To date, the South’s experience with global governance has been that of holding the short end of the stick. Many developed countries have used various mechanisms interfere with the way that the South has been governed and the manner in which Southern resources and means of production have been integrated into the global economy. But the South’s increasing prominence and power globally, in both economic and political terms, entails a potential to reshape the way in which global governance institutions are run and to influence these institutions’ agendas. Obviously, this depends on the extent to which the South can marshal its collective strength and unity in effecting rule and structural changes that reflect the changed geo-political and economic conditions of the times.

The South needs to be able to articulate its own vision of global governance in political and economic spheres in order for it to be able to generate the resources that it needs to lift its peoples out of poverty. The South’s vision of global political and economic governance should question the assumptions that underlie the globalization paradigm, and should lay stress on the need for global governance structures to genuinely promote poverty reduction and sustainable human development. Such structures should recognize and enhance the policy space of the South for development; provide the South with commensurate representation and influence in determining and enforcing global rules, especially with respect to inter-State and North-South political relations, economic and environmental resources, and interaction with new forms of international non-state actors; and allow for the equitable redistribution of the resources that would be required by the South for it to develop equitably and sustainably.

Programme Objectives

• Ensuring that the South has a stronger presence, role, participation, and influence in existing and future global governance structures
• Raising the prominence of Southern alternative perspectives and proposals on global governance issues in global public and policymaking discourse, so as  inform global public policy outcomes
• Establishing and consolidating mechanisms for North-South and South-South dialogue and cooperation on global governance issues with a view to enhancing Southern participation and influence therein.

Key Elements of the Programme

Building on existing work being carried out by the Centre, this new Programme focuses on:

• Influencing and shaping the theory and practice of global governance institutions
• Understanding and influencing the development of global legal regimes relating to the political, economic, social, and environmental spheres of global governance
• Understanding and influencing international dispute settlement in political, economic, social and environmental issues.

The Programme activities, including research and policy analysis, negotiations and other technical assistance, and networking and coalition building, are undertaken by a small staff at the Centre with the support of an Expert Advisory Group (EAG), which is being established, and in collaboration with key research and academic institutions as well as civil society organisations and NGOs.