UNDP Asia: PowerPoint Presentation- Reframing DevelopmentOct 2025

Presentation by Philip Schellekens, of UNDP Asia- to Yale Students
on Development
October 2025

1. REFRAMING DEVELOPMENT
How To See, Shape, and Practice It Differently
Philip Schellekens
Chief Economist, UNDP Asia-Pacific

2. Reframing Development —Plan of Talk
1. Development today
2. Seeing development
3. Shaping development
4. Practicing development

3. 1. Development Today —Unmet Aspirations
Source: The SDG Report 2025. Note: Percentages to not add up to 100% due to rounding.
SDG progress based on an assessment of SDG targets with trend data

4. 1. Development Today — Heightened Insecurity
Source: World Values
Survey Wave 7.
Share of respondents worried about job loss or not finding a job (2017-22)

5. 1. Development Today — A More Turbulent Future
Source: World Economic Forum Risks Perception Survey 2025-25. Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Which of the following best characterizes your global outlook in 2 versus 10 years?

6. 2. Reframe How We See Development — All Countries Are
Developing Countries

7. 2. Reframe How We See Development — Crisis Language
Narrows Our Vision, Opportunity Thinking Keeps It Open

8. 3. Reframe How We Shape Development — People First
Enlarge people’s choices
•Tackle structural exclusion
and uphold human dignity
•Enhance human
capabilities
Build stronger human security
•Transform social protection
•Ensure health for human security and
development
•Invest in risk-informed development
•Guarantee food security
Meet obligations to future
generations
•Accelerate just energy transition
and achieve net zero
•Invest in climate resilience
•Protect nature
•Manage public finances responsibly
Human development concepts are
well developed, but poorly
mainstreamed.
We need a systemic reset to place
people at the heart of future
development strategy.

9. 3. Reframe How We Shape Development — Smarter Growth
Revisit overall growth strategies
•Export-led growth requires a change
of tack
•Maximize potential of domestic
markets
•Grow through inclusion
Pursue new opportunities
•Do not de-emphasize manufacturing
•Identify new drivers in agriculture,
services, and their intersection
•Tap into green, blue and care economies
•Leverage technology for development
The call for growth should be
louder, not quieter, as growth
remains essential for human
development.
But we need the right kind of
growth.

10. 3. Reframe How We Shape Development — Make Change
Happen
Real change is rooted in
leadership and
governance.
These aren’t static.
Political will can be
nurtured, and
governance can be
optimized to become
more anticipatory,
adaptable, and agile.

11. 4. Reframe How We Practice Development — Keep Your
Perspective Wide
Are you working on
development or working for
development?
The first puts the discipline at
the center. The second puts
development at the center.
Development is inherently
interdisciplinary. Your own
discipline may provide
powerful tools, but it is only
one lens.
If that is economics, see
yourself as a development
professional who happens to
be trained as an economist.

12. 4. Reframe How We Practice Development — Stay on the
Move
A career in development
should not be linear.
Institutions each have their
own mandates, communities,
and vantage points. And within
each are countless roles, from
research to operations to
policy, that let you contribute
in different ways.
Moving across and within
institutions broadens your
vision, sharpens your skills,
and helps you discover where
you can make the greatest
impact.

13. 4. Reframe How We Practice Development — Don’t Wait to
Follow Your Passion
Passion is rarely something
ready-made. It grows out of
experiences that challenge you
and open new perspectives.
Pursue extracurricular
programs, exchanges, and field
experiences as these are often
just as formative as what
happens in the classroom.
Stay curious, stay open, and
your passion will take shape
along the way.

14. Reframing Development — Summary
1. Development today
Unmet aspirations
Heightened insecurity
A more turbulent future
2. Seeing development
All countries are developing countries
From crisis language to opportunity
thinking
3. Shaping development
People first
Smarter growth
Make change happen
4. Practicing development
Keep your perspective wide
Stay on the move
Don’t wait to follow your passion