An exploration of the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the international arena, this work examines the full range of NGO relationships and actions. It concludes with a proposal for an alternative division of responsibility and labour between governmental and non-governmental actors.
Summarizes both the panel presentations & the discussion sessions from the U.N. conference on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) & global governance held on October 30- November 1, 1995 in Geneva. Convened to bring together a representative group of NGOs that have been participating in U.N. events for the past few years, & U.N. staff with direct experience working with NGOs. The conference addressed a number of key questions on the U.N., NGO, & U.N.-NGO agendas. Includes a listing of participants, conference agenda, & listing of acronyms.
This book assesses the structural power mechanisms that shape global ICT governance and analyses the impact of NGOs on communication rights, intellectual property rights, financing, and Internet governance.
Why are non-state actors sometimes granted participation rights in international organizations? This book argues that IOs, and the states that compose them, systematically pursue their interests when granting participation rights to NSAs. This book demonstrates that NSAs have long been participants in global governance institutions, and that states and bureaucracies have not always resisted their inclusion. At the same time, this study encourages skepticism of the assumption that increasing participation should be expected with the passage of time. The result is a study that challenges some commonly held assumptions about the interests of IOs and states, while providing an interesting comparison of secretariat and state interests with regard to one particular aspect of IO institutional rule and practice: the participation of non-state actors. Addressing the regular assumption that the power of states and the efficacy of multilateral governance have simply wilted in the heat of globalization while NSAs have flourished, this work features analysis of key institutions such as UNCEF, UNDP and the Environment Programme. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of international relations, the United Nations, and NGOs.
The UN is able to recognize key global challenges, but beset by difficulties in trying to resolve them. In this, it represents the current global political balance, but is also the only international institution that could move it forward. Civil society can be a catalyst for this kind of change. In this book, Nora McKeon provides a comprehensive analysis of UN engagement with civil society. The book pays particular attention to food and agriculture, which now lie at the heart of global governance issues. McKeon shows that politically meaningful space for civil society can be introduced into UN policy dialogue. The United Nations and Civil Society also makes the case that it is only by engaging with organizations which legitimately speak for the 'poor' targeted by the Millennium Development Goals that the UN can promote equitable, sustainable development and build global democracy from the ground up. This book has strong ramifications for global governance, civil society and the contemporary debate over the future of food.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Amnesty International and Oxfam to Greenpeace and Save the Children are now key players in global politics. This accessible and informative textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the significant role and increasing participation of NGOs in world politics. Peter Willetts examines the variety of different NGOs, their structure, membership and activities, and their complex relationship with social movements and civil society. He makes us aware that there are many more NGOs exercising influence in the United Nations system than the few famous ones. Conventional thinking is challenged in a radical manner on four questions: the extent of the engagement of NGOs in global policy- making; the status of NGOs within international law; the role of NGOs as crucial pioneers in the creation of the Internet; and the need to integrate NGOs within mainstream international relations theory. This is the definitive guide to this crucial area within international politics and should be required reading for students, NGO activists, and policy-makers.
This book contends that civil society must mobilize its capacities to bring a new will to national and international politics and oblige governments to act. It starts by demonstrating the need for institutional change at the UN and then shows how, both in the past and the present, leading individuals and nongovernmental organizations, using their knowledge base and their organizational networks, have lead the fight for international organizations. After a summary of major UN reform proposals over the years, the book concludes by identifying leading global ""reformers"" and elaborating a detailed plan for a global reform movement to spearhead the modernization of the UN system.
Why are non-state actors sometimes granted participation rights in international organizations? This book argues that IOs, and the states that compose them, systematically pursue their interests when granting participation rights to NSAs. This book demonstrates that NSAs have long been participants in global governance institutions, and that states and bureaucracies have not always resisted their inclusion. At the same time, this study encourages skepticism of the assumption that increasing participation should be expected with the passage of time. The result is a study that challenges some commonly held assumptions about the interests of IOs and states, while providing an interesting comparison of secretariat and state interests with regard to one particular aspect of IO institutional rule and practice: the participation of non-state actors. Addressing the regular assumption that the power of states and the efficacy of multilateral governance have simply wilted in the heat of globalization while NSAs have flourished, this work features analysis of key institutions such as UNCEF, UNDP and the Environment Programme. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of international relations, the United Nations, and NGOs.