This book explores the record of the UN development system (UNDS) over more than 70 years as a fount of ideas and concepts in development; as a contributor to development thinking and strategy; and as the principal source of global development goals from the first UN Development Decade to the SDGs. It also examines the more mixed record of the UNDS in its operational role and asks how the ideational and operational functions can be more successfully aligned, and what changes such an alignment would imply.
The chapters consider:
- The logic of global governance through international organizations
- The origins, functions, structure of the UN development system
- UN contributions to development thinking
- The UN’s development agendas, 1960s to 2015
- Reforming the UN development system
- The future of the UN and multilateralism
The book will be of great use for students and scholars studying political science, international organizations, the UN, and development, as well as for practitioners associated with the UN, including member-state missions, UN staff, and development cooperation professionals.
Introduction
1 Origins, structure, functions, and funding of the UN development system
2 UN contributions to development thinking
3 UN goal-setting
4 Making the UN fit for purpose
5 The future (of the) UN development system
Annex I: Principal UN goals and targets, 1960–2015
Annex II: Principal UN development conferences and summits 163
Select bibliography
Biography
Stephen Browne is Co-Director of the Future UN Development System (FUNDS) Project, Senior fellow of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and visiting lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.
'There is much to praise in this book–and much to debate–especially how to balance meeting the SDGs with fulfilling rights and the effectiveness and importance of collaboration versus coordination.' - Sir Richard Jolly, Honorary Professor and Research Associate of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK
