The Governance of International Organisations

Author(s):  
Cecilia Cannon ◽  
Thomas Biersteker

International organisations (IOs) are central players in the architecture of global governance—from international peace and security to global economic governance, humanitarian assistance, and sustainable development. They draw on their expertise and the legitimacy they derive from their global or regional representativeness to facilitate international cooperation to address collective challenges. In this chapter, we examine the means and mechanisms through which IOs are governed. We begin with an introduction to IOs, focusing on the three foundational bodies that constitute the governance components of most IOs: member states, secretariats, and executive boards. We examine oversight and accountability mechanisms and consider four governance design features that vary across IOs: their mandate, financing, decision-making, and engagement with non-state actors. Finally, we reflect on some of the contemporary governance challenges IOs face today and describe different ways they are adapting and reforming to address some of the challenges.

Author(s):  
Rolf Einar Fife

Against the background of the diversity of international judicial institutions and of the criteria for the selection of judges, this chapter sketches recurrent common considerations in the practice of States as regards elections to the international bench. The observations are drawn from the perspective of a government representative who has been engaged in the international settlement of disputes. The exacting requirements of campaigning by States, in addition to the personal experience-based qualifications required of candidates, speak in favour of scrutiny of any early obstacles for the qualification of women to qualifying positions with international exposure. Gender-sensitiveness and mainstreaming are considered in relevant decision-making at domestic levels. The question is raised as to the importance of the practical choice of language in actual situations of national decision-making. In this regard, incentives for more appointments of women on the international bench may include not only arguments of fairness, but also of utility. Recalling basic premises expressed in agreed language at the international level as regards peace and security as well as sustainable development, may also promote dialogue to bridge cultural differences.


Author(s):  
Sina Marx

AbstractThis report summarizes the challenges of and requirements for effective governance of the water, energy and food nexus. With global dynamics such as climate change, urbanization and changing consumption patterns, governing resources in a coherent manner becomes both more complex and more relevant for sustainable development. Governance challenges include nexus economics (costs and benefits of different approaches to resource management), institutional design (like questions of how decision-making should be best distributed) and good governance (how to make sure that nexus governance adheres to certain agreed upon principles and values). In terms of economics, a balance between sector specific actions and nexus governance is required. For effective decision-making it is important that power among different institutions is both distributed and coordinated. Good nexus governance requires targets that can be monitored to make sure that basic principles are followed and to examine whether progress toward sustainable development is being made.


Polar Record ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Semenova

The analysis of international and national cooperation interprets relations between states, international organisations and indigenous peoples as currently being constructed in terms of political practices. Through practical work in their organisations (IPOs), indigenous peoples are building up a joint agenda to further their social and economic interests. This process is accompanied by a transformation of the agenda of sovereign states and subordinate government bodies as well as by the establishment of partnerships with indigenous peoples through their legally recognised organisations that have become new political actors. New methods are emerging in which these practices can evolve in the most efficient way: the recognition of IPOs as equal partners in the decision-making process; the allocation of resources to facilitate their participation; the incorporation of traditional knowledge; the accommodation of indigenous priorities; joint initiatives; and other collective actions. The intergovernmental forum of the Arctic Council may serve as a positive model in which both governments and indigenous peoples collaborate. IPOs fully participate in the regional decision-making process, and through building up a new collective identity, reach out to high-level international organisations and events such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. In Russia, at the national level, the process has been less successful than elsewhere. This formation of collective identity is connected to two processes: one is a search for new opportunities of interaction with the state in the legal and governmental sphere: the other comprises regional cooperation and local interpretation of sustainable development. This is an INDIPO project paper (Tennberg 2006).


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-324
Author(s):  
Stevan Kjosevski ◽  
Atanas Kochov ◽  
Darko Danev ◽  
Aleksandar Kostikj

Sustainable development and sustainable transport are becoming of higher and higher importance. A scientific approach to sustainable development analysis means, first of all, identification of relevant indicators. Based on literature review and regional professionals’ view, a total of 90 indicators have been chosen. They have been structured in five hierarchic levels. A total of five personal transport means alternatives have been analyzed in the research. The AHP method of analysis has been employed in which 75 professionals from the Western Balkan countries have filled appropriate questionnaire. The research presents their opinion about the capacity of each of the alternatives to contribute to the sustainable transport in the region, but also puts a light on perception of the professionals on importance of chosen indicators. The results of this research could be used for further research and could also help to decision making levels regarding sustainable transport and sustainable development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6156
Author(s):  
Nataša Šuman ◽  
Mojca Marinič ◽  
Milan Kuhta

Sustainable development is a priority for the future of our society. Sustainable development is of particular importance to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, both for new buildings and for the renovation of existing buildings. Great potential for sustainable development lies in the renovation of existing office buildings. This paper introduces a new framework for identifying the best set of renovation strategies for existing office buildings. The framework applies selected green building rating system criteria and cost-effective sustainable renovation solutions based on cost-benefit analysis (CBA), and thus provides a novelty in decision-making support for the sustainable renovation of office buildings at an early-stage. The framework covers all necessary steps and activities including data collection, determination of the required level of renovation, selection of the green building rating system, identification of impact categories and criteria, and final evaluation and decision-making using CBA. The framework can be used in conjunction with different systems and according to different regional characteristics. The applicability of the addressing procedure is shown through a case study of a comprehensive renovation of an office building in the city of Maribor.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2060
Author(s):  
Doriane Desclee ◽  
David Sohinto ◽  
Freddy Padonou

Contributing to Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 is a shared objective of all institutions and people. The challenges differ according to the characteristics of every context. In developing countries, strongly dependent on the agricultural sector, agricultural supply chains are recognized as crucial for economic growth and enablers for livelihood improvement. Moreover, sustainable development issues are correlated and can meet in agricultural supply chains. For several decades, parallel to decision-makers, the research community has elaborated sustainability assessment tools. Such tools evolved to fit with actuality, but it is challenging to find decision-making support tools for sustainable development adequate in agricultural supply chains and developing countries contexts. There is a necessity to define evidence-based tools and exhaustive analytical frameworks according to sustainability multidimensionality and strategical tradeoffs necessity. The VCA4D method aims to go beyond the limits of previous methods. It proposes a combination of multidisciplinary analytical tools applied empirically to analyze agricultural supply chains in their context. It provides evidence-based analytical results allowing to identify enablers for strategic sustainable and inclusive interventions. However, to even better meet contextual exhaustiveness’s expectations and indicators’ robustness to lead to relevant interventions, we should insist on a stricter framing of contextual data collection processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martijn van den Hurk ◽  
Peter Pelzer ◽  
Rianne Riemens

Abstract Background Merwede is an envisioned neighbourhood in Utrecht (the Netherlands) that provides an instructive case to learn about the governance challenges of digital mobility platforms. Unique about Merwede is how the development of a mobility platform is envisioned to be integrated into the development of a new neighbourhood. Methodology This article discusses the case of Merwede and provides insights into its proposed mobility platform and how it is made. It illuminates governance challenges relevant to the design and operation of an unconventional mobility concept by disentangling outstanding practical issues concerning three key governance dimensions—organizational structures, decision-making processes, and instruments. Results The research provides an empirical illustration of governance questions that come up when mobility becomes a service and is integrated into the urban fabric from the very beginning of a development process. Already in the plan development stage, Merwede illustrates that difficult decisions are to be made and competing interests come to the fore.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4129
Author(s):  
Manuel Sousa ◽  
Maria Fatima Almeida ◽  
Rodrigo Calili

Multiple-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods have been widely employed in various fields and disciplines, including decision problems regarding Sustainable Development (SD) issues. The main objective of this paper is to present a systematic literature review (SLR) on MCDM methods supporting decisions focusing on the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in regional, national, or local contexts. In this regard, 143 published scientific articles from 2016 to 2020 were retrieved from the Scopus database, selected and reviewed. They were categorized according to the decision problem associated with SDGs issues, the MCDM methodological approach, including the use (or not) of fuzzy set theory, sensitivity analysis, and multistakeholder approaches, the context of MCDM applications, and the MCDM classification (if utility-based, compromise, multi-objective, outranking, or other MCDM methods). The widespread adoption of MCDM methods in complex contexts confirms that they can help decision-makers solve multidimensional problems associated with key issues within the 2030 Agenda framework. Besides, the state-of-art review provides an improved understanding of this research field and directions for building a research agenda for those interested in advancing the research on MCDM applications in issues associated with the 2030 Agenda framework.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1274
Author(s):  
Ngoc Bao Tu Nguyen ◽  
Gu-Hong Lin ◽  
Thanh-Tuan Dang

The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the growth of the online food delivery (OFD) market in every corner of the world. In Vietnam, the food delivery service is rising rapidly and opening a large gateway of opportunities for numerous OFD platforms, also making it a competing business market in this country. Thus, to keep up with the ever-changing market dynamics, there are numerous measures and dimensions for the OFD entrepreneurs to take into consideration towards sustainable development. This paper’s objective is to evaluate major OFD companies in Vietnam based on a comprehensive set of criteria, which are social and environmental criteria (healthy and safety, information security, and environmental impact), economic criteria (delivery cost, operational capability, and risk management), service quality (order fulfillment, delivery speed, convenience of payment, online/offline service level, and customer feedback), and technology (web design, real-time tracking systems, and marketing techniques). To achieve this objective, this work proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM)-based framework combining the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and the weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS). The FAHP is used to generate criteria weights in which fuzzy set theory is applied to translate the linguistic evaluation statements of experts. Then, WASPAS is used to rank the OFD companies against the selected criteria. The evaluation criteria that have obtained maximum weight priority in the FAHP analysis are “convenience of payment”, “delivery speed”, “online service level”, “order fulfillment”, and “delivery cost”. From the final ranking of WASPAS, Foody is today the best performing OFD player in Vietnam regarding the selected criteria, followed by GrabFood and Now. The proposed methodology can be an accurate and robust evaluation model for the industry, while the managerial implications of this study provide significant materials for decision-makers in the OFD market in improving their businesses towards sustainable development.


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