Open seminar 18 February 2016 on the 2015 Human Development Report

Dr. Selim Jahan, Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office and editor-in-chief of the 2015 Human Development Report (HDR): Work for Human Development will be a keynote speaker at an open seminar where the 2015 HDR and its main findings will be introduced. The seminar will be held on Thursday, 18 February 2016, at 3:00pm in the lecture hall of the National Museum of Iceland.

The Icelandic Minister of Housing and Social Affairs, Mrs. Eygló Harðardóttir will give opening remarks. Following Dr. Jahan´s presentation, he will participate in a panel with Icelandic experts discussing the contents of the report and the situation in the Icelandic job market in a global context.

The panellists are Dr. Katrín Ólafsdóttir, assistant professor at School of Business at the University of Reykjavík, Drífa Snædal, general secretary of the Federation of General and Special workers in Iceland and Dr. Kolbeinn Stefánsson, specialist at Statistics Iceland.

The 2015 Human Development Report explores how work can enhance human development, given that the world of work is changing fast and that substantial human development challenges remain. The report encourages governments to look beyond the formal sector and to consider the many kinds of work — such as unpaid care, voluntary or creative work – which also improve the well-being of people and societies. The 2015 HDR makes the point that the link between work and human development is not automatic and proper policies and strategies are needed to ensure mutual positive synergies of work and human development. 

Even though women carry out the major share of global work, they face disadvantage in the world of work, both in paid and unpaid work. According to the 2015 HDR, analyses of total hours worked in time-use surveys show that women contribute 52% of global work to men’s 48% but globally, women earn 24% less than men. Women also occupy less than a quarter of senior business positions. Women carry out 3 out of 4 hours of unpaid work whereas men account for 2 out of every 3 hours of paid work. Since women do most of caring for elders, an aging population raises challenges for their choices.

The open seminar will be in English. Admission is free and open to all. 

Visit http://report.hdr.undp.org/ to access the Report.