UNU-EHS and its projects reflect the overall mission of UNU: “Advancing Knowledge for Human Security and Development”. Following the mission, UNU-EHS spearheads UNU’s research and capacity building activities in the broad interdisciplinary field of ‘risk and vulnerability’, which is also reflected in the projects of UNU-EHS.

In trying to resolve the many and serious global challenges – from poverty to weak governance to humanitarian emergencies – facing the world today, there is growing emphasis on the critical contribution of knowledge. This is particularly true in a globalizing world, where there is a shift towards a knowledge-based society. The production and dissemination of knowledge to all is also important for the UN System. The UNU-EHS contributes to more in-depth knowledge and better understanding of major processes, including scenarios for change and improvement as well as of the core institutions involved.

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Selection Process

In selecting the programmes and projects of the University, assessment is based on a number of criteria – relevance to UN priorities, the extent of the problem and the potential for replicability of solutions, relevance to developing countries, whether the issue relates to a critical gap in knowledge or capacity and whether UNU-EHS has a distinct comparative advantage.

Find out more about the different UNU-EHS projects:

You can find out about other UNU-EHS projects here.