United Nations

The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the UN
Charter had been ratified by a majority of the original 51 Member States. The day is now
celebrated each year around the world as United Nations Day.
The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of the world together to work
for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the
well-being of all people. It affords the opportunity for countries to balance global
interdependence and national interests when addressing international problems.
There are currently 193 Members of the United Nations. They meet in the General
Assembly, which is the closest thing to a world parliament. Each country, large or small,
rich or poor, has a single vote; however, none of the decisions taken by the Assembly
are binding. Nevertheless, the Assembly's decisions become resolutions that carry the
weight of world governmental opinion. From its offices around the world, the UN and its
specialized agencies decide on substantive and administrative issues in regular meetings
held throughout the year. The organization has six principal organs, the General
Assembly; the Security Council; the Economic and Social Council; the Secretariat; the
International Court of Justice; and the United Nations Trusteeship Council. Other
prominent UN System agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO), the
World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The UN's
most visible public figure is the Secretary-General, currently Ban Ki-moon of South
Korea, who attained the post in 2007.
The United Nations Headquarters is in New York City but the land and buildings are
international territory. The United Nations has its own flag, its own post office and its
own postage stamps. Six official languages are used at the United Nations - Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The UN European Headquarters is in the
Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. It has offices in Vienna, Austria and Economic
Commissions in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Amman in Jordan, Bangkok in Thailand and
Santiago in Chile. The senior officer of the United Nations Secretariat is the Secretary-
General.
The League of Nations failed to prevent World War II (19391945). Because of the
widespread recognition that humankind could not afford a third world war, the United
Nations was established to replace the flawed League of Nations in 1945 in order to
maintain international peace and promote cooperation in solving international
economic, social and humanitarian problems. The earliest concrete plan for a new world
organization was begun under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1939. Franklin
D. Roosevelt first coined the term 'United Nations' as a term to describe the Allied
countries. The term was first officially used on 1 January 1942, when 26 governments
signed the Atlantic Charter, pledging to continue the war effort. On 25 April 1945, the
UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by 50
governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the
United Nations Charter. The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 upon
ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council
France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United
Statesand by a majority of the other 46 signatories. The first meetings of the General
Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council, took place in
Westminster Central Hall in London in January 1946.
The organization was based at the Sperry Gyroscope Corporation's facility in Lake
Success, New York, from 19461952, before moving to the United Nations Headquarters
building in Manhattan upon its completion.
Since its creation, there has been controversy and criticism of the United Nations. In the
United States, an early opponent of the UN was the John Birch Society, which began a
"get US out of the UN" campaign in 1959, charging that the UN's aim was to establish a
"One World Government." After the Second World War, the French Committee of
National Liberation was late to be recognized by the US as the government of France,
and so the country was initially excluded from the conferences that aimed at creating
the new organization. Charles de Gaulle criticized the UN, famously calling it le machin,
and was not convinced that a global security alliance would help maintain world peace,
preferring direct defense treaties between countries.
The UN is central to global efforts to solve problems that challenge humanity.
Cooperating in this effort are more than 30 affiliated organizations, known together as
the UN system. Day in and day out, the UN and its family of organizations work to
promote respect for human rights, while also promoting gender equality and the
advancement of women, protecting the environment, fighting disease and reducing
poverty. UN agencies define the standards for safe and efficient air travel and help
improve telecommunications and enhance consumer protection. The United Nations
leads the international campaigns against drug trafficking and terrorism. Throughout the
world, the UN and its agencies assist refugees, set up programmes to clear landmines,
help expand food production and lead the fight against AIDS.
The Aims of the United Nations is to keep peace throughout the world, to develop
friendly relations between nations, to work together to help people live better lives, to
eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction
and to encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms, to be a centre for
helping nations achieve these aims.
The Principles of the United Nations is All Member States have sovereign equality. All
Member States must obey the Charter. Countries must try to settle their differences by
peaceful means. Countries must avoid using force or threatening to use force. The UN
may not interfere in the domestic affairs of any country. Countries should try to assist
the United Nations.
The UN System is the basic structure of the United Nations is outlined in an
organizational chart. What the structure does not show is that decision-making within
the UN system is not as easy as in many other organizations. The UN is not an
independent, homogeneous organization; it is made up of sovereign states, so actions
by the UN depend on the will of Member States, to accept, fund or carry them out.
Especially in matters of peace-keeping and international politics, it requires a complex,
often slow, process of consensus-building that must take into account national
sovereignty as well as global needs.
The Specialized Agencies, while part of the UN system, are separate, autonomous
intergovernmental organizations which work with the UN and with each other. The
agencies carry out work relating to specific fields such as trade, communications, air and
maritime transport, agriculture and development. Although they have more autonomy,
their work within a country or between countries is always carried out in partnership
with those countries. They also depend on funds from Member States to achieve their
goals.
Recently, international conferences organized by the UN have gained significance. UN
conferences have been held since the 1960s, but with the Conference on Environment
and Development, known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, they
turned into real fora for deciding on national and international policy regarding issues
that affect everyone such as the environment, human rights and economic
development. Since the Earth Summit, UN conferences have turned into forums in
which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can voice their concerns alongside those
of governments. Such conferences focus world attention on these issues and place them
squarely on the global agenda. Yet, once the international agreements produced by
these conferences are signed, it is still up to each individual country to carry them out.
With the moral weight of international conferences and the pressures of media and
NGOs, Member States are more likely to endorse the agreements and put them into
effect.
Programmes and Funds :-
1) International Trade Centre (ITC):-

ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name Imperial Tobacco Company of
India Limited. As the Company's ownership progressively Indianised, the name of the
Company was changed from Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited to India
Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and then toI.T.C. Limited in 1974. In recognition of
the Company's multi-business portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses -
Cigarettes & Tobacco, Hotels, Information Technology, Packaging, Paperboards &
Specialty Papers, Agri-business, Foods, Lifestyle Retailing, Education & Stationery and
Personal Care - the full stops in the Company's name were removed effective
September 18, 2001. The Company now stands rechristened ITC Limited.
2) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on
December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to
lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee
problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of
refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and
find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate
locally or to resettle in a third country. It also has a mandate to help stateless people.
In more than six decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their
lives. Today, a staff of some 7,685 people in more than 125 countries continues to help
some 33.9 million persons.

3) United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

In the aftermath of World War II, the General Assembly of the United Nations votes to
establish the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), an
organization to help provide relief and support to children living in countries devastated
by the war.

After the food and medical crisis of the late 1940s passed, UNICEF continued its role as a
relief organization for the children of troubled nations and during the 1970s grew into a
vocal advocate of children's rights. During the 1980s, UNICEF assisted the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child. After its introduction to the U.N. General Assembly in 1989, the Convention on
the Rights of the Child became the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history,
and UNICEF played a key role in ensuring its enforcement.

Of the 184 member states of the United Nations, only two countries have failed to ratify
the treaty--Somalia and the United States. Somalia does not currently have an
internationally recognized government, so ratification is impossible, and the United
States, which was one of the original signatories of the convention, has failed to ratify
the treaty because of concerns about its potential impact on national sovereignty and
the parent-child relationship.
4) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Established in 1964, UNCTAD promotes the development-friendly integration of
developing countries into the world economy. UNCTAD has progressively evolved into
an authoritative knowledge-based institution whose work aims to help shape current
policy debates and thinking on development, with a particular focus on ensuring that
domestic policies and international action are mutually supportive in bringing about
sustainable development.
5) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
The UNDP-DDC, formerly the Office to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNSO),
originated in 1973 as the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office. It was created in
response to the severe effects of recurrent droughts in the Sahel, and became widely
known by its acronym, UNSO. For many years, UNSO delivered a range of drought relief
and development services in the Sahel under the management of UNDP. It was originally
based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, but later transferred its headquarters to UNDP in
New York.
6) United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
The director of UNCDF Local Development Unit, Dr. Kadmiel Wekwete, recently
addressed the Commonwealth Local Government Forum at the International Workshop
on Access to Development Funding for Local Governments in Africa held in
Johannesburg. In his speech, Dr. Wekwete challenged Local Governments in Africa to be
innovative in order to generate alternative sources of funding and resources.
With participation from all the Commonwealth Countries in Africa, the event was
attended by representatives from respective Local Authority Associations, Ministers of
Local Governments, Mayors and Chairpersons of Cities/Local Councils, Development
Partners and Local Government practitioners, as well as experts in decentralization.
With references to countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Mali and Benin, the Director
traced the history of UNCDF emphasizing how it moved from the construction of
discrete socio-economic projects to the development of a formidable process for
supporting decentralization and local development processes through policy
development, institutional and capacity building and targeted investments. By the end
of the 1990s, UNCDF had displayed through its practice too many governments in Africa
that the best focus of development is through Local Authorities. With experiments
undertaken through piloting in selected districts in Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Mali,
Benin and Mozambique, UNCDF proved that Local Governments with the needed
capacity support can be better planners, refined implementers and also ensure
thorough accountability. In all these countries many donors and governments have
established Local Development Funds which have become the key channels for funds
transfer for local development.
7) United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
In 18th July 2008 at Maseru, Lesotho: It's not often you get to see how another country
is run, but UNV volunteer Dyfan Jones did while he worked with Lesotho's Parliament,
helping it make government more accountable.
Lesotho's parliamentary reforms, which began in 2004, include the establishment of
portfolio committees. These oversee and scrutinise the work of government ministries,
and question ministers and civil servants. Among other things, these reforms will aid
Lesotho's pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Mr. Jones's recently-completed role as a UNV Parliamentary Support Specialist was to
provide technical advice to the new committees, and assist during their formation and
initial meetings.
"Initially, my main role as a UNV volunteer in Lesotho was to work with the HIV/AIDS
Select Committees in the National Assembly and Senate," explains Mr. Jones. According
to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Lesotho has one of the
highest HIV infection rates in the world, with 23.2 percent of people aged 15 to 49
estimated to be living with HIV. Mr. Jones's assistance helped the committees provide
leadership and monitor the work of Members of Parliament (MPs) in dealing with the
HIV/AIDS issue.

Mr. Jones went on to develop strategies for other committees in both Houses of
Parliament. The most daunting tasks, he explains, were assisting the National
Assembly's new Finance and Economic Development Committee in scrutinizing the
Government budget for 2008-09, and assisting in writing the report which would be
debated and voted on in the chamber.

"The Parliament has few resources," adds Mr. Jones, "and I spent many days and nights
working with the Committee Clerk and Chair drafting the Committee's report." The UNV
volunteer also had to help bring together multiple stakeholders. "It was the first time in
the history of the Parliament of Lesotho that civil society organizations, business groups
and international donors were asked to go before a parliamentary body to give their
views on the Government's programme and budget," he remarks.

Working in any parliament can be difficult and politically sensitive, and Mr. Jones notes
that there were serious challenges in Lesotho during his time there, such as a disputed
general election, a number of general strikes and a curfew. But his overall experience
was positive. "I received a wonderful welcome from MPs from all parties," he says, "and
parliamentary staff were genuinely very grateful for the technical advice and support
that I was able to provide."

Originally from Wales, Mr. Jones graduated in History and Politics from the University of
Wales, Swansea, first encountering Lesotho during his work with a Welsh NGO. "I would
strongly advise anybody considering being a UNV volunteer to take the leap and go for
it," he concludes. "I hope that by sharing my experience and knowledge with the
Parliament I have assisted in creating better structures and systems that will lead to
improved governance and make a real difference to Lesotho's people."
8) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
UNODC is a global leader in the struggle against illicit drugs and transnational organized
crime. It is committed to achieving health, security and justice for all by tackling such
global threats, and by delivering legal and technical assistance to prevent terrorism.
As a Cosponsor of UNAIDS and under the UNAIDS division of labour, UNODC is the lead
agency for addressing HIV prevention, treatment, care and support among drug users
and in prison settings. It is also responsible for facilitating the development of a United
Nations response to HIV associated with human trafficking.
In these areas, UNODC assists countries to provide drug users, prisoners and people
vulnerable to human trafficking with comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment, care
and support services following strategies which are human rights based, evidence
informed and gender sensitive. It also provides technical assistance to countries to
review and adapt HIV, illicit drugs and criminal justice policies and legislation and builds
capacity of national stakeholders, including civil societies and community organizations,
to ensure optimum coverage of these population groups with HIV services.
9) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The concept of a protected area is not a new one, and has evolved over time around the
core ideal of protecting important resources and places. Traditional communities have
long conserved special places, such as the sacred groves in Africa and Asia and tapu
areas in the Pacific. Over 1,000 years ago in Europe land was often partitioned off for
royal hunting reserves. The New Forest national park in the UK was originally set aside
to ensure that woodlands and wildlife were protected for use by William The Conqueror
in 1079 as a royal hunting area; and was eventually opened up to the local community
for recreational use. In 2005 the area was formally designated as a National Park with its
primary purpose still being to protect the wildlife and its habitat. The creation of
hunting reserves continued into Africa during colonial rule, and some of these areas
have since been adapted into community conservation areas and national parks.
The concept was further developed when European settlers arrived in the USA from
Europe, and discovered vast areas of unspoilt and untouched wilderness. These areas
inspired modern day conservationists, and Yellowstone National Park became the
world's first national park in 1872; designated by US Congress law "as a public park or
pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" . It now covers 80,937
km2 and is visited by 2 million people a year. Later, following the establishment of
Yosemite National Park, John Muir established the Sierra Club in 1982, which was a
forum for like-minded people to come together and enjoy the outdoors through
recreational pursuits such as walking and climbing; and created the foundation upon
which modern environmental campaigning is based.
Over the last century there has been a growing realization that biodiversity is being lost
at an alarming rate and that ecosystems and the services they provide are vital for
human survival. Natural resources that we have come to rely on and utilize such as fresh
water, fuel, food resources, soil and many others are being degraded at an exponential
rate. This has lead to the expansion of protected areas to incorporate a wide variety of
habitats, and a growing recognition of their importance as a tool for international policy
makers. As the human population expands, ever more pressure is placed on the natural
world through damaging activities such as deforestation, pollution, poaching, and
intensification of agriculture. This has lead to numerous plant and animal species now
only being found inside protected areas and nowhere else. Today, some protected
areas, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, still remain and are
preserved as true wilderness. For some, such as Dartmoor National Park, the primary
purpose is a mixture of both habitat protection and tourism; and these reserves are
managed accordingly. As urban development increases, the benefits of spaces that
protect biodiversity and the natural environment are becoming realized, with protected
areas having a central role in the maintenance of these.
10) United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
Since the adoption of the Istanbul Declaration at the HABITAT II Conference in Istanbul
in June 1996, it has been widely recognized that local authorities are the closest
partners of Governments in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda.
It was at this conference of global reach that the international community underlined
the importance of developing strategic partnerships between key stakeholders in
governance and development, to meet the challenge of building sustainable human
settlements.
In 1999, the Commission on Human Settlements in preparations for the Special Session
of the General Assembly for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of
the Habitat Agenda, noted with satisfaction the important contribution made by local
authorities around the world in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. This includes
the effective partnerships being established between UN-HABITAT, Member States and
local authorities in the design, adoption, and implementation of local plans of action
inspired by the Habitat Agenda, and consistent with Local Agenda 21. It recognized the
urgent need to accelerate international regional and national progress in the adoption
of policy measures aimed at strengthening cooperation between central and local
governments. The Governing Council asked the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT in its
resolution 17/18 of 1999, to establish a committee of local authorities as an advisory
body that would serve the purpose of strengthening the dialogue with local authorities
from all over the world involved in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda.
On 23 and 24 January 2000, the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Advisory
Committee of Local Authority (UNACLA) was convened and hosted by the City of Venice
in Italy. In accordance with resolution 17/18, invitees represented a wide spectrum of
local authority leaders and global and regional associations of cities and local
authorities. The meeting's agenda included the constitution of the Committee and the
adoption of its rules of procedure. The results of the meeting are summarized in the
Venice Declaration.
11) United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
UNFPA began its partnership with Indonesia in 1971. Back then, the partnership was
done within limited scope of work strengthened family planning services,
demographic researches, and population education programme at schools. However,
ever since the first inception in the 1970s, UNFPA Indonesia today has become one of
Indonesias most important partner in addressing reproductive health, gender, and
population issues. The 5-year cycle of the Country Programme (CP) is now entering its
8th cycle, amalgamating lessons learned from 35 years of partnership with a
development context that is uniquely Indonesia.
Throughout the years, UNFPA has collaborated with various government ministries,
such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child
Protection, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Ministry of National Education.
Development planning agencies, both at the national (BAPPENAS) and sub-national
levels (BAPPEDA), are also in collaboration to address issues stated on UNFPAs
mandate. Agencies related to mandate issues, such as BPS, BKKBN, Komnas Perempuan,
and Komnas AIDS, are counted as stakeholders as well. Civil society organizations,
university-based research & study centers, and UN sister agencies are all vital partners
for UNFPA Indonesia.
12) United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA)
The U.N. General Assembly established the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in
1949 as a temporary agency focused on relief work for the Palestinians. It began
operating in 1950.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees in the war that began when the
Palestinians and their Arab allies attacked the fledgling Jewish state the day after its
formation in 1948.

Some were purposely flushed from their homes as Jewish forces sought to secure key
roads and pacify areas from which Jewish communities had been attacked. Some were
encouraged to leave by the Arab states, which told the refugees that they could return
shortly to claim the spoils after the Jews were killed. Many simply fled what had become
a combat zone.

The Palestinians constituted just one of many refugee populations in the years after
World War II, and many outsiders expected their case to be the easiest of the post-war
refugee crises to resolve. Many found shelter in neighboring countries that shared their
language, religion and culture, and where many of them had blood ties.

The roughly equal number of Jewish refugees who fled or were expelled from the
Muslim world during the same period were quickly resettled in Israel or in the West.

Unlike the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which serves the world's other
19.2 million refugees, UNRWA was not tasked with finding solutions to the refugees'
plight.

Instead, UNRWA's definition of refugee -- which counted even migrants who had lived in
the area for as little as two years -- further expanded in the 1950s, when, in an
unprecedented move, UNRWA included descendants of the original refugees. This was
an expanded definition that UNHCR never adopted.

Thus, while other refugee groups have dwindled due to resettlement or death, the
Palestinian refugee population, uniquely, continues to grow -- from 914,000 registered
refugees in 1950 to about 4.3 million today, roughly one-third of whom live in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip.
13) United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Scheduled to go into operation in 1963 as a three-year experimental programme, WFP
was up and running before it could walk.
An earthquake hit Iran in September 1962, followed by a hurricane in Thailand in
October; meanwhile, newly independent Algeria was resettling 5 million refugees: food
was urgently needed, WFP supplied it, and it has never stopped since then.
14) United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
Cluster munitions saturate areas with explosive force. These weapons pose danger to
civilians because they are prone to indiscriminate effect at time of use and because they
create a hazardous residue of unexploded submunitions. In May 2008, 107 states
adopted a treaty banning cluster munitionsa humanitarian and disarmament
milestone.

This history explains how the treaty was achieved through the "Oslo process", a
partnership of governments, international organizations and civil society. It examines
why it took so long for the world to act, why it eventually did, and what lessons banning
cluster munitions might hold for future efforts on a pressing challenge of our time:
protecting civilians from the effects of explosive weapons.
15) United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
The idea of a UN training and research institute was mentioned for the first time in a
1962 resolution of the UN General Assembly . The founding of UNITAR in 1963 followed
the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council to the General Assembly,
which commissioned the Secretary-General with the establishment of a United Nations
Institute for Training and Research as an autonomous body within the UN system.

The creation of UNITAR occurred at the most opportune time in the history of the
United Nations. 36 States had joined the Organization since 1960, including 28 African
States. That unprecedented wave of decolonization was a success story for the United
Nations. At the same time, however, it created a critical need for assistance, as many of
the newly-independent States lacked the capacity to train their young diplomats. The
Institute, therefore, endeavored to satisfy that need in accordance with its Statute.

UNITAR commenced functioning in March 1965. The Institute originally had its
headquarters based in New York and a European Office in Geneva. The first office still
known as the UNITAR building stood up on First Avenue near UN Headquarters,
before being sold for financial reasons. In 1993, UNITARs headquarters were
transferred to Geneva.
16) United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)
On 1 May 2000, UNICRI moved to its new headquarters in Turin, Northern Italy, within
the Campus which also hosts the International Training Centre of the International
Labour Organization (ILO/ITC) and the United Nations System Staff College.

The hectic beginning of the millennium, poses new challenges to the international
community. UNICRI endeavors to answer the trial and provide innovative solutions to
major - new and old - problems of criminal policy, such as security, trafficking of persons
and reduction in slavery, construction of justice systems in conflict and post-conflict
areas.

Most UNICRI's projects include analytical and operational components and are usually
carried out in collaboration with other international organizations and specialized non-
governmental organizations.
17) United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
UNRISD was established in 1963 to create an autonomous space within the United
Nations system for policy-relevant research and dialogue on pressing issues of social
concern. Since then, the Institute has exercised a remarkable convening power,
attracting members of academia, policy communities and civil society from across the
world to our events, and as research partners and visiting researchers. Conversely,
UNRISD staff members have been invited to undertake advisory activities both in UN
Expert Groups and processes, and through membership of other academic or civil
society bodies. The contribution of UNRISD research and related activities has been
recognized in positive evaluations by major donors and other independent reviewers.

UNRISD has made widely recognized contributions to thinking around alternative
development strategies that place social welfare and social justice at the centre of
development policy and practice. Our research exposes the problems inherent in the
widely accepted separation of the economic and the social which places social issues
and policies in a subordinate and residual position. We have consistently engaged with
efforts to move mainstream development thinking beyond a singular focus on economic
growth and material well-being, or a concern with the agency of the individual separate
from wider social relationships and institutions, toward an approach that integrates
social and collective dimensions into the conceptualization, measurement and practice
of development. We recognize that the achievement of development is always a
political process, involving contestation, struggles for the representation and
recognition of groups with competing interests, and requiring the redistribution of
power and resources. And it emphasizes the intrinsic value of diversity in ideas and open
debate, dialogue and contestation about alternative policy options that are feasible
under different conditions.