The WORLD Policy Analysis Center is a non-profit policy research center based at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health that aims to improve the quantity and quality of globally comparative data on policies affecting human health, development, well-being, and equity by collecting and analyzing sources of information on rights, laws, and policies. With this data, WORLD informs policy debates, facilitates comparative studies of policy progress, feasibility, and effectiveness, and advances efforts to improve government transparency and accountability.

Under the leadership of Dr. Jody Heymann, Dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, WORLD’s research team analyzes the state of constitutional rights, laws, and public policies in all UN member states in a range of critical areas, including education, health, environment, adult labor and working conditions, child labor, poverty, equal rights and discrimination, childhood, gender, marriage, families, aging, and disability. WORLD makes its findings publicly accessible to policymakers, citizens, civil society, and researchers in the form of global maps, data tables, and policy analyses.

Priorities as a partner of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

Our vision is a world with increased transparency and accountability around government commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a greater understanding of what works to achieve progress at scale. To that end, WORLD's multidisciplinary research team has created a unique repository of over 1,500 health, social, economic, and environmental policy and program indicators for all 193 UN countries. WORLD is committed to making its data publicly accessible to inform the research and policy efforts of a wide range of stakeholders, including policymakers seeking information on what steps are feasible and effective, civil society organizations committed to working for change and ensuring their governments are as effective as possible, and to researchers analyzing the link between policies and outcomes.