The usefulness of the collaboration and interaction between WASD and the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) of the United Nations system and the academic world in general is demonstrated by other thematic areas on which the academic interest coincided with the JIU professional work. WASD is very grateful and highly appreciate all the generosity of JIU for providing WASD with the unprecedented opportunity for its members and partners, from universities across the world, to engage into a highly informative and professional discussions on the 2030 Agenda and to hear directly from heads of United Nations organizations and international experts during the various events. WASD is also very grateful for JIU’s highly professional and dedicated staff for all their help and support during the various engagements and events. Moreover, the academic network of WASD appreciates the opportunities it has been given for the first time to express their views and thoughts about the role of policy research in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
In 2017, WASD President participated in the JIU Conference on knowledge management and JIU was represented in the WASD Conference held in Manama. For the first time ever, a JIU Inspector and an academic co-authored a paper, which is published WASD Outlook 2018.
In 2018, WASD collaborated with JIU on the UN project A.435 “Strengthening Policy Research in the Context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” aimed at reviewing the policy research uptake in service of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For the first time in its 52 years of history, WASD helped the UN to officially consult the academics and researchers from all over the world on the policy research uptake in the United Nations, full report here.
The report represents an unprecedented opportunity for academics and researchers from universities and research institutes to express their opinions in a systematic way on this subject. One aspect of the report is to improve the policy research within the United Nations system to help achieve the 2030 SDGs by addressing the significant demand for evidence-based research across the world. (WASD) is inspired by the conviction that the 2030 Agenda and its 17 goals provides momentum for a renewed UN engagement with the academic and research policy institutions and individuals.
In 2019, WASD helped JIU to undertake a UN systemwide review of policies, programmes and platforms to support learning and enhance the adequacy of training policies in the UN. Full report here which was launched officially on the 28th October 2020 during WASD 2020 Online Learning Conference.
The report aims to continue on the various JIU’s recent engagements in the reviewing of various aspects of the production, the retention and the use of knowledge as a strategic asset in the United Nations system. JIU’s report focuses on “Policies, programmes, and platforms in support of learning: towards more coordination, coherence and convergence”. In the United Nations system, three categories of learning service providers are utilized: a) internal resources; b) United Nations system central providers, such as UNITAR and UNSSC; and c) external resources, e.g. learning and training programmes offered by universities. Therefore, this new review targets once again an area where inputs from universities are required. In collaboration with JIU, WASD organised a comprehensive roundtable on e-learning platforms including key British Universities that offer e-learning programmes in areas that are relevant to the activities and mandates of the United Nations organizations – in particular regarding the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, on 17 June 2019.