Mega United Nations Conferences: Help or Hindrance?

Abstract

The approach of this chapter is, first, to assess the effectiveness of the policy of the international community that currently places great reliance on the staging of large-scale broad-scope conference under the auspices of the United Nations to address critical issues of global concern such as those related to development, poverty, energy, environment, water, etc. Two United Nations conferences are examined as case studies with regard to both process and substance: the recent Millennium Development Conference and the 1981 United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy.Second, the focus is placed on identifying the type of institutional obstacles that need to be surmounted if the objectives of these conferences are to be attained and on why the traditional mega United Nations conference is more likely to be a hindrance rather than a help in overcoming these obstacles.