Making Commitments Matter Initiative

Making Commitments Matter is an international initiative focused on researching ways to improve the implementation of United Nations resolutions and conventions on the national level. To this end, more than 100 university students and young professionals from eighteen countries are involved in (1) UN Agreements Research, (2) Civil Society Research, and (3) State Actor Research. The goal of the Initiative is the creation of a model for an internet database which provides information on these agreements, relevant to domestic implementation and tailor-suited to the needs of civil society and state actors. Once programmed, this database could contribute to a strengthened role of non-governmental organizations in the process of national implementation. Likewise, research done by state administrations and parliamentarians in the legislation process could be reduced, lowering the costs of implementation. By fostering the domestic implementation efforts, the work of the Making Commitments Matter Initiative could eventually contribute to a strengthened role of the United Nations as a whole.

The Initiative

Underlying Ideas

• Why an internet database?

If UN agreements are to be translated into national laws and administrative measures by the 192 UN Member States, then a vast number of ministerial officials, parliamentarians and civil society actors need to have a sound understanding of these agreements in the first place. However, we currently find ourselves in a situation where the type of information that would be needed for national implementation is not readily available to these people. While ministerial officials and civil society actors are certainly experts in their area of work, the vast majority are laypersons in the field of UN agreements. Taking into consideration the amount of paper produced by the UN Member States each year, the mere lists of conventions and resolutions alone are an inadequate information tool for the layperson.




• Is implementation realistic?

While the United Nations was founded more than 60 years ago, the national implementation of UN agreements leaves much to be desired to this day. Why should states be more inclined to stick to their international commitments in the 21st century? The Making Commitments Matter Initiative is convinced that large-scale national implementation of UN agreements is more realistic today than it has ever been before. This conviction can be attributed to a number of major international developments in the past two to three decades.

Course of Action

The Making Commitments Matter Initiative has divided the development of its Database Model into two working phases. In a first step, the members of the Initiative will conduct background UN agreements research, state actor research and civil society research in order to arrive at a first draft of the model by spring of 2009. In a next step, the Initiative will further develop and improve this first draft in summer and autumn 2009, by gathering the feedback of a large number of state officials and NGOs in the 18 target countries of the Initiative and possibly beyond.

Downloads

Executive Summary of the Course of Action

Contacts : 

Website : http://makingcommitmentsmatter.org