Search results
This book provides a critical, conceptual-historical analysis of democracy at the United Nations, detailed in four ‘visions’ of democracy: civilization, elections, governance and developmental democracy. ‘I know it when I see it’ were the famous words of US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart on defining obscenity. It is with the same conviction and (un)certainty that liberal peacebuilders and democracy promoters have used democracy to achieve both the immediate goals of peacekeeping and the broader, global mission of the UN. Today, democracy may have gained an international dimension, yet its success as an organizational practice depends on how it has been defined. Drawing on political theory and democratization scholarship, the book questions the meaning of this well-‘known’ idea. It analyses the way in which the UN, through its Secretary-General, relevant agencies and organizational practices, have thought about, conceptualized and used democracy. The book shows that while the idea of democracy's ‘civilizing’ nature has played a prominent part in its use by the UN, an early focus on sovereignty and self-determination delayed the emergence of the democracy agenda until the 1990s. Today, a comprehensive democracy agenda incorporates not only elections but a broad range of liberal-democratic institutions. Despite this, the agenda is at an impasse, both practically and philosophically. The book questions whether an extension of the UN democracy agenda to include ‘developmental democracy’ is feasible.
are already growing at an estimated 1.25 million people per week ( Burkle et al. , 2013 ). Such rapid growth adds greater strain to already limited local resources and increases the risk of harm from and vulnerability to natural hazard disasters and complex emergencies ( NAS, 2018 ; UNODRR, 2019 ). When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon convened the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in May 2016, he sought commitments from global leaders for new action
Introduction In 2017, at the opening event of The Centre for Humanitarian Data (or Centre for Humdata) in The Hague, Mark Lowcock, the former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, praised the potential of quantitative data: 1 We have the opportunity to see things as they are happening, but also crucially to predict what’s going to happen next … that is where we see a really big
seem to be exclusively or even primarily geared toward addressing the needs and grievances of victims of violations of international humanitarian or human rights law’. Although accountability, justice and prevention benefit victims, ‘some needs of victims go beyond prevention and accountability, and the mechanisms evaluated generally address these needs less, if at all’ ( 2017 : 11). It is, for example, telling that the UN Secretary-General Recommendations on resolution
Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, 2013 : 9), as they fear persecution ( RLP, 2013 : 31), and in many cases, prosecution ( Vojdik, 2014 : 932). Though the circumstances described hinder reporting, some male victims have sought help, but there is a lack of procedural strategies for a response ( Ferro Ribeiro and Ponthoz, 2017 : 271), meaning humanitarian organisations are unprepared and unsure about how to help those male victims who seek care and
, 2015 ). For example, the conflict in the eastern DRC is marked by high levels of sexual violence ( Johnson et al. , 2010 ), which has received significant rhetorical attention; despite this, services for sexual violence survivors remain inadequate ( Casey et al. , 2015 ). This lack of access is a global issue affecting survivors of all genders and sexualities. The 2019 UN Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence confirms that access to health
Introduction Pope Benedict XVI, Russian President Vladimir Putin and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres have at least one thing in common: they each, at different times and in reference to different contexts, called for or ordered the opening of so-called ‘humanitarian corridors’. Whether it was to evacuate wounded civilians in South Ossetia in 2008, to implement a daily ceasefire in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta in 2018, or to assist populations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region in 2021, respectively, the notion is now so frequently invoked that it goes
excuse myself. I think Brazil should have been more present in Haiti at this moment. It was after the earthquake [of January 2011]. The US played a bigger role, particularly through the Clinton Foundation. Bill Clinton was like a viceroy. Imagine! He was the husband of the US Secretary of State, he was a former president and he had been named as the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy to Haiti. He had immense power. This reduced the role of Brazil somewhat, too. I think we did the right thing in Haiti overall. It isn’t possible to resolve Haiti
), ‘ Statement by UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl’, UNRWA , 17 January , www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/statement-unrwa-commissioner-general-pierre-kr%C3%A4henb%C3%BChl-1 (accessed 2 May 2018 ). Krähenbühl , P. ( 2018c ), ‘ Secretary-General’s Remarks to UNRWA Pledging Conference ’, 25 June , www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2018-06-25/secretary-generals-remarks-unrwa-pledging-conference-delivered (accessed 28 September 2018 ). Levy , G
. ( 2022 ), ‘Faith in Localisation? The Experiences of Local Faith Actors Engaging with the International Humanitarian System in South Sudan’ , Journal of International Humanitarian Action , 7 : 4 , doi: 10.1186/s41018-021-00113-8 . World Humanitarian Summit ( 2016 ), High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing Report to the Secretary-General: Too Important to Fail – Addressing