The Future of UN Budgeting: Complexity and Prospect for Reform

Author(s):  
Ronny Patz ◽  
Klaus H. Goetz

Chapter 10 is an outlook to the ongoing reform of United Nations budgeting introduced by the new Secretary General António Guterres, in light of the theoretical and conceptual discussions as well as the empirical findings presented throughout the book. It shows how the theoretical dynamics and main topics identified throughout this book, and in particular in Chapter 5, affect reform discussions and reform dynamics. Whereas some reform is taking place, principal and agency complexity prevent a major overhaul of the system as the fragmentation of the UN system is hard to overcome, and because key member states or groups of member states are bound to lose influence, even if only over a few elements of micromanagement that have become part of the pathological budgeting dynamics in New York—a pathology that is much less driven by IO bureaucracy and much more by states and their complex, historically shaped interests.

1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-373
Author(s):  
Hans Corell

On October 29 and 30, 1990, a meeting was held of the heads of the offices responsible for international legal services of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the member states of the United Nations—the Legal Advisers. The meeting was organized at the invitation of the Legal Advisers of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Canada, India, Mexico, Poland and Sweden, and with the assistance of the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Under-Secretary-General Carl-August Fleischhauer. Some twenty-five Legal Advisers and thirty-two of their deputies or other representatives attended, including all five colleagues representing the permanent members of the Security Council.


1993 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-328
Author(s):  
Hans Corell

On October 26 and 27, 1992, a meeting was held of the heads of the offices responsible for international legal services of the foreign ministries of the member states of the United Nations—the Legal Advisers. The meeting—the third of its kind—was organized at the invitation of the Legal Advisers of Canada, India, Mexico, Poland and Sweden, and with the assistance of the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Under-Secretary-General Carl-August Fleischhauer. Thirty Legal Advisers and sixteen of their deputies attended, together with nearly fifty other interested participants. All five colleagues representing the permanent members of the Security Council were present.


1961 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-289 ◽  

The resumed 30th session of the Economic and Social Council (ESOSOC) was held in New York on December 21 and 22, 1960, under the presidency of Mr. C. W. Schurmann (Netherlands). At the beginning of the 1135th meeting, the President read a note from the Secretary-General concerning the projected working agreement between the United Nations and the International Development Association (IDA), and introduced a draft resolution co-sponsored by Denmark and Japan callingon the President to negotiate with IDA with a view to drafting such an agreement. Mr. Makeev, speaking for the Soviet Union, stated that his government could not favor the draft resolution unless the proposed agreement included a provision recalling the terms of Article 58 of the Charter, relating to the coordination of the activities of the specialized agencies; the President replied that, although he was authorized to negotiate with representatives of IDA, he could not impose conditions. The delegates of China and New Zealand stated that they supported the draft resolution, and added that the essential point was to ensure liaison between the various organs dealing with development. The representative of Afghanistan likewise voiced support, pointing out that the draft resolution in essence merely requested the President to negotiate with representatives of IDA. The draft resolution was adopted without dissenting voice with the understanding that the President would take into account the observations of the members of the Council in the course of the negotiations


1950 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-360

The primary difficulty in the current question of the representation of Member States in die United Nations is that this question of representation has been linked up with the question of recognition by Member Governments.It will be shown here that this linkage is unfortunate from the practical standpoint, and wrong from the standpoint of legal theory.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 682-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Genina

On September 19th, 2016, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted Resolution 71/1, the text of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (the “New York Declaration”). Resolution 71/1 is the outcome document of the high-level plenary meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants, held at the UN headquarters. The New York Declaration reflects how UN member states have decided to address the challenge of large movements of people in two main legal categories: asylum seekers/refugees and migrants. Resolution 71/1 includes an annex titled “Towards a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration” (the “global compact for migration” or “global compact”). This document is comprised of several thematic issues related to international migration that will be the basis of a globally negotiated agreement on how member states should respond to international migration at the national, regional, and international levels, as well as to issues related to international migration and development. The global compact for migration is intended to be adopted at a conference on international migration and development before the inauguration of the 73rd annual session of the UN General Assembly in September 2018. This paper addresses how UN member states should plan to address international migration in the future. It does not refer to refugees and asylum seekers: a global compact on refugees will be drafted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2018, and to be presented to the UN General Assembly for states' consideration during its 73rd annual session, which starts in September 2018.1 For those who have been involved in migration issues within the United Nations, the fact that member states have finally agreed to convene an international conference on international migration represents a major achievement. It is the result of an extended process that started decades ago and was made possible by a long chain of efforts by many state delegations and other stakeholders. The global compact for migration will not be the first outcome document dealing exclusively with international migration. A declaration2 adopted at a high-level meeting at the United Nations in October 2013, for example, paved the way for the 2018 conference. Nonetheless, the global compact represents a unique opportunity to address international migration comprehensively and humanely. This paper contributes to the discussion on the elements that should be included in the global compact for migration. The paper is divided into two sections. The first section analyzes the main elements of Annex II, “Towards a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration,” and the criteria that needs to be adopted in order to achieve a substantive outcome. In particular, participants in the negotiation process should aim to balance the concerns of states and the members of host societies, on one hand, with the needs and rights of migrants, on the other. The second section includes proposals to enrich the final global compact for migration and takes into account two documents written by two different actors within the UN system, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Migration, and the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. In particular, the paper proposes that the global compact for migration: • sets forth principles that can inform the actions of governments in relation to international migration at all levels; • enunciates a clearer definition of state protection responsibilities in relation to migrants in crisis situations and so-called “mixed flows”3; affords a substantive role to civil society organizations, the private sector, and academic institutions in the global compact's follow-up and review process; • defines the institutional framework for the implementation and follow-up of the global compact within the United Nations, including through the work of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF); • establishes a mechanism to fund migration policies for states that lack enough resources to invest sufficiently in this task; and • builds a cooperation-oriented, peer-review mechanism to review migration policies. The paper has been conceived as an input for those who will take part in the negotiation of the global compact for migration, as well as those who will closely follow those negotiations. Thus, the paper assumes a level of knowledge on how international migration has been addressed within the United Nations during the last several years and of the complexities of these negotiation processes. The author took part in different UN negotiation processes on international migration from 2004 to 2013. The paper is primarily based on this experience.4


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingvild Bode ◽  
John Karlsrud

Since the failures of the United Nations of the early 1990s, the protection of civilians has evolved as a new norm for United Nations peacekeeping operations. However, a 2014 United Nations report found that while peacekeeping mandates often include the use of force to protect civilians, this has routinely been avoided by member states. What can account for this gap between the apparently solid normative foundations of the protection of civilians and the wide variation in implementation? This article approaches the question by highlighting normative ambiguity as a fundamental feature of international norms. Thereby, we consider implementation as a political, dynamic process where the diverging understandings that member states hold with regard to the protection of civilians norm manifest and emerge. We visualize this process in combining a critical-constructivist approach to norms with practice theories. Focusing on the practices of member states’ military advisers at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and their positions on how the protection of civilians should be implemented on the ground, we draw attention to their agency in norm implementation at an international site. Military advisers provide links between national ministries and contingents in the field, while also competing for being recognized as competent performers of appropriate implementation practices. Drawing on an interpretivist analysis of data generated through an online survey, a half-day workshop and interviews with selected delegations, the article adds to the understanding of norms in international relations while also providing empirical insights into peacekeeping effectiveness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 314-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnaldo Arroio

On January 24, 2019, the International Day of Education was celebrated for the first time. One of the celebrations was a speech by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), in which Mr. António Guterres highlighted the role of education in combating hate speech, intolerance in various aspects and also in xenophobia. In the words of the Secretary-General of the UN: "Such a situation constitutes a violation of his fundamental right to education. The world cannot afford to deprive a generation of children and young people of the knowledge they will need to have a place in the economy of the 21st century. " In 2019, there are still 262 million children and young people who do not have access to school, and most of these children and young people are girls who are in a situation of exclusion. In 2015 between September 25 and 27, Heads of State and Government and senior representatives from various countries met at United Nations Headquarters in New York when they celebrated the 70th anniversary of the United Nations and decided on the new objectives’ development, setting the 2030 Agenda.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 10505
Author(s):  
María Mar Miralles-Quirós ◽  
José Luis Miralles-Quirós

On 25 September 2015, the member states of the United Nations approved an initiative in New York called “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” [...]


Author(s):  
Richard Falk

This chapter reflects on the role as special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), which investigated the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The chapter first provides an overview of the role and office of special rapporteur, noting that UN concerns about Israel and responses to Palestinian grievances are highly politicized within the organization, before discussing some of the characteristics that distinguish the mandate established by the HRC and made applicable to Occupied Palestine. It also explains what was accomplished in six years as special rapporteur of the HRC and details the controversies and pressures attached to that job. It shows that the “UN” comprises different layers, agendas, and interests. The chapter claims that while the United Nations secretary-general in New York permitted personal attacks against the special rapporteur, the leadership and professionals of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva strongly supported his efforts in what the chapter calls the “legitimacy war”.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (324) ◽  
pp. 557-557

On 16 September 1998, Burkina Faso deposited its instrument of ratification of the Ottawa treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. The deposit of this 40th instrument of ratification with the United Nations Secretary-General in New York means that on 1 March 1999 the treaty will become binding international law for almost a third of the 130 States which have signed it.


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