"This publication contains the 'Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework', which were developed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The Special Representative annexed the Guiding Principles to his final report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/17/31), which also includes an introduction to the Guiding Principles and an overview of the process that led to their development. The Human Rights Council endorsed the Guiding Principles in its resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011."--P. iv.
This short introduction to the United Nations analyzes the organization as itis today, and how it can be transformed to respond to its critics. Combiningessential information about its history and workings with practical proposalsof how it can be strengthened, Trent and Schnurr examine what needs to bedone, and also how we can actually move toward the required reforms. Thisbook is written for a new generation of change-makers — a generation seekingbetter institutions that reflect the realities of the 21st century and that can actcollectively in the interest of all.
The Third UN is the ecology of supportive non-state actors-intellectuals, scholars, consultants, think tanks, NGOs, the for-profit private sector, and the media-that interacts with the intergovernmental machinery of the First UN (member states) and the Second UN (staff members of international secretariats) to formulate and refine ideas and decision-making at key junctures in policy processes. Some advocate for particular ideas, others help analyze or operationalize their testing and implementation; many thus help the UN 'think'. While think tanks, knowledge brokers, and epistemic communities are phenomena that have entered both the academic and policy lexicons, their intellectual role remains marginal to analyses of such intergovernmental organizations as the United Nations.
The mandate of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is close to many of the core issues now confronting developing and transition economy countries, and this book offers the first concise and accessible guide to this important organization. As the only UN organization to have been transformed from a UN secretariat entity to an independently governed UN agency, UNIDO has also an agency which has had to make drastic changes of focus and business practice in order to adjust to a changing environment. This book charts the complex origins and developments of the organization, and moves on to examine the current mandate of the agency, including trade capacity building, poverty reduction and Green Industry Initiative. It also examines the significant partnerships it has formed with other UN based systems such as UNCTAD and the ITC to achieve these goals. In the era of rapid globalization, UNIDO faces growing challenges. In the second part of this work, Browne seeks to review these challenges, and UNIDO’s recent reforms under its current management, and looks suggest how the organization can help to meet some of the key global development challenges in the increasingly competitive environment of development cooperation and private sector initiative. This work will be a useful resource for all those with an interest in international organizations, international relations, development and trade, and international political economy.
This unique book investigates the implications of the rising importance of supra-national regional organizations for global governance in general, and for the United Nations, in particular. It touches upon issues such as regional representation at the UN, high-level dialogues with regional organisations, as well as the coordination of UN member states’ voting behaviour in the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council. The book further explores the regional dimension and coordination of UN operations in areas such as peace and security, human rights, and sustainable development. The contributions to the book are both in-depth chapters and shorter viewpoints, written by a combination of academics, policy-makers at regional organizations, and experts from international think tanks. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of global governance.
The United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC) was established in 1975 and abolished in 1992. It was an early effort by the UN to address the overlapping issues of national sovereignty, corporate responsibility and global governance. These issues have since multiplied and deepened with globalization. This book recounts the UNCTC experience and its lessons for international organizations. This book is not only an insider perspective by two former staff but also a collective memoir of the UNCTC as an international organization that attempted with varying success to defuse the clash between corporates and states that erupted in the turbulent 1970s. This personal account of the UNCTC is a mixture of history, analysis, reflections, and critical commentaries, told in different voices that penetrate the bland persona of international civil service. In this retelling, the authors seek to address misconceptions amongst the more general literature and to seek to provide accounts of both its positive and negative features. The UNCTC experience recounted in this book holds valuable lessons for international organization and will be of interest to student, scholars and practitioners alike.
Global problems require global solutions. The United Nations as presently constituted, however, is incapable of addressing many global problems effectively. One nation– one vote decisionmaking in most UN agencies fails to reflect the distribution of power in the world at large, while the allocation of power in the Security Council is both unfair and anachronistic. Hence, nations are reluctant to endow the United Nations with the authority and the resources it needs. Extensive reform is essential. This analysis is rooted in the proposition that the design of decisionmaking systems greatly affects their legitimacy and effectiveness. Joseph Schwartzberg proposes numerous systemic improvements to the UN system, largely through weighted voting formulas that balance the needs of shareholders and stakeholders in diverse agencies. It indicates ways in which the interests of regions can supplement those of nations while voices of nongovernmental organizations and ordinary citizens can also be heard. In numerous contexts, it promotes meritocracy and gender equity. The book's aim is not to create an unrealistic utopia, but rather to establish a workable world in which the force of law supplants the law of force; a world committed to justice and continuous yet sustainable development. The author argues that, given the many existential threats now confronting our planet, the time frame for decisive action is short. The task is daunting and success is not guaranteed, but in view of the urgency of our situation, we can find ways of mustering the will, imagination, and resources to do the job.
When 51 nations gathered in 1945 to witness the birth of the United Nations, international business groups urged governments to ratify the UN Charter without delay. During the following 55 years, UN and business leaders dismissed each other when they were not engaging in a war of words. This book examines why the global order of the 21st century demands a new partnership between the UN and business. If the UN fails to engage the business community, it is likely to become irrelevant. If global corporations y refuse to support the UN, they will face a closing world with disastrous consequences for the prosperity of all. The UN and business are bound to work together, and indeed they are.
"Everything you always wanted to know about the United Nations in one book! This primer to the United Nations is designed for all global citizens. It covers the history of the UN, what it does and how it does it. As the world's only truly global organization, the United Nations is where countries meet to address universal issues that cannot be resolved by any one of them acting alone. From international peace and security to sustainable development, climate change, human rights, and humanitarian action, the United Nations acts on our behalf around the world." --