The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) is launching the #CrisesofInequality Media Contest for the best journalistic materials to showcase the key themes of the Institute’s 2022 Flagship Report: Crises of Inequality: Shifting Power for a New Eco-Social Contract launched on 21 October 2022.

The purpose of this contest is to call on journalists to help us increase awareness on the urgency to build a new eco-social contract based on visions of justice, equality and sustainability. 

If you are a journalist working at the intersection of social and environmental justice and want to explore the role of elites and policy makers in driving or mitigating inequalities, the impacts of inequalities and crises on people’s lives, and individual and collective strategies to reclaim rights, submit your entry to participate in UNRISD’s #CrisesOfInequality Media Contest.

Last submission date is 4 December 2022 by 23:59 CET (extended deadline). Read below about eligibility requirements. Winners will be announced in early 2023.

→ Watch this short video on how to participate

About the Flagship Report

 Through the lenses of intersectionality and power, UNRISD’s 2022 Flagship Report shows how inequalities and crises reinforce and compound each other, leading to extreme disparity, vulnerability and unsustainability. It argues that this is not the result of a broken system but one in which inequality and injustice are built in by design, to the great detriment of people and planet. There is perhaps no stronger evidence of the pressing need to redesign our global system than the fact that a global health crisis  doubled  the wealth of the 10 richest men in the world while sending upwards of 120 million people into extreme poverty.

 The report’s key messages are:

• Our world is in a state of fracture – the social contract is broken

•      Not a flaw in the system, but a feature

•   Inequality is a driver, an amplifier and a consequence of multiple crises, creating a vicious cycle

• Vulnerable and marginalized groups are falling further behind; elites shield themselves and often exploit crises for their own gain

•    We can create pathways towards a new eco-social contract based on visions of justice, equality and sustainability

• We need a new development model for social, economic and climate justice

•   Only if we rebalance existing power structures and create new alliances can we achieve transformative change

 UNRISD’s flagship reports are recognized for deepening development debates, shaping policies, and putting critical issues squarely onto global agendas. The reports provide a wealth of evidence, analysis and proposals that can help people to make informed judgments on pressing global issues and to learn about potential policy solutions and political strategies.