As one of the "joint crisis initiatives" taken by the Chiefs Executives Board (CEB) of the United Nations System, UN-DESA has started developing an Integrated Monitoring and Analysis System (IMAS) which aims at establishing a reliable monitoring and analysis system to alert policy makers about vulnerabilities that could hurt countries under changing global economic conditions. IMAS tries to address three challenges:

(i) to bring existing information together into an effective monitoring framework that allows for real-time assessments of the economic and social impacts of changing conditions in the world economy;

(ii) to analyze risks related to different types of shocks, their transmissions, and likely effects on developing countries and various population groups and

(iii) to inform policy makers so that they can design adequate responses and monitor the effectiveness of the policy actions taken.

While the system is still under development, the outcomes of initial work are being reported in the World Economic and Vulnerability Monitor published alongside the Monthly Briefing on the World Economic Situation and Prospects. The publications shown below concentrate on measuring the impact of global economic ‘shocks’ and trends on the evolution of trade activity worldwide, per region, per sector of specialization, etc., as well as on implied vulnerability of such shocks through food and energy prices. Next issues will focus on the impacts on employment, migration, and food security.

Vulnerability Monitor No. 1: Global Vulnerability to Trade Shocks

Vulnerability Monitor No. 2: Global Vulnerability to Food and Energy Price Shocks

Vulnerability Monitor No. 3: World trade recovers, but developing country vulnerability to commodity price swings remains / Datasets

Methodological Notes to the World Economic Vulnerability Monitor: Trade shock analysis. Overview and methodology

UNITAR presentation: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Trade