« Previous |
1 - 50 of 100
|
Next »
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. Good Peacebuilding Financing: Recommendations for Revitalizing Commitments
- Author:
- Sarah Cliffe, Paige Arthur, and Betty N. Wainaina
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- At a moment of intense global pressure due to the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, support for prevention and peacebuilding remains as vital as ever. This brief offers action-oriented recommendations to advance new and more inclusive approaches to peacebuilding financing on the eve of the UN High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding Financing.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, United Nations, Finance, and Peacebuilding
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
3. New Rules, Same Practice? Analysing UN Development System Reform Effects at the Country Level
- Author:
- Silke Weinlich, Max Otto Baumann, Maria Cassens-Sasse, Rebecca Hadank-Rauch, Franziska Leibbrandt, Marie Pardey, Manuel Simon, and Anina Strey
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- With its unique multilateral assets, the United Nations Development System (UNDS) should be playing a key role in assisting governments and other stakeholders with their implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. But this requires change. Despite improvements in recent decades, too often the UNDS has continued to act as a loose assemblage of competing entities, undermining its effective support for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) implementation. It is against that backdrop that the UNDS has been undergoing an extensive reform – that was decided on in 2018 and has been implemented since 2019 – to provide more coherent, integrated support in line with requirements of the 2030 Agenda to United Nations (UN) programme countries. What effects have the reforms yielded at the country level? This paper presents the main findings, conclusions and recommendations from our research on UNDS reform implementation. It does so with a focus on reform-induced changes towards what we call a strengthened, collective offer at the country level. Overall, our research shows that reform implementation is moving the needle on the quality of the collective offer. In particular, with regard to its institutional element, we observed that the reform has fostered change in how UN country teams work together that is in line with what the 2030 Agenda demands. Institutional changes allow for increased cross-organisational and cross-sectoral coordination, which could potentially lead to increased policy coherence. But while we see substantial progress, it remains incomplete, fragile and subject to structural limitations. A more critical picture emerges with regard to change in the substantive component of the collective offer in the areas of SDG integration, cross-border work and normative approaches. While there were positive examples, we found little evidence of a systematic repositioning in these areas. The adjustment of the UNDS to the 2030 Agenda does not (yet) meet the expectations derived from the UN’s own reform ambition.
- Topic:
- Development, United Nations, Reform, and Sustainable Development Goals
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
4. States Seek Treaty on Plastic Pollution
- Author:
- Szymon Zaręba
- Publication Date:
- 07-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- With negotiations likely to start later this year, a treaty supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is expected to make it possible to tackle the problem of plastic waste pollution, a transnational problem requiring international cooperation. The challenge will not be its adoption as much as its implementation, as it requires legislative action and investment by countries and business. However, it will benefit especially the environment, biodiversity, and human health. It is in Poland’s interest to negotiate flexible solutions and identify directions for national action.
- Topic:
- Environment, International Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, Pollution, and Plastic
- Political Geography:
- Poland and Global Focus
5. Taking Stock of the Arms Trade Treaty: Universalization
- Author:
- Rachel Stohl
- Publication Date:
- 08-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- The rate at which states are joining the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) has naturally slowed. Universalization efforts have been carried out through a variety of different frameworks, both within the ATT regime—including the Working Group on Treaty Universalization (WGTU), a sponsorship programme and the Voluntary Trust Fund (VTF)—and by the United Nations, regional organizations and civil society. Universalization of the ATT contributes to the development of standards and norms in the international arms trade. If a party flouts the treaty’s requirements, it undermines the treaty and makes universalization less meaningful. Thus, universalization means both expanding the number of states parties and ensuring that they live up to their obligations. This is one of a series of five papers that are being produced as part of a wider project aimed at taking stock of specific aspects of the ATT—its scope, the application of the risk-assessment criteria, its processes and forums, universalization efforts, and international assistance to support ATT implementation.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, Arms Trade, and Risk
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
6. The Case for Greater Project-Level Transparency of the UN’s Development Work
- Author:
- Max Otto Baumann
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- There is a case to be made for greater transparency of the United Nations’ (UN) development work at the country level. Transparency can, in the simplest terms, be defined as the quality of being open to public scrutiny. Despite improvements in recent years, UN organisations still only partially meet this standard. Only the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and, with limitations, the World Food Programme (WFP) systematically publish basic project parameters such as project documents, funding data and evaluations. Others do not even publish project lists. Only the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) publishes evaluations – a key source on performance – in an easily accessible way next to programme or project information. Lack of project transparency constitutes not only a failure to operate openly in an exemplary way, as should be expected of the UN as a public institution with aspirations to play a leadership role in global development. It also undermines in very practical ways the development purposes that UN organisations were set up for: It reduces their accountability to the stakeholders they serve, including executive boards and local actors; it hampers the coordination of aid activities across and beyond the UN; and it undermines the learning from both successes and failures.
- Topic:
- Development, United Nations, Transparency, and World Food Program (WFP)
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
7. The Untapped Potential of Global Climate Funds for Investing in Social Protection
- Author:
- Mariya Aleksandrova
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- Social protection plays a central role in achieving several of the social and environmental goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As a result, this policy area is gaining increased recognition at the nexus of global climate change and development debates. Various social protection instruments are deemed to have the potential to increase the coping, adaptive and transformative capacities of vulnerable groups to face the impacts of climate change, facilitate a just transition to a green economy and help achieve environmental protection objectives, build intergenerational resilience and address non-economic climate impacts. Nevertheless, many developing countries that are vulnerable to climate change have underdeveloped social protection systems that are yet to be climate proofed. This can be done by incorporating climate change risks and opportunities into social protection policies, strategies and mechanisms. There is a large financing gap when it comes to increasing social protection coverage, establishing national social protection floors and mainstreaming climate risk into the sector. This necessitates substantial and additional sources of financing. This briefing paper discusses the current and future potential of the core multilateral climate funds established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in financing social protection in response to climate change. It further emphasises the importance of integrating social protection in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to access climate finance and provides recommendations for governments, development cooperation entities and funding institutions.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, United Nations, Climate Finance, Sustainable Development Goals, and Investment
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
8. Governance of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus for an Integrated Implementation of the 2030 Agenda
- Author:
- Srinivasa Reddy Srigiri and Ines Dombrowsky
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- Understanding the conditions for coordination in the WEFNexus is key to achieving the 2030Agenda. We provide a framework for analysing nexus governance from a polycentricity perspective, which can be useful in formulating coherent strategies for the integrated implementation of the SDGs.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, United Nations, Water, Food, Governance, and Sustainable Development Goals
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
9. The EU-UNDP Partnership and Added Value in EU Development Cooperation
- Author:
- Erik Lundsgaarde
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- European Union (EU) funding for United Nations (UN) organisations has expanded significantly over the last two decades. The EU’s partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is an important example of EU-UN cooperation, and UNDP was the fourth-largest UN recipient of European Commission funds in 2018. Against the backdrop of UN and EU reforms that aim to strengthen multilateralism and promote more integrated development cooperation approaches, this paper outlines priority areas in EU-UNDP cooperation and modes of cooperation. The term “added value” provides an entry point for identifying the rationales for EU funding to UNDP. In EU budgetary discussions, added value is a concept used to inform decisions such as whether to take action at the EU or member state levels or which means of implementation to select. These choices extend to the development cooperation arena, where the term relates to the division of labour agenda and features in assessments of effectiveness. The paper explores three perspectives to consider the added value of funding choices within the EU-UNDP partnership relating to the division of labour between EU institutions and member states, the characteristics of UNDP as an implementation channel and the qualities of the EU as a funder. On the first dimension, the large scale of EU funding for UNDP sets it apart from most member states, though EU funding priorities display elements of specialisation as well as similar emphases to member states. On the second dimension, UNDP’s large scope of work, its implementation capacities and accountability standards are attractive to the EU, but additional criteria – including organisational cost effectiveness – can alter the perception of added value. Finally, the scale of EU funding and the possibility to engage in difficult country contexts are key elements of the added value of the EU as a funder. However, the EU’s non-core funding emphasis presents a challenge for the UN resource mobilisation agenda calling for greater flexibility in organisational funding. Attention to these multiple dimensions of added value can inform future EU choices on how to orient engagement with UNDP to reinforce strengths of the organisation and enable adaptations envisaged in UN reform processes.
- Topic:
- Development, United Nations, Reform, European Union, Partnerships, and Funding
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
10. Mainstreaming South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Work in Progress at the United Nations
- Author:
- Sebastian Haug
- Publication Date:
- 01-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- South-South cooperation has become an increasingly visible part of international development processes. Together with the expansion of triangular cooperation – that is, cooperation among developing countries supported by a traditional donor or multilateral organisation – the growing clout of South-South schemes reflects shifts in power and wealth towards the former developing world. Against this backdrop, United Nations (UN) entities have repeatedly been asked to mainstream their support for South-South and triangular cooperation (SSTC), but there is hardly any systematic comparative evidence on whether and how they have done so. This paper addresses this gap in three steps. First, it traces the rise and evolution of South-South terminology at the UN, showing that the use of North-South frames had its origins in debates about international inequalities in the 1960s and has expanded in the context of globalisation processes since the 1970s, and also that it is developing countries themselves that have taken up and rallied behind notions of South-South. The paper provides an overview of three partly complementary and partly contradictory approaches that understand South-South cooperation to be a set of technical cooperation modalities; a general political narrative; or a shorthand for inter-state cooperation beyond North-South assistance, with the latter being the dominant de facto understanding among UN entities. Second, the analysis focuses on UN efforts over the last two decades aimed at mainstreaming support for SSTC. It centres around a scorecard of 15 UN entities that maps their level of institutional focus on SSTC, based on insights from strategies, annual reports, publications, monitoring frameworks, budgets and organisational structures. Based on the scorecard, UN entities are grouped under the tentative labels of “champions”, “waverers” and “stragglers” for mapping patterns of SSTC mainstreaming. Third, the paper identifies three key factors that, in addition to beliefs in the functional relevance and potential effectiveness of SSTC, have accompanied and conditioned UN mainstreaming efforts. SSTC support has been part of (a) strategic considerations for positioning UN entities in an evolving funding environment; (b) internal bureaucratic dynamics that centre around individuals and shape day-to-day engagement; and (c) geopolitical tensions connected to the increasingly visible fracture between the United States and China. Traditional donors, in particular, tend to approach South-South cooperation as an umbrella for the expansion of China’s clout across the UN development system, leading to an intensification of SSTC-related contestations. Overall, support for South-South and triangular cooperation has had a long, multi-faceted, expanding and increasingly controversial trajectory at the UN. With reference to areas of future research and policy recommendations, the paper suggests that UN entities – in coordination with member states – are well advised to expand their efforts for exploring how to best support cooperation that unfolds outside traditional North-South assistance schemes.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, United Nations, and International Development
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
11. Global Governance 2.0: The Collective Choreography of Cooperation
- Author:
- Poorti Sapatnekar
- Publication Date:
- 06-2021
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM)
- Abstract:
- Multi-stakeholder partnerships among states and non-state actors have become increasingly prevalent models for the delivery of global public goods. Various international organizations—particularly the United Nations entities—are pouring resources into large-scale efforts such as conferences and summits to promote partnerships. Are such efforts effective? If so, what is the causal mechanism at work? Analyzing all major UN conferences and summits on climate change in the 2000-2015 period, this study finds that contrary to conventional wisdom, only two were successful in driving the growth of climate partnerships. Six organizational attributes acted as conditions of success for these efforts, enabling a mechanism this study labels the collective choreography of cooperation. They are: (1) strategic timing; (2) leaders’ level convening; (3) emphasis on ambitious, cooperative commitments; (4) sectoral orientation; (5) subsidiarity; and (6) leadership with centralized decision-making. Effective collective choreography requires high level convening power and autonomy of the summit host. Among international organizations, only the UN Secretary-General has both these two attributes. Gaining sufficient autonomy on climate change without alienating key member states took decades, during which successive Secretaries-General engaged in ‘conference activism’ and expanded the range and breadth of their good offices to help overcome intergovernmental gridlock and steer towards constructive outcomes. Achieving the Paris Agreement goals is a global policy priority that requires exponential acceleration of climate partnerships across economic sectors during the first half of this century. A five-year choreography cycle led by the Secretary-General over the next thirty years, and coinciding with the Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement, could serve to achieve this policy priority. Four features of the climate problem have made it conducive to collective choreography that are more or less characteristic of many other global governance challenges. (1) There is dispersed control over causes of the problem and over possible solutions. (2) Economic and social benefits to non-state actors for engaging in voluntary cooperation on climate change exist or can be made to exist. (3) Barriers to cooperation exist in the form of high transaction costs, risks, and limited trust. (4) The problem is mature enough that multilateral solutions had already been attempted, without success thus far. As such, this paper provides a basis for further investigation into the potential to apply collective choreography to other global public goods.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, International Cooperation, United Nations, Multilateralism, and Paris Agreement
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
12. Powering the Globe: Lessons from Southeast Asia for China’s Global Energy Interconnection Initiative
- Author:
- Edmund Downie
- Publication Date:
- 04-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), Columbia University
- Abstract:
- China’s Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) initiative presents a transformational vision for meeting the world’s growing power demand with a globally interconnected electricity grid. The concept involves ultra-high-voltage transmission lines strung across vast distances and smart grid technology tapping large-scale renewable power sources. Chinese President Xi Jinping first touted GEI’s goal to “facilitate efforts to meet the global power demand with clean and green alternatives” at the UN General Assembly in 2015. The ambition of the GEI vision is enormous, especially since there is very little cross-border trade in electricity around the world today. Regional electricity integration initiatives championed by development banks and multilateral organizations have largely struggled against the formidable political, economic and technical complications that accompany interstate electricity trade. China has seen these challenges firsthand in its participation in the Asian Development Bank’s Greater Mekong Subregion electricity trade endeavor, which has progressed fitfully since the 1990s amid regional infrastructure gaps and uneven political support from member states. This report, prepared as part of the Belt and Road Initiative series published by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, uses a case study of power trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion to assess the prospects for GEI in catalyzing energy integration around the world. It discusses why Greater Mekong Subregion integration has been slow, how GEI might help accelerate interconnection in the area, and what lessons the region offers for understanding the overall outlook for GEI. Based on this study, the author finds the following: Establishing a GEI-style global energy grid backbone by 2070 would require overcoming an extraordinary set of political challenges. The global grid outlined by GEI for the coming decades serves more as a demonstration of technical potential than a strict blueprint to be implemented. The limited scale attained thus far by the Greater Mekong Subregion project for grid integration and cross-border electricity trading demonstrates the headwinds such multinational efforts can face. Weak internal power sector development in recent decades has left some member states without the generation surpluses and robust power grids necessary to support meaningful levels of trade. In addition, power trade requires a strong degree of interstate political trust, motivated engagement by national utilities, and support from civil society players for the specific generation and transmission projects involved. Integration backers have historically struggled to build consensus across this diverse array of stakeholders. While enormous generation and transmission infrastructure projects are core components of the GEI vision and dovetail with the interests of China’s domestic proponents, considerable debate persists about their merits for fostering the renewables transition. Ultra-high-voltage transmission, a specialty of Chinese utilities, is a particular flashpoint. State interest in cross-border trade has been increasing across many regions in recent years, and more gradual gains in power trade around the world that can aid the renewable transition and bolster regional solidarity are possible. China can contribute greatly to this process: as an investor and contractor in grid projects abroad, as a member state of integration initiatives in Asia, and as an advocate of grid integration in international fora. GEI’s ultimate impact will depend in part on how advocates within China reconcile tensions between strengthening cross-border power trade and promoting domestic priorities, such as advancing the country’s own industrial policy objectives.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, United Nations, Infrastructure, Green Technology, and Electricity
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
13. The impact economy: balancing profit and impact
- Author:
- Dirk Schoenmaker
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- Governments and companies can reinforce each other in their pursuit of sustainable development, which is based on three pillars: economic, social and environmental. An impact economy, in which governments and companies balance profit and impact, is best placed to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals.
- Topic:
- Economics, Environment, United Nations, Governance, Sustainable Development Goals, Business, and Private Sector
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
14. Triple Threat: New Research Highlights Three Key Sources of Insecurity for Women Peacebuilders
- Author:
- Jennifer Bradshaw and Louise Allen
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace Justice, University of San Diego
- Abstract:
- As we move into this new decade, women peacebuilders from around the world are facing enormous challenges as they work to build more inclusive and safer societies. To better understand the peacebuilding landscape that these women are currently navigating, the Kroc School's Institute for Peace and Justice has conducted a network-wide research project with its Women Waging Peace members. This research brought together perspectives from over 1,000 women from 56 different countries who are working to end cycles of violence in their communities. In the fifth installment of our Kroc Insight series, we focus on the increased insecurity and threat women peacebuilders are facing from three main sources: state actors, non-state actors, and their domestic space.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Peacekeeping, Women, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
15. Taking stock of the UN at 75: Highs and lows in the shadow of great-power competition
- Author:
- Katja Creutz
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The UN has achieved its aims with variable results. Thus far, the world has been spared another devastating world war, but the UN is now expected to address varied existential threats. Without real commitment to multilateralism on the part of major powers, the organization faces a grim future.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, United Nations, and Multilateralism
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
16. The Consequences of COVID-19: Reduced Chances of Achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?
- Author:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Publication Date:
- 09-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Abstract:
- In the second in a series of papers analysing the ways COVID-19 is affecting stability across the world, this paper explores how the pandemic has affected the implementation of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and undermined progress towards global economic, social and political stability. The COVID-19 pandemic is a major setback on the path towards achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 ASD), making the challenge even greater for international organisations, governments and all relevant stakeholders. Moreover, when the health crisis hit, progress towards development goals was already patchy. The impacts of the pandemic and the consequences of the lack of progress in certain areas are mutually reinforcing, and require a combination of immediate responses to the damage done by COVID-19 and broader, longer-term efforts aimed at increasing resilience to future crises of similar proportions.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, Public Health, Pandemic, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
17. Data Standards Task Force for Digital Cooperation
- Author:
- Michel Girard
- Publication Date:
- 08-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- There is no consensus to create a global framework for managing data governance under the United Nations. A Data Standards Task Force (DSTF) is needed to create a single data zone where trustworthy data could circulate freely between like-minded countries. This proposal is aligned with the objectives of fora such as the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy. Canada could also spearhead the launch of the DSTF with like-minded countries through the implementation of regional free trade agreements such as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, United Nations, Trade Policy, and Digitalization
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
18. Priorities for the UN's Children and Armed Conflict Agenda, 2020
- Author:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- Priorities for the UN's Children and Armed Conflict Agenda, 2020 is the final report from LISD's annual workshop co-organized with the NGO Watchlist on Children and Armed, and held on January 29, 2020. The report reflects the discussions from three closed working sessions dedicated to (1) ongoing challenges and concerns impacting the implementation of the CAAC agenda, (2) emerging concerns and trends for the CAAC agenda, (3) the role of Member States in advancing the CAAC agenda through the Security Council Working Group and Group of Friends. A final recommendations section reflects findings from the workshop's wrap-up session which summarized key discussion points and recommendations of the working sessions.
- Topic:
- Security, United Nations, Children, Conflict, and Armed Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
19. Operationalizing the Prevention Agenda: Three Recommendations for the Peacebuilding Architecture Review
- Author:
- Paige Arthur and Céline Monnier
- Publication Date:
- 06-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Over the past 18 months, CIC has facilitated a series of discussions on the United Nations secretary-general’s agenda on preventing violent conflict. This options paper consolidates key recommendations for operationalizing the prevention agenda in light of the 2020 peacebuilding architecture review. In the paper, Paige Arthur and Céline Monnier present recommendations based on the consultations CIC has held across the UN system, as well as with national actors, to support the operationalization of the 2016 sustaining peace resolutions—with a specific focus on upstream prevention that is nationally led and sovereignty supporting. The paper examines options to increase national demand for prevention approaches, opportunities to build and consolidate the UN system’s expertise on prevention, and options to increase cross-pillar approaches, which are critical to the success of prevention initiatives.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, United Nations, and Peace
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
20. Migration and the 2030 Agenda: Making Everyone Count Migrants and Refugees in the Sustainable Development Goals
- Author:
- Anne Koch and Jana Kuhnt
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- With its guiding principle “leave no one behind”, the 2030 Agenda aims at improving the living conditions of poor and marginalised groups. Migrants and refugees are not systematically considered in this process. In oder to do so, data disaggregated by migratory status is urgently needed.
- Topic:
- Migration, United Nations, Refugees, and Sustainable Development Goals
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
21. Triangular Cooperation: Broader, more Dynamic and Flexible
- Author:
- Geovana Zoccal
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- rilateral Cooperation (TriCo) has to operate growing complexity in the international development cooperation, going beyond the North-South-divide. TriCo became broader, more dynamic and flexible. The briefing presents recommendations to advance TriCo for all donors, and to make the modality support the 2030 Agenda.
- Topic:
- Development, International Cooperation, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
22. Earmarked Funding for Multilateral Development Cooperation: Asset and Impediment
- Author:
- Max Otto Baumann and Erik Lundsgaarde
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- The United Nations development system and other multilateral organizations have increasingly been funded through earmarked contributions. This has implications for their ability to effectively and independently perform the functions member states’ expect of them.
- Topic:
- Development, International Cooperation, United Nations, Multilateralism, Development Aid, and Funding
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
23. Towards More Policy Advice: Maximising the UN’s Assets to Build Back Better
- Author:
- John Hendra and Max Baumann
- Publication Date:
- 01-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
- Abstract:
- In order to effectively assist countries in building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and return to a path towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN and its development organizations will need to focus more than in recent times on high-level policy advice.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
24. UN migration pact – a framework for Völkerwanderung?
- Author:
- Kristijan Kotarski
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO)
- Abstract:
- On December 10th 2018 the body of international soft law was enriched with the Global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (from here on - UN migration pact) that was adopted by 164 out of 193 UN member states during their meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco. On December 19th the UN General Assembly officially endorsed the document with 152 member states voting in favor, five voting against, and twelve abstaining. It’s unknown what changed the mind of twelve countries which have adopted the pact in Marrakech, but failed to endorse it in New York. Even though the UN migration pact stipulates that it is merely a “cooperative framework” it has nonetheless deepened the political divide on the migration controversy among states as well as within them. The polemic that has evolved around the document in recent months centered on two contentious issues: 1. its quasilegality and 2. the potential outcomes of its 23 objectives. This paper will only briefly touch upon the issue of the quasilegality of international soft law and concentrate on the content analysis of the pact itself.
- Topic:
- International Law, Migration, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
25. Prohibitions and Export Assessment: Tracking Implementation of the Arms Trade Treaty
- Author:
- Tobias Vestner
- Publication Date:
- 04-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- This Geneva Paper shows that ATT states parties generally implement the ATT’s prohibitions set forth in Article 6 through national laws and policies. This paper also demonstrates that exporting states implement the ATT’s obligations regarding export assessment contained in Article 7 in many different ways. While the spectrum of how exporting states parties consider an arms exports’ potential effect on peace and security is very broad, their national frameworks contain similar or nearly identical export criteria on assessing the risk of arms being used for serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Few states parties have national export criteria regarding terrorism, transnational organized crime and gender-based violence. States also consider national criteria other than those specified in Article 7 before authorizing arms exports, including positive consequences of arms exports. Finally, states parties’ national frameworks mostly do not define clear thresholds for denying arms exports. Given this divergence in states party implementation, in addition to a remaining lack of clarity on how states apply the ATT provisions in practice, this paper recommends reinforcing dialogue on ATT implementation. This could lead to better understanding and implementation guidance that strengthens the emergence of common standards and improves the quality of national export assessments. To increase states parties’ knowledge on risks to be avoided, institutionalizing cooperation with human rights bodies and establishing an ATT internal information exchange mechanism is also recommended.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, and Arms Trade
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Global Focus
26. Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth
- Author:
- Jayathma Wickramanayake
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
- Topic:
- Development, Gender Issues, United Nations, Multilateral Relations, and Youth
- Political Geography:
- New York, United Nations, and Global Focus
27. Construction of an Extended Environmental and Economic Social Accounting Matrix from a Practitioner’s Perspective
- Author:
- Onil Banerjee, Martin Cicowiez, Renato Vargas, and Mark Horridge
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS)
- Abstract:
- In 2014, the United Nations published the first International Standard for environmental economic statistics, known as the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).. As more countries adopt and implement the SEEA, the availability of consistent environmental and economic information increases the need for analytical tools that can use this data to respond to policy relevant questions. In this paper, we present a workflow to develop an environmentally extended social accounting matrix, which can serve as the basic database for the development of environmentally-extended computable general equilibrium models. To illustrate, and given its comprehensive implementation of the SEEA, we apply this workflow to the Guatemalan case and the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modeling (IEEM) Platform.
- Topic:
- Economics, United Nations, Basic Data, Accountability, Economic Policy, and Statistics
- Political Geography:
- South America, Latin America, Central America, Guatemala, and Global Focus
28. Can Non-State Actors Help to Overcome Barriers to State Cooperation? The Case of Global Climate Governance
- Author:
- Poorti Sapatnekar
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM)
- Abstract:
- While nation-states remain primary protagonists in global governance processes, it is increasingly recognized that non-state actors (NSAs) are key players in areas ranging from human rights and civil conflict to infectious disease and nuclear non-proliferation. The area of climate change is an illustrative example. NSAs have been active participants in the margins of the Conference of Parties (COP), the annual meeting of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), since its inception in 1995 by holding side-events and protests, raising awareness, lobbying, etc. NSAs have also contributed to the development of a “regime complex” in climate governance at the same time. Yet, the determinants and effects of that participation are not well understood. The COP offers a unique opportunity to examine one piece of this puzzle; namely, the factors that enable and motivate NSAs to participate in the design and implementation of international agreements. We use an original dataset of NSA participants at the COP from 1995 to 2016, to examine whether NSAs are well positioned to help states overcome key barriers to cooperation. As NSAs ramp up their participation in climate governance and elsewhere, this study offers insight into their motivations and potential impact on governance outcomes.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, United Nations, Non State Actors, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
29. The Global Refugee Regime and UN System-wide Reforms
- Author:
- Sarah Miller
- Publication Date:
- 06-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- This paper considers how responsibility for ensuring refugee protection and access to solutions can be shared more reliably across the United Nations’ system, by examining entry points beyond traditional humanitarian actors (including peace and security actors in the United Nations), as well as the role states can play in supporting a broader response from the UN system. It draws upon a range of literature and concepts, including the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, offering a mapping and analysis of the proposed UN reforms within the humanitarian, development, financial, and peace and security sectors. It then considers how these reforms might be relevant to responsibility sharing in displacement situations and lays out some of the broader challenges to greater responsibility sharing. Finally, the paper provides recommendations for how to more fully engage these other actors — within the United Nations and beyond — to improve the prevention of, response to and resolution of displacement.
- Topic:
- Security, United Nations, Refugee Issues, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
30. Not All that Glitters Is Gold: An Analysis of the Global Pact for the Environment Project
- Author:
- Géraud de Lassus Saint-Genliês
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The Global Pact for the Environment (GPE) is a draft treaty prepared in 2017 by a French think tank, Le Club des Juristes, which aims at strengthening the effectiveness of international environmental law (IEL) by combining its most fundamental principles into a single overarching, legally binding instrument. In May 2018, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Towards a Global Pact for the Environment, a resolution that established an intergovernmental working group to discuss the necessity and feasibility of adopting an instrument such as the GPE, with a view to making recommendations to the UNGA. As the working group nears its final session, scheduled for May 20–22, 2019, this paper discusses the extent to which codifying the fundamental principles of IEL into a treaty could increase the problem-solving effectiveness of environmental governance. The analysis suggests that the added value of the proposed GPE (or any such instrument) may not be as evident as what its proponents argue. The paper also highlights the fact that the adoption of such an instrument could generate unintended consequences that would hinder the development of more effective environmental standards in the future.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Environment, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
31. Governance of Marine Geoengineering
- Author:
- Kerryn Brent, Will Burns, and Jeffrey McGee
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- After more than two decades of UN negotiations, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, with current projections indicating the planet is on a pathway to a temperature increase of approximately 3.2°C by 2100, well beyond what is considered a safe level. This has spurred scientific and policy interest in the possible role of solar radiation management and carbon dioxide removal geoengineering activities to help avert passing critical climatic thresholds, or to help societies recover if global temperatures overshoot expectations of safe levels. Marine geoengineering proposals show significant diversity in terms of their purpose, scale of application, likely effectiveness, requisite levels of international cooperation and intensity of environmental risks. This diversity of marine geoengineering activities will likely place significant new demands upon the international law system to govern potential risks and opportunities. International ocean law governance is comprised of a patchwork of global framework agreements, sectoral agreements and customary international law rules that have developed over time in response to disparate issues. These include maritime access, fisheries management, shipping pollution, ocean dumping and marine scientific research. This patchwork of oceans governance contains several bodies of rules that might apply in governing marine geoengineering activities. However, these bodies of rules were negotiated for different purposes, and not specifically for the governance of marine geoengineering. The extent to which this patchwork of rules might contribute to marine geoengineering governance will vary, depending on the purpose of an activity, where it is conducted, which state is responsible for it and the types of impacts it is likely to have. The 2013 amendment to the London Protocol on ocean dumping provides the most developed and specific framework for marine geoengineering governance to date. But the capacity of this amendment to bolster the capacity of international law to govern marine geoengineering activities is limited by some significant shortcomings. Negotiations are under way to establish a new global treaty on conservation of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, including new rules for area-based management, environmental impact assessments and capacity building/technology transfer. A new agreement has the potential to fill key gaps in the existing patchwork of international law for marine geoengineering activities in high-seas areas. However, it is also important that this new treaty be structured in a way that is not overly restrictive, which might hinder responsible research and development of marine geoengineering in high-seas areas.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, International Law, United Nations, Green Technology, and Geoengineering
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
32. Mobility of Labour versus Capital: A Global Governance Perspective
- Author:
- Stuart Rosewarne and Nicola Piper
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- The mobility of people can be defined as one of the pillars of globalisation because of the posi- tive effects it can engender for global economic development. Yet, the governance of migration contrasts with other dimensions of glo- balisation. The liberalisation of international trade, money and finance has been backed by an internationally-endorsed governance architec- ture. There has not been a comparable counter- part regulating migration. Increased migration and movement of refugees have exposed this lacuna, resulting in what we characterise as the securitisation-liberalisation paradox: the chal- lenge in advancing the development promise of international migration and reconciling it with maintaining the integrity of national sovereignty without compromising human and labour rights. The United Nations’ (UN) Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration articulate a raft of gov- ernance principles and instruments to encour- age international cooperation. However, the preoccupation with ensuring national sovereign- ty has prevailed to the detriment of furthering a post-migration paradigm with respect to human and labour rights. What is needed is a broader focus on migration, a better understanding of its various forms and a rights-based approach in migration governance.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Migration, United Nations, Governance, and Refugee Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
33. Making Conflict Prevention a Concrete Reality at the UN
- Author:
- Adriana Erthal Abdenur
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- The idea of conflict prevention is makiong a comeback. Though at the heart of the United Nations charter, previous attempts to make conflict prevention a concrete reality within the UN system had limited success and were restricted primarily to the prevention of imminent or recuring conflict via mediation and good offices.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, Security, Human Rights, United Nations, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
34. Advancing United Nations Responses to Climate-related Security Risks
- Author:
- Camilla Born, Karolina Eklöw, and Malin Mobjörk
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
- Abstract:
- The security implications of climate change have increasingly been debated in the United Nations Security Council. Yet, there is a growing concern by many UN member states about the lack of adequate responses to the risks that climate change poses to peace and security. In recent years, some modest but notable changes at the UN have taken place, of which the creation of the Climate Security Mechanism is the primary example. This SIPRI Policy Brief summarizes the recent evolution of the climate security debate in the UN and highlights three priority areas for future action: (a) supporting and establishing climate security action in the field, (b) nurturing knowledge provision and (c) building sustainable sources of financing for climate security action. All these steps will require committed actors, innovation and long-term investment. Escalating climate impacts make the mitigation of climate-related security risks by the UN and its member states not only demanded but urgent. Recent institutional progress demonstrates that committed and cooperative actors can drive institutional change. This progress must be bolstered and action delivered in the field.
- Topic:
- Security, Climate Change, Environment, United Nations, and Risk
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
35. UNGA Middle East WMDFZ Conference takes place in New York
- Author:
- Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
- Abstract:
- From 19-22 November 2019 Pugwash President Sergio Duarte attended the opening of general debate of the conference convened in accordance with General Assembly decision A/73/546, entitled “Convening a conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction”. A decision had been taken by the President of the Conference, Ambassador Bahous of Jordan, and participating States to allow invited NGOs to participate as observers through the opening sessions. The First Session of the Conference was convened by the UN Secretary General pursuant to Resolution 73/546. Amb. Sima Bahous of Jordan was elected President. 23 States from the region participated, plus four NWS invited as observers. It was agreed to proceed by consensus on both procedural and substantive issues, pending final agreement on the rules of procedure, which will be considered in the intersessional period. The thematic debate centered on principles and objectives, general obligations on nuclear weapons and other WMD, peaceful uses, international cooperation, institutional arrangements and other aspects. Representatives of existing NW Free Zones will be invited prior to the Second Session to share good practices and lessons learned. The Conference adopted a Political Declaration and a Report. The next Session will be held in New York from 16 to 20 November 2020. The Declaration stated the belief of participating States that a verifiable ME Zone free of Nuclear Weapons and other WMD would greatly enhance regional and international peace and security and stated further their intent to pursue in an open and inclusive manner the elaboration of a legally binding treaty on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at by the States of the region. In that spirit, the Conference extended an open-ended invitation to all those States to support the Declaration and join in the process. Participating States also undertook to follow-up on the Declaration and on the outcomes of the Conference.
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Military Strategy, and Nonproliferation
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
36. The Prevention Agenda: Mapping Out Member States’ Concerns
- Author:
- Paige Arthur and Céline Monnier
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation
- Abstract:
- Despite recent positive developments making forward progress on the Secretary-General’s call for a more preventive approach to crisis, in New York, discussions on prevention remain focused on difficult moments of crisis and must navigate deepening divisions in the Security Council. Member states agree that more effort should be made to prevent violent conflicts farther upstream, rather than to address them mainly when they are imminent or in progress (or on the Security Council agenda). However, as described in our previous briefing, “prevention” at the UN has not had enough conceptual clarity, which has raised sensitivities over a wide range of issues. This, in turn, has hindered implementation of a more strategic approach to prevention—especially upstream prevention—at the practical level. Indeed, the prevention agenda arrived at the UN just at the moment when the forces shaping multilateralism were shifting underneath it. The period of liberal internationalism ushered in by the end of the Cold War—with the United States in the lead—has receded in the wake of more statist and sovereigntist approaches to multilateralism. While member states support prevention as a general idea, they have a wide range of concerns regarding its implementation—making it difficult for member states to rally around it.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, United Nations, Crisis Management, and UN Security Council
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus and United States of America
37. Leading Change in United Nations Organizations
- Author:
- Catherine Bertini
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Chicago Council on Global Affairs
- Abstract:
- This paper provides food for thought for incoming senior officials of the United Nations on a range of issues related to leading their organizations and embarking on organizational change. The transition to UN leadership, especially by the many agency executive heads who come to the United Nations from outside the system, is extremely critical, and these incoming senior leaders need to quickly understand their agency, its mission, its staff, its place within the larger UN and NGO ecosystem, and whether change is needed to improve the functioning of the agency. However, the United Nations and individual agencies provide little, if any, transition assistance for incoming executive heads. There is also little guidance and information provided to agency heads in leading transformational organizational change. Given the immense issues facing incoming leaders— including the internal pressures of running a large, multinational, political organization and external pressures from geopolitical shifts, poverty, war, strife, natural disasters, climate change— strong, creative, and risk-taking leadership is necessary for success. This paper provides guidance for new leaders through various stages of the early days of UN leadership; from preparations made upon appointment to the position to the first 100 days in office and finally through the assessment, planning, and implementation of transformational organizational change. It was written with input from many former and current senior UN leaders in hopes of providing valuable advice, insight, and lessons learned that can be used by new leaders as they embark on their challenging and rewarding mission to change lives and change the world.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, United Nations, and Geopolitics
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
38. It’s Time to Build a Gender-Just Peace: Here is How
- Author:
- Nina Wilen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- Following the adoption of UN resolution 1325 in 2000, the past two decades have seen increased attention to women’s roles in peace and conflict matters. Despite this, women continue to be marginalised in peacekeeping missions, peace negotiations and peace-building processes. This marginalisation clearly undermines the chances of building a sustainable and equitable peace. The following brief argues that it is time to include women and build gender-just peace by: 1) tackling security concerns both in the public and the private sphere; 2) empowering women socioeconomically; 3) improving the participation and representation of women in higher positions. The brief identifies concrete examples for each of these aspects and concludes that in spite of many dilemmas, there are still many practical steps for moving towards a more gender-just and sustainable peace.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, United Nations, Peace, and Sustainability
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
39. What’s next for UN climate negotiations? The UNFCCC in the era of populism and multipolar competition
- Author:
- Antto Vihma
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Finnish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- After the agreement reached in Katowice in December 2018, The Paris Agreement is finally operational. This is a major diplomatic achievement. Two large-scale political developments have cast a shadow over the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement: the rise of right-wing populism and emerging multipolar competition. The evidence so far seems to suggest that right-wing populism often frames climate change as an elite agenda – and international agreements are perceived as a pet issue of the corrupt elite, at odds with the interests of the people. Relatedly, tightening competition among great powers makes multilateral cooperation and consensus-based decision-making among 197 parties increasingly challenging. With the Paris Agreement in place, the UNFCCC can provide a long-awaited legal framework for national climate contributions, but it will not be able to increase the ambition of national climate policies via multilateral negotiations.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, United Nations, and Paris Agreement
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
40. 2019 Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs
- Author:
- Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
- Publication Date:
- 08-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Women's Foreign Policy Group (WFPG)
- Abstract:
- WFPG's Guide to Women Leaders in International Affairs highlights women shaping foreign policy around the world and the role that they play as leaders, diplomats, and policymakers. The Guide provides an index of prominent women from across the international community, including heads of state and government, government ministers and diplomats, and leaders of international organizations and corporations.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Government, United Nations, Women, Leadership, and NGOs
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
41. Refugees and the City: The Twenty-first-century Front Line
- Author:
- Robert Muggah and Adriana Erthal Abdenur
- Publication Date:
- 07-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Today, more than 60 percent of all refugees and 80 percent of all internally displaced persons are living in urban areas. While cities are periodically overwhelmed by sudden mass influxes of forced migrants, they are remarkably effective at absorbing populations on the move. With some exceptions, the international community — the UN Refugee Agency, in particular — has been slow to empower cities to assume a greater role in protecting, assisting and promoting durable solutions for refugees, asylum claimants and other groups of concern. New compacts on migration and refugees only tangentially address cities’ pivotal role in shaping the experience of forced migrants. Instead, cities are developing solutions on their own. This paper assesses the characteristics of the urban displacement crisis and identifies challenges and opportunities confronting cities, challenging myths associated with the “refugee burden” and offering preliminary recommendations for stepping up international, national and municipal cooperation.
- Topic:
- Migration, United Nations, Refugee Issues, Urban, and Asylum
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
42. Shipping and Climate Change: International Law and Policy Considerations
- Author:
- Aldo Chicop, Meinhard Doelle, and Ryan Gauvin
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- This report investigates the international law and policy challenges to the determination of the international shipping industry’s contribution to climate change mitigation efforts through the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations and the competent international organization with respect to shipping in international law. The report sets out the international legal framework that serves as the context for the IMO initial strategy, the challenge of regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping, and the process and issues in determining the industry’s “fair share” of mitigation efforts and potential legal pathways. The report concludes with general, policy and legal considerations that have a bearing on the current and possible future directions of the nascent IMO strategy. General considerations include the observation that the complexity and uncertainty underscoring the development of the IMO strategy call for a long-term planning instrument that is integrated and systemic in scope, flexible in approach and adaptive in application. As other regimes and sectors progress in developing and delivering on mitigation efforts, care should be exercised in considering lessons and tools from other sectors for application to shipping, given its uniqueness and that other sector experiences emanate from different contexts and considerations. Given continuing significant differences on GHG issues in the IMO, it is vital for the long-term IMO strategy to be advanced and maintained on the basis of the culture of consensus that has helped shape the IMO as a successful regulatory body.
- Topic:
- International Law, United Nations, Policy Implementation, IMF, and Shipping
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
43. Xenophobia toward Refugees and Other Forced Migrants
- Author:
- Sarah Miller
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Generally speaking, those who study forced migration and those who advocate for solutions to forced migration spend little time studying xenophobia. This paper has aimed to address that gap by examining xenophobia in the context of refugees, first by considering definitions of xenophobia vis-à-vis other terms, including racism and nativism, and next by looking at the roots of xenophobia, which include not only political, social and economic grievances and uncertainty but also competition for scarce resources and the belief that one’s own nation-state or group is superior to others. The paper then reviews some expressions of xenophobic rhetoric and actions, and their impacts, before considering key issues and challenges in overcoming xenophobia. Looking at successful attempts in combatting xenophobia provides lessons for those engaged in research and advocacy. Recommended actions include holding governments more accountable for their failures to protect people’s rights; identifying and fighting against policies that incentivize xenophobic behaviour; recognizing that pro-migrant programming can backfire; identifying political actors who promulgate xenophobia and choosing interventions carefully; and seeking greater collaboration and creativity among different actors working to combat xenophobia. The use of localized approaches emerges from the literature as particularly important. The backdrop of the UN Refugee Agency’s global compacts on refugees and for migration makes the moment ripe for further discussion on how to reduce xenophobia and increase responsibility sharing in refugee situations. Likewise, the prominence of political regimes that draw on xenophobic rhetoric and even encourage xenophobic actions means that finding new ways to reduce xenophobia is more important than ever.
- Topic:
- Migration, United Nations, Refugee Issues, and Xenophobia
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
44. Participation of Non-party Stakeholders under the UNFCCC: Options for Future Engagement
- Author:
- Freedom-Kai Phillips
- Publication Date:
- 12-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Participation of “non-party stakeholders” in the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was affirmed in the decision adopting the Paris Agreement and flagged in the preamble of the agreement itself. This paper discusses the current approaches to stakeholder participation under the UNFCCC and explains concerns regarding the existing model.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, United Nations, and Green Technology
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
45. The Impact of Laudato Si’ on the Paris Climate Agreement
- Author:
- Irene Burke
- Publication Date:
- 08-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- Pope Francis addresses the intersecting concerns of environmental responsibility and authentic human development in the June 2015 papal encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. Pope Francis extends Catholic environmental ethics to advocate for those at the margins of social consciousness who are most vulnerable to rapid environmental changes—the global poor and future generations. Pope Francis’ active collaboration with leading experts in climate science and development economics and his perspective as the first non-European Pope strengthens his contributions to ethical discourse on inter- and intra-generational justice, the preferential option for the poor, carbon mitigation policies, and common but differentiated responsibilities in international climate negotiations. His advocacy efforts in 2015 anticipated critical convocations of world leaders, including the UN General Assembly’s ratification of the Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 and the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015, culminating in a unanimous decision among 195 governments to adopt the Paris Agreement. Pope Francis’ contribution to discourse on international climate policies and sustainable development objectives inspired political cooperation leading up to pivotal international agreements.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Religion, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
46. Building a Gender Inclusive Response to Conflict Related Sexual Violence
- Author:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination
- Publication Date:
- 08-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, Princeton University
- Abstract:
- The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University (LISD) and All Survivors Project convened a workshop, “Building a Gender Inclusive Response to Conflict Related Sexual Violence,” on May 3-4, 2018, at Princeton University. This workshop brought together academics, policy makers, and key UN and NGO actors and aimed to facilitate discussions around the multi-disciplinary themes of violence prevention, gender and law, and feminist theory to better understand the dynamics of and responses to male sexual victimization in conflict situations. The workshop began with informal discussions among participants on May 3 and carried on to three formal working sessions on May 4. The first session featured presentations which sought to explore our current understanding and knowledge of sexual violence against men and boys, critically examine the gaps in research and responses, and articulate the rationale for further work. The second session included presentations that focused on how international legal instruments have excluded male victims, how sexualized torture has been used in conflict situations to inflict deep humiliation on collective and individual gendered identities, and the co-relation between sexual violence against men and boys and violence mitigation. The third session explored how feminist scholarship and theory can be applied to advance responses to male sexual violence to ensure they are effective and inclusive. The workshop closed with a final wrap-up session in which, based on discussions from the previous sessions, participants discussed key issues for further consideration and around which specific policy recommendations might be crafted. This report summarizes the content of the off-the-record working sessions, highlighting the main takeaways from each.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, United Nations, Displacement, and Sexual Violence
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
47. Unpacking the 2030 Agenda as a Framework for Policymaking
- Author:
- Gonzalo Alcalde
- Publication Date:
- 01-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Postgraduate Program on Sustainable Development and Social Inequalities in the Andean Region (trAndeS)
- Abstract:
- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is more than a set of goals and targets: it is a comprehensive “plan of action” that countries are translating into relevant policies. While this plan recognizes a need for different national paths towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it also provides guidance for policymaking, establishing means of implementation and follow-up and review mechanisms that are indivisible from the SDGs. Moreover, analyzing the 2030 Agenda as a framework for policymaking reveals general principles that are both explicit and implicit in the UN’s Transforming Our World document. After examining previous relevant UN and OECD frameworks; official 2030 Agenda documents; current international literature on the SDGs, and consulting key 2030 Agenda stakeholders in Peru, this paper identifies eight general principles for sustainable development policymaking in 2030 Agenda implementation that are relevant to all SDGs and sectors, and suggests areas for further research.
- Topic:
- Development, United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, Economic Development, Sustainability, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Political Geography:
- Latin America, Peru, and Global Focus
48. Financialization, Trade, and Investment Agreements: Through the Looking Glass or Through the Realities of Income Distribution and Government Policy?
- Author:
- Alex Izurieta, Pierre Kohler, and Juan Pizarro
- Publication Date:
- 09-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- This paper assesses the effects of trade and investment agreements on income distribution and government policy. The critical process underpinning these effects is the rise of ‘financialization’. Global patterns of greater financialization and of worsening functional income distribution as well as tighter fiscal stances are identified in the data. Tests are conducted by combining financial statistics with databases of bilateral investment agreements and free trade agreements, as well as data generated by the UN Global Policy Model that encompasses several fiscal policy instruments. The empirical validation of these relationships brings to the fore the policy-oriented debate about the purported benefits of modern-era ‘comprehensive’ trade and investment agreements such as TTIP, TTP and CETA. The authors corroborate the findings of their respective earlier studies of these agreements and reiterate their call for caution. To preserve policy space and to avert increases of inequality, policy-makers should resist pressures to get their economies locked in such agreements and should look instead for sustainable forms of international policy coordination.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, United Nations, Investment, and Trade
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
49. The UN Security Council: From a 20th Century Relic to Effective Security Governance
- Author:
- Jakkie Cilliers
- Publication Date:
- 02-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- The United Nations Security Council lies at the heart of the global security architecture. It was established in 1945 to maintain international peace and security, but reform has been stuck for decades. Beyond a nuclear conflagration and the enduring challenge of interstate conflict, future global security challenges include the impact of climate change, the threat of pandemics, dirty bombs, nuclear terrorism and cybercrime. These risks are exacerbated by the rise of new nationalism in the West with countries such as the USA turning away from multilateralism, eschewing collaboration and accelerating change away from a global system hitherto dominated by the West. At a time of great power transitions, mul- tipolarity without sufficient multilateralism is a dan- gerous trend. Without comprehensive change that includes the end of permanent seats and the veto, the Council is fading into irrelevance. Such reform is possible, but requires a very different approach compared to efforts to find a compromise between different negotiating blocks in New York. Instead, detailed proposals should be agreed upon amongst like-minded states outside of the intergovernmental negotiating process and tabled in the General Assembly as a non-negotiable amendment to the Charter of the United Nations (UN). Even then only the threat from key countries to withdraw coopera- tion from the UN is likely to change things.
- Topic:
- Security, International Cooperation, United Nations, Multilateralism, and UN Security Council
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
50. The Global Refugee Crisis: Towards a Just Response
- Author:
- B.S. Chimni
- Publication Date:
- 03-2018
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for Development and Peace
- Abstract:
- More than two-thirds (68 %) of the 24 million refugees worldwide come from just five countries: Syria (6.3 mil- lion), Afghanistan (2.6 million), South Sudan (2.4 million), Myanmar (1.2 million) and Somalia (almost 1 million) (UNHCR 2018b, p. 3). At least in three of these, there has been overt Western intervention and in four cases there is a failed developmental state. In keeping out asylum seek- ers and refugees from their territories, Western nations also forget the migration of millions of people in the 19th century from Europe to the rest of the world. Furthermore, the limits of contemporary movement of forced migrants to the West cannot be discussed without talking about slave trade, the movement of indentured labour, and the occupation of territories declared terra nullius. Contem- porary economic and political policies of Western nations and the institutions they control also need to be factored in. These historical episodes lend perspective to current numbers with refugees constituting less than 0.3 % of the world’s population (Amnesty International 2016, p. 6). Moreover, according to United Nations High Commis- sioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 85 % of the world’s refu- gees under its mandate are hosted in the Global South (UNHCR 2018b, p. 2). Against this backdrop, the author seeks to contest the justifications offered by Western com- mentators for the non-entrée or restrictive asylum regime established in the Global North. Instead, he proposes a multipronged strategy consisting of short, medium, and long-term measures to address the global refugee crisis.
- Topic:
- United Nations, Refugee Crisis, Asylum, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus