Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair in Global Governance & Legal Epidemiology, Professor Steven J Hoffman Chosen to Lead Development of United Nations Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery

The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation is delighted Professor Steven J Hoffman, director of the Global Strategy Lab at York University, Toronto and Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair in Global Governance & Legal Epidemiology in the Faculty of Health and Osgoode Hall Law School, has been appointed by the UN Deputy Secretary-General to lead development of a United Nations Research Roadmap for COVID-19 Recovery.

On behalf of the Foundation, Victor Dahdaleh said: ‘It is fantastic to see Professor Hoffman chosen to lead this initiative with core aim to build back better post-COVID-19 and make sure no one is left behind. Professor Hoffman has been asked to submit his final report to the UN Deputy Secretary General in September 2020 ahead of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.’

Further details on The UN Research Roadmap

The UN Research Roadmap will engage researchers, implementers, funders and citizens around the world to identify priority knowledge needs and research areas for rebuilding after the pandemic and safeguarding progress towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The UN Research Roadmap will link urgent research initiatives to a unifying global framework and advocate for evidence-informed policies addressing inequalities and placing human rights at the centre.

This new UN Research Roadmap will align research funding and efforts in support of the five priorities identified in the UN Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19 published in April 2020. Those five priorities are:

• protecting health services and systems;
• ensuring social protection and basic services;
• protecting jobs, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and informal sector workers;
• supporting macroeconomic response and multilateral collaboration;
• strengthening social cohesion and community resilience.

Environmental sustainability and gender equality will be part of the research effort to build a greener, more inclusive, gender-equal and sustainable world, with specific attention to at-risk populations experiencing the highest degree of socio-economic marginalization.

The UN Research Roadmap for the COVID-19 Recovery is intended to ensure national and international strategies are informed by rigorous social scientific evidence generated in anticipation of, and during, the COVID-19 recovery period.        

Details of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research can be found here. Dr. James Orbinski is the inaugural Director of the Dahdaleh Institute.  It was founded in 2015 at York University, Toronto, through an endowment from Victor Phillip Dahdaleh,  the largest donation by an alumnus in the university’s history. For further information on The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation visit the Foundation’s website or contact Matthew Moth at Madano on t: +44 (0)7770 381 263 or e: matthew.moth@madano.com