About our Work

The failure of today’s global economic governance institutions to effectively promote the South’s developmental agenda means the South must strive to improve the working of these institutions. The South has to articulate its own vision of global economic governance 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 needs to question the assumptions that underlie the globalization paradigm, and instead should lay stress on the need for global structures that genuinely promote poverty reduction and sustainable human development.

In articulating its vision, the South has to bear in mind that global economic governance issues do not always fall into neatly defined categories; and that there are a number of issues that transcend particular global institutions. Examples of such transcendent or cross-cutting issues include coherence between global economic institutions, policy space for development and general questions of liberalization and globalization.

In light of this, the Global Governance for Development Program undertakes research and policy analysis on various cross-cutting issues. One of the objectives of this work is to encourage developing countries to take a broader view of the global economic governance problems and issues and to address them in a holistic manner.

The structures and arrangements of global economic relations are no longer determined solely by State actors. Increasingly, transnational non-state economic actors such as multinational corporations and international industry federations and lobby groups play major roles in shaping public economic policy at the national, regional and international levels. The precise role and influence of transnational non-state economic actors need to be understood, and countered – where appropriate - by developing countries.

To this end, the Programme is tasked with:

1. Understanding how transnational non-state economic actors are created and the legal regimes that have been developed in this regard
2. Examining and understanding the role and impact of such transnational non-state economic actors on global economic governance, and their ability to diminish or strengthen the interests and influence of developing countries
3. Examining alternative arrangements to govern and regulate the activities of transnational non-state economic actors at the global, regional and national levels, that would be designed to increase South-South solidarity and North-South dialogue in the pursuit of broad-based, equitable, and environmentally sustainable development paths for the South.

Publications