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25 March, 2010
Global Governance: The G-20 and the UN
The United Nations University Office, New York (UNU-ONY) is organizing a discussion entitled 'Global Governance: The G-20 and the UN' with H.E. Ambassador Mr. Vanu Gopala Menon, Permanent Representative of the Singapore Mission to the United Nations.
The global economic crisis has underscored the need for more effective global governance mechanisms for economic policy coordination. The G-20 represents a significant step in that regard. The G-20 process and the swift, decisive actions that it brought about helped to avert a global economic depression in the last year. However, for the G-20's deliberations to be translated into effective actions on a global scale, they will need to be more consultative, inclusive and transparent. This will require the development of appropriate mechanisms to engage and consult a wider range of countries. At the same time, it should also be borne in mind that the United Nations is the only global body with universal participation and unquestioned legitimacy. The G-20 process should recognize and reflect this reality. The G-20 process and its actions and decisions should complement and strengthen the United Nations. What can be done to ensure that the G-20 process strengthens and not undermines the UN? How can we build up a framework of engagement between the G-20 and non G-20 members?
This event is part of the UNU Midday Forum Programme, which offers an intimate and informal platform of discussion to the UN Permanent Missions, the UN Secretariat, UN agencies, academia, NGOs and the private sector, to discuss and exchange ideas and experiences on important topics related to the UN.
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010
Time: 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Venue: Conference Room 1, Temporary North Lawn Building, UN Headquarters, New York
Speaker:
H.E. Ambassador Mr. Vanu Gopala Menon, Permanent Representative of the Singapore Mission to the United Nations
Chair:
Jean-Marc Coicaud, Director, UNU-ONY
Listen to the Event Audio
Event Pictures
Background Readings
Global Governance or global Clubbing:Can an exclusive club deliver benefits for all nations?
What G20 leaders must do to stabilize our economy and fix the financial system
Global Governance as a perspective on World Politics
G20 Seoul Summit: Priorities and Challenges
SPEAKERS
H.E. Ambassador Mr. Vanu Gopala Menon, Permanent Mission of the Singapore to the United Nations presented his credentials as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York on 16 September 2004. He is also concurrently Singapore's High Commissioner to Canada.
Before assuming his post in New York, he was Singapore's Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and the World Trade Organisation, and concurrently accredited as Singapore's Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, from December 2001 to August 2004. Mr Menon graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration Honours Degree from the National University of Singapore in 1985. He obtained a Master of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics in 1994 on a Raffles Scholarship.
Mr Menon joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in June 1985. He served as First Secretary and Director for the Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorite branch in the Singapore Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from March 1988 to April 1991 and as Counsellor and later Minister-Counsellor in the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur from November 1994 to November 1997. On his return to Ministry HQ, he was appointed Senior Deputy Director at the Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate I in December 1997. He became its Director in December 1998, and was concurrently, from 2000 - 2001, Singapore's Chief Negotiator for the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement. He was also Chairman of the World Trade Organization's Council for TRIPS from 2003 - 2004.
Dr. Jean-Marc Coicaud is the Director of the United Nations University Office at the United Nations, New York. He was Senior Academic Officer and Director of Studies at the UNU headquarters (Tokyo) from 1996 to 2003. From 1992 to 1996, he served in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General as a speechwriter for Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali. A former fellow at Harvard University (Center for International Affairs, Department of Philosophy and Harvard Law School, from 1986 to 1992), Coicaud has held appointments such as Cultural Attaché with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Legislative Aide with the European Parliament (Financial Committee). He has also been a Visiting Professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure-Ulm in Paris and has taught at the New School for Social Research (New York). In addition, he has been a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (Washington, D.C.), a Global Research Fellow at New York University School of Law and a Visiting Scholar at the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University (Beijing). Coicaud holds a Ph.D. in Political Science-Law from the Sorbonne and a Doctorat d'Etat in philosophy from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of Paris. He also holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in literature and linguistics.
Jean-Marc Coicaud has published books in the fields of comparative politics, political and legal theory, international relations and international law. They are available in English, French, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Arabic, and include the following single-authored books: L'introuvable démocratie autoritaire (L'Harmattan, 1996), Légitimité et Politique (Presses Universitaires de France, 1997), Politics and Legitimacy: A Contribution to the Study of Political Right and Political Responsibility (Cambridge University Press, 2002), Beyond the National Interest (United States Institute of Peace Press, 2007), Kokuren no Genkai/Kokuren no Mirai (Future of the UN/Limits of the UN - Fujiwara Shoten, 2007), Mai Xiang Guo Ji Fa Zhi (Towards the International Rule of Law - Sanlian Shudian, 2008). His latest book, co-edited with Hilary Charlesworth, is Fault Lines of International Legitimacy (Cambridge University Press, 2009). Jean-Marc Coicaud is now finishing two new single-authored books, Kissing War Goodbye, and Knowledge and International Institutions.
Jean-Marc Coicaud is a member of the Advisory Board of the Carnegie Council's Global Policy Innovations (New York). He also serves as an adviser for the Fondation pour l'Innovation Politique (Paris).
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Page last modified Last modified: March 30 2010 at 10:22:31 AM.
