Lesson 4: The Contemporary Global Governance

Lesson Outcomes:
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
1. Define global governance
2. Identify the roles and functions of the United Nations
3. Determine the challenges of global governance in the 21 century
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Activate:
1. Cite at least one major problem that the world is facing today?
Poverty
2. Who or what organization/s takes care of these problems? Why?
Top Organization Fighting Poverty in Developing Countries. Oxfam: Oxfam is currently fighting
poverty in developing countries by taking on issues of inequality, discrimination and unequal
access to resources. The organization provides assistance during humanitarian crises.
3. Have these organizations been efficient in addressing the world’s major problems?
Yes, Each affiliate is an independent organization with its own areas of activity and work contributing its
own strengths and expertise

Acquire:
GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
Global governance refers to the various intersecting processes that create international order
(Claudio, 2018). These processes include policy-formulations which produce guidelines and agreements
that affect how governments and transnational corporations facilitate their interactions and negotiate on
responses to global concerns and problems. United Nations, as an international organization is the closest
manifestation of this global government.
In Kant’s view, a global government is likened to a state system by which subjects are
accountable to a central government that implements and executes laws. In this state system, all people
must abide by the laws implemented otherwise, violators will be punished. However, this execution and
application of laws cannot be applied to an imagined global government because, all states are
sovereign. When states violate international treaties, they are not severely punished; rather, economic
sanctions are imposed.
Sources of Global Governance
There are many sources of global governance. States sign treaties and create organizations, in the
course, legislating public international law (rules that govern interactions between states as opposed to
say, private enterprises). International non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), despite not holding
formal state power, can lobby countries to behave in a certain way (for example, advocates of animal
protection can pressure governments to implement animal cruelty laws). Transnational corporations can
also influence governments in the enactment of global labor laws, environmental legislations, trade
policy, etc (Claudio, 2018).
International Organizations
International Organizations refer to international intergovernmental organizations or groups that
are primarily made-up of member states (Evans & Newham, 1998). These global actors can influence
governments worldwide to make economic and political decisions based on a given standard and
framework. International relations scholars Michael N. Barret and Martha Finnemore listed three powers
of International Organizations by which they become influential (Claudio, 2018):
Power of Classification. International Organizations can create powerful global standards that
have concrete effects on how individual governments implement policies (Banton, 2020).
Power to Fix Meanings. This is a broader function related to the first. Various terms like
―security‖ or ―development‖ need to be well-defined (Claudio, 2018). As such, International
Organizations, being legitimate sources of information defines these terms.
Power to Diffuse Norms. A norm refers to ―collective expectations for the proper behavior of
actors with a given identity‖ (Katzenstein, 1996). An international norm begins with an idea innovated by
individuals and ends as a widely institutionalized principle with the power to shape the
identity/preferences of states (Ring, J.J. 2014).
Types of International Organization
There are three main types of IOs, namely; Inter-governmental organization, International non-
governmental organization and Multinational enterprises (TYIO, 2020) .
a. Inter-governmental organizations are bodies established based on a formal
instrument of agreement between the governments of nation-states.
b. An international non-governmental organization are bodies independent of
governments and can be seen as two types, advocacy INGOs, which aim to influence
governments with a specific goal, and operational INGOs, which provide services.
c. A multinational corporation, or multinational enterprise, is an international
corporation that derives at least a quarter of its revenues outside its home country (Chen,
2020).

The United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War
by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations
among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights.
It has four main purposes (UN, 2015):

 To keep peace throughout the world;

 To develop friendly relations among nations;
 To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease
and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;
 To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals

The Five Principal Organs

It functions with its five active organs.

1. The General Assembly (GA) is UN’s main deliberative policy making body. It is consist
of diplomats from the 193 member-states.
 2. The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace
or an act of aggression with its Permanent 5 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom
and USA) leading the organ.
3. The third organ is the Economic and Social Council which is the principal body of
coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on social,
environmental and development agendas.
4. When it comes to settling disputes in accordance with international law, a specialized
organ called the International Court of Justice takes the responsibility.
5. Lastly, the Secretariat headed by the Secretary-General carries out the day to day work of
the organization (Claudio, 2018).

Challenges of the United Nations

The Security Council’s veto power is one of the challenges that the United Nations has been
facing since its founding. For example, the UN resolution in December 2017 that required US President
Donald Trump to withdraw the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital city was vetoed by the US. In
effect, the resolution was not passed. Some states refuse to adopt resolutions and statements on the
grounds that membership is voluntary (Brazalote & Leonardo, 2019),
Weiss and Thakur (2014) , in their article entitled, The United Nations Meets the 21 Century:
st

Confronting Challenges of Global Governance, identified challenges confronting UN based on

knowledge, norms, policy, institutions and compliance:

1. In terms of knowledge, the United Nations is underappreciated regarding how its

convening capacity and mobilizing power are utilized to help funnel and consolidate
knowledge from outside and ensure its discussion and dissemination among
governments.
2. The contrasting moral structure if social behavior in different member-states complicates
the formulation of a normative standard that can be applicable to all.
3. In formulation propositions, problems occur when only the member-states are heard. UN
belittle the helping hand of a non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the global
public opinion. Sometimes, recommendations are not executed.
4. Institutions can also be avenues where ideas are cornered and left behind. The modality
and processes for enforcing compliance with international norms and laws are not
present. In fact, some UN staff members violate cheat and challenge them.

Contemporary global governance discusses the political aspect of globalization. This section
explained the various processes that enable countries to interact with each other in the attempt to combat
global issues through collaboration and diplomacy. However, it can always fail in some aspect.
Apply:
1. Make an investigative report on the Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis.
2. Use the following questions as your guide:

a. Did the World Health Organization (WHO) failed to contain the spread of the virus from Wuhan
China? (Indicate Facts)
b. What actions did the United Nations and other IOs take to combat the crisis? Were these enough?

3. Write your narrative in the space provided.

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a. The WHO failed because it is not designed to be independent. Instead, it’s subject to the
whims of the nations that fund it and choose its leader. In July 2017, China moved aggressively
to elect its current leadership. Instead of fixing any of the problems with the way the WHO
operates, Trump seems to merely want the United States to be the bigger bully. The WHO should
not have waited until January 22 to confirm human-to-human transmission, after China finally
did. By that point, a deadly horse had mostly left the barn. The WHO should not have waited
until the end of January to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern—a move
that recognizes the severity of the crisis and calls for ―a coordinated international response.‖ The
WHO should not have let February and nearly half of March pass before finally declaring a
pandemic. By that point, a staggering 114 countries had already reported cases, and more than
4,000 known deaths had occurred. By then, the declaration did not matter in the same way an
earlier one would have.

b. The United Nations system through its global network of regional, sub-regional and country
offices is supporting all governments and partners through the response and recovery of this
crisis.

The United Nations Secretary-General has established a dedicated COVID-19 Response and
Recovery FundPDF to complement efforts in low and middle-income countries to address the
socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. 

COVID-19 Recovery Fund

There are three main funds and appeals launched by the UN:

Solidarity Response Fund: To address immediate health needs, WHO, UN Foundation and
partners have launched a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to raise money to
address immediate health needs. The Fund supports the work of WHO and partners to help
countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, raising over $150 million so far, as part of over
$800 million WHO has raised in total.

Humanitarian Appeal: To support the world’s most vulnerable countries, the UN launched a $2
billion coordinated global Humanitarian Response Plan to fight the impact of COVID in some of
the world’s most vulnerable countries. It aims to protect millions of people and stop the virus
from circling back around the globe. It brings together appeals and requirements from WHO,
WFP, UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, UNDP, UNFPA, UN-Habitat and NGOs, and identifies new
needs. It is coordinated by UNOCHA and complements plans developed by the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

Response and Recovery Trust Fund: To deliver rapid recovery, the UN Secretary-General
established a COVID-19 Response and Recovery Trust Fund to support efforts in low and
middle-income countries. It will enable the UN to provide a coordinated multi-agency, multi-
sectoral response to national and local actions that address the socioeconomic impact of the
COVID-19 crisis and enable rapid recovery.

Other Initiatives and Reports

The Secretary-General has also released a report on responding to the socio-economic impacts of
COVID-19PDFExternal link.

The report is a call to action for the immediate health response required to suppress transmission
of the virus to end the pandemic and to focus on people – women, youth, low-wage workers,
small and medium enterprises, the informal sector and on vulnerable groups – who are already at
risk.

The report calls for enhanced international support for countries with limited ability to fund their
own stimulus packages. It also calls for debt relief for countries at high risk of, or already in,
debt distress, especially LDCs, and for the mobilization of concessional finance from multilateral
development banks and private lenders.

The Secretary-General has also launched a Global Humanitarian Response Plan for COVID-
19PDFExternal link and a series of reports looking at the effects of the pandemic on issues as
diverse as education, older people, disability and migration.

For our part, OHRLLS continues to support the most vulnerable countries through the crisis,
including our most vulnerable 91 dashboard, tracking international support to the most
vulnerable states through this crisis.

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Global governance is understood as “…the way in which global affairs are managed. As there is no global
government, global governance typically involves a range of actors including states, as well as regional
and international organizations.Instructions: Use the concepts discussed above to answer the following
questions. You may browse the internet to elaborate your work.
1. Give Global Governance a scholarly definition.
Global governance is understood as “…the way in which global affairs are managed. As there is no global
government, global governance typically involves a range of actors including states, as well as regional
and international organizations.
2. Enumerate certain functions of the United Nations as international organization and explain its role in
addressing global concerns.
The main function of the United Nations is to preserve international peace and security. Chapter
6 of the Charter provides for the pacific settlement of disputes, through the intervention of the
Security Council, by means such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and judicial decisions.
3. There are different challenges faced by the UN in maintaining global security. Cite examples of how
the UN became inefficient in addressing these concerns.
Threats from violence and massive human rights violations within states. threats from terrorism. threats
from organized crime. threats from the proliferation of weapons - particularly WMD, but also
conventional.

References:
Banton, C. (2020). Third World (Economics Journal). Investopedia.
Retrieved from: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/third-world.asp
Date Retrieved: 4/28/2020

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human Development Report 1994. New York: Oxford University Press, 23.
08/02/01
Retrieved from: https://www.gdrc.org/sustdev/husec/Definitions.pdf
Date Retrieved: 4/28/2020

Minority Groups Online Learning. (2020). Strengths and Weakness of UN.MGRI

Retrieved from: https://www.minorityrightscourse.org/mod/page/view.php?id=1624
Retrieved date: 4/28/2020

Katzenstein, Peter J. (1996). The Culture of National Security. Columbia University Press

Ring, J.J. (2014). The Diffusion of Norms in International Systems. University of Iowa Press

Chen, J. (2020). Multinational Corporation (MNC). Investopedia

Retrieved from: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/multinationalcorporation.asp
Date Retrieved: 8/28/2020

UN. (2015). History of the United Nations. un.org

Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/un70/en/content/history/index.html
Date Retrieved: 8/29/2020

Wilson Center. (2004). Threats, Challenges and Change: The United Nations in the 21st Century. wilsoncenter.org
Retrieved from: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/threats-challenges-and-change-the-united-nations-the-21st-century