Unit 6: Governing The Social And Economic World

The United Nations System

The UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) play crucial roles in global social and economic governance. Both UN bodies contribute to standard-setting, norm entrepreneurship, interstate and state-civil society cooperation, and the codification of international law with regard to political, economic, humanitarian, social, and legal issues. The General Assembly and ECOSOC are based on the one state/one vote principle. While ECOSOC is the principal UN body that is mainly responsible for the UN’s economic and social programs.

The Secretariat is divided into various offices and departments. The following units under the Secretariat are directly responsible for global economic and social affairs:

• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
• The United Nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),
• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (ODC),
• The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS),
• The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

The Economic and Social Council- (ECOSOC)

The members of ECOSOC are elected by the General Assembly for three-year terms. ECOSOC holds one fiveweek session each year alternately in New York and Geneva.

Some of them are regional commissions that include:

• Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
• Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
• Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)
• Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
• Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

One of the main function of ECOSOC is to coordinate activities among different governmental and nongovernmental actors and stakeholders. These actors can include policymakers, parliamentarians, experts, academics, foundations, associations, business interests and nongovernmental organizations. ECOSOC holds issue-based meetings under three main categories:

• High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)
• Annual Ministerial Review (AMR),
• Development Cooperation Forum (DCF).

“NGOs that are accredited with ECOSOC can participate in many events, including, but not limited to regular sessions of ECOSOC, its functional commissions and its other subsidiary bodies. They may:

• Attend official meetings;
• Submit written statements prior to sessions;
• Make oral statements;
• Meet official government delegations, UN officers and other NGO representatives;
• Organize and attend parallel events that take place during the session;
• Participate in debates, interactive dialogues and panel discussions” ( www.un.org ).

Financial Resources of the UN System

The United Nations tries to promote its economic and social agendas in various ways. The UN formulates policies, advises governments in their development plans, sets international norms and standards, and mobilizes funds in order to carry out its development programs.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is a good example of dynamism and endeavor toward renewing institutional and ideational structure.

Human security is defined by the UN General Assembly (Resolution 66/290) as “an approach to assist member states in identifying and addressing widespread and crosscutting challenges to the survival, livelihood and dignity of their people” (www.un.org)

International society: “A society of states (or international society) exists when a group of states, conscious of certain common interests and common values, form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of rules in their relations with one another, and share in the working of common institutions” (Watson, 1987).

Mixed-actor model is based on the assumption that global politics is not only shaped by national states but also shaped by a variety of actors, identities, and interests.

Global Governance of Social Issues

The UN is an influential mechanism in the global governance of social issues. Within the UN system, particularly ECOSOC deals with worldwide social and economic issues. As mentioned above, ECOSOC is the main forum for debating and addressing global social and economic problems such as poverty reduction, prosperity and higher standards of living, economic and social progress, and human development. The work of ECOSOC is essential for identifying global economic, social, and health problems; facilitating international cooperation on social, economic, developmental, cultural and educational domains; and advancing human rights issues as well as fundamental freedoms (UN, 2018).

The UN Charter describes the four pillars of the UN as flows:

• Peace and Security
• Human Rights
• The Rule of Law
• Development

UN Activities in the Field of Human Rights

One of the most significant achievements of the United Nations is its contribution to the creation of a body of human rights law. These efforts have provided a worldwide and transnationally protected codes of human rights law.

The human rights framework emphasizes that all individuals enjoy the same moral status and entitlements. The modern international law has transformed and adapted the idea of human rights from the medieval normative structure to the need of modern industrial societies. The industrial age required the abolishment of slave trade, a cause that had been endorsed by both the Congress of Vienna (1815) and the Brussels Convention (1890). Finally, slavery was universally outlawed.

Throughout its history, the UN has engendered mainly three sets of human rights:

• Civil and political rights (the right to life, liberty, property),
• Economic, social and cultural rights (the right to social security, education, healthcare),
• Solidarity rights (self-determination, environmental protection) (Heywood, 2014).

On December 10, 1948, only three years after the establishment of the United Nations, the General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which explicates basic civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights that all persons in every country should enjoy. This declaration with the UN Charter constitutes the foundations of the human rights law. In 1966, the following two covenants were also adopted:

• The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• The United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

UN Activities in Human Development

The UN’s notion of human development has shifted from simple economic equality to the equality of opportunity (Heywood, 2014). This transformation has been driven by a variety of factors. The decades-long intellectual work on development studies and positive peace theory have been influential in this transformation. Johan Galtung’s positive peace theory and the notion of structural peace entail the aim of bringing about a more socially just and harmonious global society.

Another major UN program with regard to development is the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which helps negotiate international trade agreements that stabilize prices and promote trade with developing countries. UNCTAD is the United Nations body responsible for dealing with economic and sustainable development issues with a focus on trade, finance, investment, and technology. It helps developing countries to participate equitably in the global economy. UNCTAD also conducts research and analysis in the field of investment for sustainable development. Besides, UNCTAD

• Provides technical assistance to enable beneficiary countries to attract more investment for sustainable development, including through investment policy reviews,
• Encourages responsible investment through initiatives such as the establishment of principles for sustainable development in agriculture,
• Helps least developed countries countries in their efforts to reach the targets they have set for economic progress.

UNESCO

UNESCO is another successful case for the UN involvement in the governance of global social issues. UNESCO is one of the largest UN agencies that was created to increase “dialogue among civilizations, cultures, and peoples,” based on mutual respect, and to contribute toward peace and the eradication of poverty. Article I of its Constitution commits UNESCO to furthering through education, science and culture “universal respect for justice, for the rule of law, and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms.” ( www.unesco.org )

UNICEF

Another good example for UN activities in addressing social problems is the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which has been working to protect the rights of children around the world for more than 70 years. One of its most significant contributions is the improvement in the child labor issues. UNICEF was created in 1946 by the UN General Assembly, to serve children all over the world. Because it is a “Fund,” UNICEF is supported by voluntary contributions from governmental and nongovernmental sources and its own fundraising activities.

UN Activities in Environmental Development

Environmental issues, and particularly climate change, were not at the top of the UN agenda during the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, it was not until late 1960s that environmental issues received serious attention by any major UN organ. In 1969, deliberations about acquiring a balance on all elements of social and economic development, particularly in developing countries, were held in ECOSOC and in the General Assembly.

Subsequently, the Commission for Social Development submitted a draft Declaration on Social Progress and Development, which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1969.

In addition to the UNFCCC, a milestone in the climate change action was the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997. The Protocol aimed to reduce the industrialized countries’ overall emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The Protocol came into force on 16 February 2005. Another step was the Paris Agreement that eventually came into force in 2015. With the agreement parties to the UNFCCC reached a consensus to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future.

UN Activities in Labor, Migration, and Global Health Issues

The International Labor Organization (ILO) was created in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles. The ILO reflects the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if social justice is achieved. Therefore, the ILO mission is specified as promoting social justice and labour (workers’) rights. In 1946, the ILO became the first specialized agency of the newly-formed United Nations. Since its establishment, the ILO has also been a forceful advocate for protecting occupational health, workplace safety, and industrial hygiene. The areas of improvement regarding the labor conditions listed in the Preamble remain still relevant today. They include:

• Regulation of the hours of work including the establishment of a maximum working day and week;
• Regulation of labour supply, prevention of unemployment and provision of an adequate living wage;
• Protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment;
• Protection of children, young persons, and women;
• Provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their own;
• Recognition of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value;
• Recognition of the principle of freedom of association;
• Organization of vocational and technical education, and other measures ( www.ilo.org ).

World Health Organization Health is another major area of global governance. When nations came together to form the UN in 1945, one of the proposals on the agenda was setting up a global health organization. Thus, the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) came into force on April 7, 1948. Therefore, we now celebrate April 7 as the world health day. All members of the UN are also members of WHO, which is located in Geneva/ Switzerland. Its primary purpose is to promote global health. WHO is mandated to direct and coordinate authority on international health within the UN system in several ways, including to:

• provide leadership on matters critical to health and engage in partnerships where joint action is needed,
• shape the research agenda and stimulate the generation, translation, and dissemination of valuable knowledge,
• set norms and standards and promote and monitore their implementation,
• articulate ethical and evidence-based policy options,
• provide technical support, catalyze change, and build sustainable institutional capacity,
• monitore the health situation and assess health trends ( http://www.who.int ).

Another serious global social problem is migration and refugees. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the Refugee Agency, was founded in 1950 by the General Assembly originally to help refugees and coordinate refugee issues. The purpose is to safeguard the rights and wellbeing and to care for the needs of refugees around the world. The UNHCR works to guarantee the right to seek asylum and to find safe refuge with the option to return home voluntarily or resettle in another country.

Global Economic Governance

As a field of study, international economics concentrates on two major issues: interstate trade relations and global monetary-financial affairs. From this perspective, we can categorize global economic structure into two broad areas: interstate trade affairs and international monetary policy. Accordingly, at the end of the Second World War, the designers of the new world order envisioned a comprehensive institutional structure that would deal with international economic governance and cooperation.

The Bretton Woods System (1944-1971)

After the Second World War, the US and its allies laid the foundations of a new international monetary and financial structure. In July 1944, representatives of 44 countries came together at Bretton Woods in New Hampshire under the American leadership. The conference sought to build a framework for international economic cooperation in order to avoid a recurrence of the past mistakes that had contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Allied powers were aware that there was a close association between the global trade structure and the international monetary policy. Memories of the Great Depression were still fresh; it was clear that the competitive and uncoordinated currency devaluations had deteriorated the world trade volume duing the interwar years (Grieco et al., 2015). There was a need for a more stable system of exchange rates.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act is, “formally United States Tariff Act of 1930, also called HawleySmoot Tariff Act, U.S. legislation (June 17, 1930) that raised import duties to protect American businesses and farmers, adding considerable strain to the international economic climate of the Great Depression” ( www.britannica.com ).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established in 1945 toward adopting and sustaining a set of policies that would provide monetary stability at the global level. Currently “the IMF’s primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system—the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries (and their citizens) to transact with each other.

It should also be noted that the Bretton Woods institutions relied on a specific economic philosophy, which is known as the “Washington Consensus”. In broad terms, the Washington Consensus recommends that governments should:

• reform their policies,
• pursue macroeconomic stability by controlling inflation and reducing fiscal deficits,
• open their economies to the rest of the world through trade and capital account liberalization,
• liberalize domestic product and factor markets through privatization and deregulation.

UN Activities in Official Development Aid and Humanitarian Assistance

There are now three major forms of international aid to the South:

• private sector and its direct foreign investment into developing nation economies,
• overseas foreign assistance,
• foreign trade.

In this chapter, the focus is on the second type of flows to developing countries that is generally called “overseas foreign assistance” or “official development aid (ODA).” There are two basic.

Developmental aid efforts are ethically defended on three grounds:

• The principle of general benevolence that aims to diminish the number of poor on earth.
• The doctrine of human rights according to which every individual in the world has the right to development.
• The rectification of past injustices, because the root causes of current underdevelopment are considered colonialism and slavery (Heywood, 2014: 381-383).

The New International Economic Order (NIEO)

The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was the most widely discussed issue during the transnational governance reform initiative of the 1970s. Its fundamental objective is to transform the global economy so as to distribute the global benefits more equitably, alleviate grievances of colonization, and create a democratic global order (Gilman, 2015).

The History of the NIEO and South-South Cooperation

The origins of the South-South cooperation can be traced back to the 1950s. The end of the Second World War as well as the process of decolonization provided an impetus for identifying the problems of the world’s underdeveloped regions. These newly independent countries were neither industrialized nor socialist, and they were struggling to overcome the colonial heritage and weak institutions along with the state incapacities.

The Bandung Conference took place between 18 and 24 April 1955 in Indonesia where the newly independent nations recognized the importance of promoting economic cooperation as a bloc. Twenty-nine countries representing more than half of the world’s population at the time, sent delegates to the Bandung Conference. The Final Communiqué of the Bandung Conference laid out the desire for economic cooperation and growth among developing nations, along with an agreement to provide technical assistance to one another, thus facilitating the exchange of ideas, experts, and specific training.

Problems of Global Governance and the Emergence of New Mechanisms

Changes in the distribution of both economic and political power have generated demands for change in the international system. Most of the reform demands for global governance and major IOs have centered on three main areas: decision-making, implementation, and budget contributions (Luck, 2004). Recently, two major groups have been expressing these demands: a) civil society and individuals that create bottom-up pressure for action, b) nation states. All demands points at the lack of fair representation, global social injustices, and income inequalities.

Group of Twenty (G-20)

The Group of 20, also called the G-20, is a new informal global governance body. The G-20 forum replaced the Group of 8 (G-8) as the main global forum for international economic cooperation. The G-20 is composed of members of the former Group of 7 (G-7) and 12 other nations as well as the European Union. The G-20 was formed in the late 1990s in response to the financial crises. It was designed to serve as a forum for major countries to discuss global economic problems. Its first meeting was held in Berlin in December 1999.