progress on un reform global governance

8/7/2019 Progress on UN Reform Global Governance

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/progress-on-un-reform-global-governance 1/4FORD FOUNDATION

what we’re learning:

Critical Assessmentso the Role o GlobalGovernance

Progress on United Nations Reform


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/progress-on-un-reform-global-governance 2/4

What We’re Learning: Progress on United Nations Reform

www.fordfound.org FORD FOUNDATION

Critical Assessments of the

Role of Global Governance

OVERVIEW

Between 1985 and 1996 the Ford Foundation supported and, in some cases, managed a series o United Nationsreorm projects ranging rom academic studies to scholars-in-residence programs and blue-ribbon commissions.To varying degrees, each o these projects sought to assess how people and governments think about the UN andglobal governance generally, and was intended to spur specifc reorms. These projects, as a whole, were catalysts

or some o the key institutional changes that took place in the world body in the late 1990s and which continue.

How We Got Started

A Partnership in Pursuit of International Cooperation

For more than 50 years, promoting international cooperation has been a pillar o the Ford Foundation mission.Through our Peace and Social Justice program, we support international collaboration through initiatives thatocus on good governance, the strengthening o civil society, and the promotion o human rights. An eectiveand efcient UN is a critical partner in pursuing this important international agenda. But because the UN hadstruggled to undertake internally generated reorm, the Ford initiative was welcomed as a needed catalyst orresh thinking.

Located one block rom UN headquarters, the Ford Foundation provided an ideal venue or candid conversationabout strengthening and reorganizing the UN. Ford had already made an investment in this process by invitingnoted UN expert Brian Urquhart to become scholar-in-residence rom 1986 to 1996. He was ollowed in that roleby Sadako Ogata, another respected international diplomat and scholar, as well as UN high commissioner orreugees.

The initiative generated contributions from eminent thinkers and diplomats engaged in the international arena. Key

publications in the series included:

• “ASuccessorVision:TheUnitedNationsofTomorrow,”ElliotL.Richardson,chairman,NewYork:United

Nations Association o the USA, 1988

• “TowardaMoreEffectiveUnitedNations,ReorganizationoftheUnitedNationsSecretariat:ASuggestedOutlineofNeededReforms,StrengtheningInternationalResponsetoHumanitarianEmergencies,”BrianUrquhartandErskineChilders,NewYork:theFordFoundation,1992

• “FinancinganEffectiveUnitedNations,ReportofanIndependentAdvisoryGrouponUNFinancing,”ShijuroOgataandPaulVolcker,co-chairmen,NewYork:theFordFoundation,1993





• “RenewingtheUnitedNationsSystem,”ErskineChildersandBrianUrquhart,NewYork:theFordFoundation,1994

• “OurGlobalNeighborhood,”CommissiononGlobalGovernance,IngvarCarlssonandShridathRamphal,co-chairmen,NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1995

• “TheUnitedNationsinItsSecondHalfCentury:TheReportoftheIndependentWorkingGroupontheFutureoftheUnitedNations,”MoeenQureshiandRichardvonWeizsacker,co-chairmen,NewYork:YaleUniversity/ the Ford Foundation, 1995

• “AWorldinNeedofLeadership:Tomorrow’sUnitedNations,”BrianUrquhartandErskineChilders,NewYork:the Ford Foundation, 1996

• “TheUnitedNations:TheNextFiftyYears,”SadakoOgata,InternationalRelationsInstitute,KoreanUniversity,1996

What We Have Learned

Critical Insights Led to Many Major Reforms

These projects were viewed as highly valuable by government ofcials and international bodies eager tostrengthen and reorm the United Nations. The evaluation process itsel, which included a substantial timecommitment rom key members o the UN community, demonstrated the high degree o interest these studieshavegeneratedandanappreciationforFord’ssupportofthem.

Extensivepressattentionattendedthereleaseofeachstudy.Butperhapsthemosttangiblesignoftheproject’ssuccess was that several o the reports oreshadowed most o the major UN reorms adopted rom the mid-1980sthrough2000.Thebestofthestudiescombinedcompellingvisionwithpracticalpolicyproposals.

Thereformsincluded:

• EffortstobringmorecoordinationandcoherencetotheoperationandfunctioningoftheUN

• Establishingaunittoprovidethesecretary-generalandtopofcerswithaninterdisciplinarypolicyplanningand global-watch capacity

• Creationofthepostofdeputysecretary-general

• Modifyingthewaythesecretary-generalandothertopofcersareselected

• Creatingmoretransparency

• DevelopingtheInternationalCriminalCourt

• RaisingthepriorityofhumanitarianissuesontheUNagenda

• Developingconsensus-basedbudgetingproceduresintheGeneralAssemblytosatisfyU.S.law





A Strategy to Overcome Obstacles, Win Over Policy Makers

Despitethesenotablesuccesses,someawswereidentiedinthewaythateachprojectwasdenedor carried out.

Fourimportantdesignawswerenoteworthy:

• Failuretoplanfor,identifyoranalyzethebureaucratic,structuralandpoliticalobstaclesthathadtobeovercome to achieve desired policy outcomes

• PoorstrategiesforreachinginuentialWashington,D.C.,policymakers

• Alackofpoliticallyconservativeopinionleadersengagedinprogramrecommendations

• Detachmentoftheanalysisfromsomeofthemoreinuentialpoliticalprocessesandperspectivesofthetimeperiod

Thislastawprovedmostsignicant.ManyofthestudiesdidnotseemtoadequatelytakeaccountoftheendoftheColdWar,whichhadanenormousimpactontheUN.Theyalsoweren’tdesignedtocounterthecomplexandoftennegativefeelingstowardtheUNheldbymanyintheU.S.CongressandtheAmericanpublic.

Someoftheproject’sstructuresforreportingndingswerelesseffectivefortheprocessthanothers.Largeblue-ribbon commissions, or instance, typically expensive and time-consuming, tended to produce small ideascompared to the amount o time and money invested.

Looking Ahead

Many Promising Avenues for Additional WorkTheevaluationposedsomeusefulareasforfurtherstudy:

• Howthistypeofanalysisandstudycanreachaudiencesbeyondtherelativelysmall,internationalistandpolitically isolated UN community

• Howthechoiceofsecretary-generalaffectstheoverallabilitiesandexecutionofUNresponsibilities

Because the studies ocused primarily on structural blueprints, rather than political dynamics, the historical,cultural and political actors that shape opportunities or real UN reorm were not ully discussed, and reormo key parts o the UN system, including the Security Council, remains unfnished.

How This Evaluation was Conducted

TheFordFoundationcommissionedanacademicstudycentertoevaluatetheUNprojects.Forsixmonthsin2001,a wide-ranging review o these projects was conducted by the center using oundation archives and by compilingpress and journal articles related to the reports. All the studies were re-read to assess impact. Forty-one interviewswith leaders and sta o these projects were conducted, along with ormer Ford Foundation ofcers and key fgures in the eort to reorm the UN.

progress on un reform global governance

Documents