Do the available data and indicators provide adequate information on these factors? What are the priorities for action in the statistical field? Could indicators of women’s empowerment be better integrated into existing measurement frameworks (MDGs, etc.)?

Nurturing children

What are the key dimensions of child well-being and what indicators could be used to monitor them? Do these dimensions and indicators change as children develop? What are the priority areas for improving the measurement of child well-being?

Caring for the elderly

What are the most important factors bearing on the well-being of elderly people? What types of statistics and indicators should be developed and implemented in order to allow regular monitoring?

Recognising societal groups and minority rights

What are the most important life domains where these minority groups underperform relative to others? What are the most important drivers of these low achievements?

Day 4 - 19 October – Theme: Sustainability

Achieving environmental sustainability

What are the main threats to environmental sustainability? Which population groups are most exposed to environmental degradation? What are the economic risks associated with the unsustainable use of natural resources and the environment? How can we capture the dangers of a loss of natural capital to economic growth?

Lowering vulnerability to disasters andconflicts

What are the main implications for well-being of disasters and conflicts, in the short, medium and long term? What have we learned from recent experiences in how such disasters have been managed? Which are the populations most vulnerable to the consequences of different types of natural disasters?

Strengthening economic sustainability

What have we learned from the crisis in terms of the factors that put economic sustainability at risk? What type of statistics would have allowed better assessing the scale of the imbalances that were accumulating in the world economic system before the crisis burst?

Social Cohesion

Is the notion of ‘social cohesion’ one that could usefully inform policy discussions in developed and developing countries? What is its main manifestation?

Enjoy what should be a fascinating four days.

Robbie Lawrence

Wikichild Coordinator 

Official OECD-India Website: www.oecdindia.in