In this course, students will learn to navigate the wider United Nations (UN) system, to understand the size, scope and functioning of the diverse set of UN agencies, and to be able to explain the similarities and differences of the different parts of the UN system. Across the semester, we will cover the UN headquarters and the main UN departments in New York, Geneva, Nairobi or Vienna, the 15 UN Specialized Agencies (WHO, UNESCO, IMF etc.) and the Related Organizations (IAEA, IOM, WTO), as well as the various Funds and Programmes (UNHCR, UNICEF, UNEP etc.) and other semi-autonomous bodies (e.g. the climate secretariat of UNFCCC) of the UN. Beyond covering individual agencies, the course will also explore some of the geopolitics of UN policy-making and central aspects of the public management of the UN system, such as staffing and multilevel administration. This will allow students to discover the UN system from the headquarter level to the many hundred regional and country offices, to learn how multilateral decision-making and concrete operational are linked, and how different policy domains—peace and security, economics, health, migration, humanitarian aid or sustainable development—are dealt with across multiple UN agencies. The aim of the seminar is to show how the UN system is not just a collection of individual agencies but a deeply interlinked, global, and multi-level system that one needs to understand comprehensively when working with the UN as diplomats, officials, experts or advocates in global NGOs.
This course is for 2nd year MIA, MPP and MDS students only.
Instructor
- Ronny Patz , Adjunct
