The Mahbub-ul-Haq Memorial Lecture is given by a leading academic or practitioner who has made important contributions to the field of Human Development, broadly understood. The lecture commemorates the contribution of Mahbub-ul-Haq to this field, and was previously held every two years. With support from the UNDP Human Development Report Office, the lecture will become an annual feature of HDCA conferences starting in 2014.

Past lectures:

• 2023: S. Subramanian, Independent Researcher and Former Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, India
  "Measurement Is Not Everything, But It Does Make A Difference"
• 2022: Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), University of Delhi
  Julia Steinberger, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds
  "Action for Green Transformation Needs Politics of Inclusion"
• 2020: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, The New School
  "Rescuing Human Development from the HDI: a human development agenda for the 21st century"
• 2019: Rupert Read, Reader in Philosophy, University of East Anglia
  "The end of globalisation and the return of localisation: How climate change breakdown terminates developmentality"
• 2018: Santiago Levy, Interamerican Development Bank,
  “Informality and Social Inclusion”
• 2017: Selim Jahan, Director of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York.
• 2016: Rima Khalaf, Former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia from 2010 to 2017.
  "Autocracy, Conflict and De-Development in the Arab World: Changing Mindsets, Altering Paths"
• 2015: Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico, Yale University.
  “Tales from Latin America and Africa: Growing Policy Challenges at a Time of Vanishing Tailwinds”
• 2014: Dame Barbara Mary Stocking, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.
  "Changing Public Policies to Achieve Human Development and Public Good: Lessons from 12 years as CE of a campaigning organization."
• 2013: Susan Pick,  National University of Mexico.
  "Psychosocial Barriers as Impediments to the Expansion of Functionings and Capabilities: the Case of Mexico"
• 2011: Thomas Pogge, Yale University.
  "The Health Impact Fund as Justice-enhancing Institutional Innovation"
• 2009: Kaushik Basu, Cornell University.
  "Rights and Categories: Welfare and Development"
• 2007: Amartya Sen, Harvard University.
  "The Idea of Justice"