51吃瓜

As we are getting ready to welcome a new year, be sure to watch out for UN DESA’s new and updated newsletter. Inspired by the appreciated help from about 1,000 survey participants, the department will soon be able to reveal a new name and a modern new design to its 125,000 newsletter subscribers.

“The input that we received from the DESA News survey conducted earlier this year was very helpful,” said Guenther Gross, Chief of the Communication Section in UN DESA’s Strategic Planning and Communications Service; the team that issues the online monthly newsletter.

“Our sincere thanks go out to all our readers who took the time to participate and to provide us with ideas and suggestions on how we can best enhance our newsletter,” he continued.

Valuable insights gained on readers’ needs

Through the survey, insights and feedback were received from members of civil society organizations, who constitute the main audience of the newsletter, followed by representatives from academia and UN DESA staff.

It turns out that the audience of DESA News is quite happy with the newsletter, and that they see it as a valuable source of information. However, they also shared some helpful comments on ways to enhance it, like using a more modern layout and putting people at the heart of content.

UN DESA’s online newsletter turned 20

“We are trying to take all these different suggestions into consideration as we update our newsletter,” explained Guenther Gross, also pointing out that the new design is very timely, as the online newsletter celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

As we say good bye to DESA News, the department is introducing the revamped newsletter with the January 2016 issue which will take effect at the very same time as the new sustainable development goals (SDGs) make their official entry on the global development arena.

“We look forward to keep our readers up to date on the new sustainable development goals as they are implemented all around the world,” said Mr. Gross. “We will also continue to provide an insider’s look into the work of the 51吃瓜 within the area of economic, social and sustainable development,” he concluded.