GENEVA (AN) — The COVID-19 pandemic showed the tough choices many international organizations face between overlapping and contrasting agendas – and the challenge of keeping an issue in the public eye.
That's one of the conclusions drawn from a study of Switzerland's experience as a member of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council from the start of 2022 through the end of 2024.
"There is a tension between the long-term and short-term priorities," the study's principal investigator, Lucile Maertens, said about her research on Tuesday. "It's easy to say – it's not easy to implement."
Agenda-keeping is a key strategy for dealing with "overlapping and enduring crises," according to Maertens, an associate professor at Geneva Graduate Institute and co-director of its Global Governance Center.
"There are three main dimensions we've been identifying," she says of her research into organizations such as the U.N. Environment Program and the International Organization for Migration.
One is the degree of autonomy, she says. Another is the mandate – the general purpose or specific issue – and the third is the function: whether it's policy-oriented or operational.
The pandemic – and now climate change – overshadow the work of international organizations, says Astrid Skjold, a doctoral researcher at the institute. "Climate might be seen as a crisis in some cases," she says, "and in other cases it might be seen as the problem behind the crisis."
Among those commenting on the talk were Janos Pasztor, a former senior adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on climate issues, who noted that "agendas are set through a political process" reflecting the "inter-relationship" between international organizations and their member nations – many of which provide or withhold key financial support.
