Office at the United Nations, New York

27 June, 2011

What has changed since Brundtland? Issues arising from the work of the Global Sustainability Panel

In 1983, the United Nations convened the Brundtland Commission to address the serious deterioration of the environment and natural resources. 28 years later, what has the international community been able to achieve and what are the issues today? The UN Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Global Sustainability final report is due at the end of 2011 and this seminar will look at some of the issues that have arisen from their work up to now.

13 June, 2011

Legitimacy and Development

This seminar will consider the legitimacy of the UN in the development field by addressing the following questions: What is its legitimacy compared to the Bretton Woods institutions? Is the development model promoted by the UN more legitimate than the one promoted by the BW institutions or the private sector? What is the legitimacy of the UN in the field of development compared the G8 and G20? There will also be discussions on whether the 2008 financial crisis gave more or less legitimacy to the UN development paradigm.

8 June, 2011

Legitimacy and Peace Operations

Operations in defense of international peace and security are highly prominent representations of the United Nations, prompting frequent questions about the legitimacy of their presence. Do UN peace and security operations reinforce or undermine the legitimacy of the organization as a whole?