“To develop friendly relations among nations…”
International Cooperation & Development
Two key purposes of the United Nations, as stipulated in its Charter, are “to develop friendly relations among nations” and “to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights”. UNU-ISP develops research addressing under-development; under-representation in decision-making; economic and social inequalities both within and between states; and insufficient access to resources, healthcare, education, science and technology. The UN Millennium Development Goals provide a compelling platform for action to address these problems. But achievement of the targets requires a comprehensive and sustainable approach, encompassing issues of development, environmental change, peace and security.
UNU-ISP regards the sustainable development and human rights agendas as a single integrated volume of knowledge that informs policies to achieve decency and human dignity. Recognizing the expanding roles and responsibilities of civil society and the private sector, UNU-ISP explores the opportunities for partnerships and international cooperation that they can offer.
Multilateral international cooperation is crucial not only to draft and ratify agreements that regulate the economy, trade and financial transactions, but to persuade states to comply with agreed-upon rules and to achieve development goals. While cooperation among states is usually well declared in statements, it is often not self-evident in practice. Continued recourse to unilateralism, orientation to self-help policies, defiance of international law, and North-South confrontations all highlight the need for good governance and multilateral cooperation.
UNU-ISP analyses the development of norms and institutions of international cooperation, and recommends sustainable strategies to address economic inequalities and challenges to multilateralism. As Africa is the continent historically most exploited and affected by economic inequality, and potentially the most vulnerable to climate change, UNU-ISP devotes particular attention to developing research and education on sustainable development in Africa.
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Page last modified 2009.03.31.
