Rethinking Poverty today

United Nations University (UNU) Office at the United Nations in New York will present a book launch this afternoon to discuss issues raised in Rethinking Poverty: Report on the World Social Situation 2010, published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

If you’re in NYC, you’re invited to attend, from 3-4:30 p.m. in Conference Room C, Temporary North Lawn Building (TNLB), UN Headquarters.

If you can’t make it to the UN today, the event will include a simultaneous live, interactive webcast. To receive instructions on how to participate in the webcast, please register. The webcast will also be archived online in a few days.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the book and the event:

The negative economic and social impacts of the recent food and energy crises, combined with the threats posed by climate change, challenges the assumption of the sustainability of poverty reduction. Rethinking Poverty: Report on the World Social Situation 2010 disputes the current technocratic vision of poverty reduction and affirms that eradicating poverty requires actions leading to sustainable economic growth, productive employment creation and social development as part of an integrated framework of economic and social policies for the benefit of all citizens.

The event will feature Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), and (Honorary) Research Coordinator for the G-24 Intergovernmental Group on International Monetary Affairs and Development. The Q&A session following the presentation will be moderated by UNU’s Director Dr. Jean-Marc Coicaud.

Read more about the event and the book. [Hat tip to Lynn Fries.]