ICM hosted its second retreat on March 13-14 with experts and participants representing governments and civil society organizations to examine the nexus between governance structures and the state, state-society relations, and the role of regional organizations in the multilateral system. The increase in non-state actors in today’s political area has challenged traditional understandings of power and legitimacy, straining state-society relations as government institutions grapple with (…)
The ICM hosted a public consultation on November 18th on its discussion paper “Social Inclusion, Political Participation, and Effective Governance in Challenging Environments.”
Watch the webcast:
Governance systems globally are facing a growing crisis of legitimacy vis-à-vis their constituents at state and multilateral levels. Local challenges confronting national leaders have become transnational in origin and effect. The multilateral system cannot be reformed if the foundation upon (…)
The purpose of this paper is to highlight how the growing crisis of legitimacy in the relationship between citizens and governance institutions relates to the multilateral system. Given that the essence of multilateralism rests in the state, the efficiency and legitimacy of the multilateral system as a whole is affected when the state finds itself under stress, or no longer constitutes the primary source of political identification.
Interviews
“I think inclusion is going to be the future of these states. I don’t think we’re going to see the kinds of oppressive regimes that we used to have before,” said Amal Mudallali, senior scholar at the Wilson Center. “The Arab states that were established during that period in the last 40-50 years are collapsing.”
Speaking to Andrea Ó Súilleabháin of the International Peace Institute, Ms. Mudallali said that while countries like Tunisia have seen progress in political participation and (…)
“I think that it’s very easy to think of governance only in the sense of holding elections and then stopping there and thinking that we’ve done all we can in the building of institutions, but it’s not,” said Sofia Borges, the Permanent Representative of Timor-Leste to the United Nations. “It’s a long process, and it also comes down to capacity.”
“If you want to have ownership of your development agenda, you need to be able to know what it is that you’re owning and how to ensure that you (…)
“I think there’s growing recognition that social inclusion and accountability has to be part of the international system and yet I think we often pay lip service to the concept,” said Matthew Scott, Director of Peacebuilding at World Vision, to Andrea Ó Súilleabháin of the International Peace Institute. “Citizen voices and social accountability is not difficult to do, but it’s difficult to do consistently.”
As citizens’ demands for greater accountability and representation grows, (…)
“The greatest challenge for the multilateral system right now is that it’s just not inclusive enough, and a lot of people have lost faith in it,” said Alaa Murabit, Founding President of the Voice of Libyan Women.
According to Dr. Murabit, platforms within the UN structure, and even the state structure, don’t necessarily exist for youth involvement and for youth to be architects of the system.
Young women in particular face disproportionate disadvantages, she highlighted, listing a (…)