The Development Institute receives the visit of Marta Pedrajas of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

On Thursday 10 November, the Development Institute of Loyola University invited PhD Marta Pedrajas to the Campus of Seville for a working session with the aim of learning about the activity of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DSDHI) of the Holy See and to bring her closer to the work that is being carried out in Human Development at Loyola University.

The session was held in the afternoon and was attended by the staff of the Development Institute, as well as representatives of the Development Commission of Loyola University. During the session, coordinated by PhD Mª Luz Ortega, PhD Pedrajas explained the current configuration of the Dicastery, its objectives and functions; a Dicastery that is in a phase of reorganisation and which she urged to collaborate with the Development Institute.

In a second moment, he addressed the origin and evolution of “The Economy of Francesco”, a movement born out of Pope Francis’ call to young people in 2019 to make a pact to “change today’s economy and give a soul to tomorrow’s economy”. Although the meeting planned for March 2020 was frustrated by the pandemic, this did not stop the young people from continuing to work and dream of a new economy until they formed ther the Economy of Francesco movement, whose meeting was finally held last October in the Italian town of Assisi. In this way, Pedrajas invited Loyola University to create spaces that would allow university students to get closer to the Economy of Francesco.

After a debate, the meeting concluded with a speech by Marta Pedrajas in which she valued the trajectory of cooperation and human development of Loyola University and urged to promote an alliance with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development that will allow us to walk together in the mission of promoting Integral Human Development and the care of the Common Home.

Marta Pedrajas, a researcher with strong links to integral human development

Marta Pedrajas holds a PhD in Philosophy and Economics from the Universidad de Valencia and a Master’s degree in Social Doctrine of the Church. Her doctoral thesis explored the philosophical and economic foundations of Amartya Sen’s theory of Human Development.

Pedrajas’ professional career is linked to research and the design of policies related to human development. She currently works as a researcher at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, where she has been responsible for the coordination and development of the Economy of Francesco. From 2015 to 2020, Marta Pedrajas worked at UNDP as Policy Specialist in the Strategic Policy Unit, in the Office of the Director of the Policy Bureau and in the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau. Previously, she was an Advisory Spokesperson at the General Secretariat for International Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she coordinated the planning of Spanish Cooperation, the Spanish position for the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Financing for Development.