UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL & ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES
PAD 408: INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION

ASSIGNEMENT BY: BOEMO BATHULENG

STUDENT NUMBER: 201900267

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QUESTION 3
Introduction
International, continental, and regional organizations play an important role in addressing various
global challenges. These organizations are formed to perform specific tasks such as promoting global
and regional integration, peacekeeping, and global security. However, these organizations face many
challenges that hinder their effectiveness in fulfilling their mission. The purpose of this article is to
clarify the major challenges of international, continental, and regional organizations in the effective
implementation of their tasks.

International Organizations
An international organization is an organization with members from at least three countries, whose
membership is mutual by formal agreement. Organizations like the International Labor Organization
(ILO), United Nations (UN) and World Trade Organization (WTO) are said to be ‘’international
organizations’’ as they are an entity established by formal political agreements between member
countries that have the status of international treaties.

These international organizations, however, may have successes but they also do have major
challenges that they face. I will start with the challenges of the International Labor Organization.
Since 1919, the International Labor Organization has brought together the governments, employers,
and workers of 187 member countries to set labor standards, formulate policies and promote
programs to promote decent work for all women and men. The main objectives of the ILO are to
promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, strengthen social protection,
and foster dialogue on labor-related issues.

Globalization has deepened the integration of local and national activities in the global economy and
has presented a new set of policy problems and priorities and increased pressure on the ILO’s
foundational structure to adapt. The ILO is facing evolving circumstances where states and private
actors participating in an interconnected global economy are continually violating labor standards. A
recent report by Isabel Ortiz (2019), suggests that the major challenge ILO is facing is of,
governments, in both high income and developing counties, dramatically cutting public
expenditures, and that these trends are expected to continue until at least 2024. These trends have
often led to lower benefit levels, shorter benefit periods (such as unemployment benefits),
increasing conditions, increasing privatization of some benefits and services (such as old age
pensions, medical benefits), and social security contributions and qualification. These drastic
measures are in direct conflict with ILO’s agreed mandate to combat poverty. Ortiz and Cummins
also argue that the devastating social impact of these reforms have been intensified by a wave of
measures that undermine workers' incomes and security within the labor market.

Freezing minimum wage increases or setting them below the level of inflation has led to a decrease
in their value over time and has made them less and less likely to meet the basic needs of workers
and their families. All this is, becomes a challenge the ILO is facing and must deal with.
Most governments look down upon the ILO because they believe that it lacks enforcement power,
that it is the proverbial toothless tiger. The ILO has no powers of enforcement at its disposal, apart
from ‘naming and shaming’ those in breach of conventions compared to the sanctions available to
the WTO.

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Arturo Bronstein (2009) suggests that the other challenging elements of this new globalization
context are as follows:

• Scope and application of labor law – labor laws are not applied in the informal economy.
The share of the informal economy in the global labor market is increasing thus reducing the
scope of application of labor law.
• Effectiveness of state action - In the current climate of globalization, the effectiveness of
national legislation is in decline. With few exceptions, national labor laws apply only within
the political boundaries of states; however, with the opening to international trade,
technology tends to "cross" borders, while labor law does not and cannot.
• Ideological challenge – the Western cultural movement has challenged the welfare state
approach. The ideology affirms the self-regulating capacity of the market and recommends
that labor laws be limited to thresholds setting ground rules. National protection of workers
through labor law is compromised because neoclassical thinking views "labor rights" as
"costs of labor", workers are viewed as human resources rather than as people, and labor
law is called "labor market regulation", even though labor power is not a commodity.

Each period of history has brought with it changes, promises, and hopes, risks, challenges, and
answers. Looking at the world today, ILO may have had some successes. First, it advocates freedom
of association in many parts of the world where democracies have returned. Second, ILO has made
significant progress in recognition of fundamental workers' rights: policies of non-discrimination and
protection of privacy & freedom of thought have been introduced in many workplaces.

On the other hand, The World Trade Organization, which was established in 1947 after World War II
is a multilateral institution or rather organization dedicated to international economic cooperation.
It deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows
as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible. The World Trade’s Organization’s 20years of
operation has certainly not been without challenges.

The World Trade Organization has a mandate for resolving international trade disputes between
countries and their formidable challenge is dispute settlement. According to (WTO, “Dispute
settlement activity 2021) the Understanding on Rules and Procedures for the Settlement of Disputes,
known as the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), is the main WTO agreement on dispute
settlement. It has the authority to establish panels to adjudicate disputes. The Board of Appeal
cannot hear or decide on appeals if it has less than three members. Pursuant to its obligations under
Article 17(2) of the DSU (Article 17: Appellate Review, para. 1). The term of the two members ended
on December 10, 2019, leaving one member of the Appellate Body as of that date.
As of 2017, the United States has not agreed to appoint new members of the Appellate Body. These
actions have been the subject of most complaints filed against the United States by WTO members,
complaints such as dumping and compensatory duties, safeguards.
The lack of an organized Dispute Settlement System by the World Trade Organization is the main
reason why the organization has difficulties solving international disputes and dealing with
complaints other countries have against the USA accordingly.

The same challenge WTO faces is the same one the United Nations is facing. The United Nations
which is an international organization established in 1945, right after the downfall of the League of
Nations has aims of promoting peace and security across all nations, promoting respect for human
rights, promoting justice and international law, social progress and development etc. But with these
aims, comes challenges to even achieving them, for example, the UN is having a difficult time

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maintaining peace and security across all nations. However, it is important to remember that the UN
was created to maintain peace, not only to prevent and resolve military conflicts, but also to
promote economic and social progress and development. There are no mechanisms of preventive
diplomacy that identify places where crisis may occur. According to T.G Carpenter, 1997, the UN
state-building project in Somalia is failing miserably. The Security Council is paralyzed by its own
problems. Its composition does not represent the real world today. Peacekeeping operations have
been the wrong way to prevent conflict because they aim to separate combatants by mutual
agreement, not to bring peace to a conflict where a ceasefire must be negotiated.

In order to combat this challenge of peacekeeping, the UN must develop a new approach beyond its
traditional forms of peacekeeping. The UN could allow for the emergence of an independent UN
military capability, but according to T.G Weiss, 1994, the UN’s major powers are reluctant of such an
idea.

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Continental Organizations
Continental organizations such as the African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and Organization of
American States (OAS) have been platforms for their member states to pursue common goals using
their resources to achieve individual and collective goals. These organizations have goals but
achieving them may be a challenge.

For example, with the African Union, the organization was officially launched in 2002. The main
objectives of the AU are to liberate the African continent from the remnants of colonization and
apartheid; to promote unity and solidarity among African countries; coordinate and strengthen
development cooperation; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States
and to promote international cooperation.

The past two decades have been eventful in Africa. The continent has been the stage of armed
conflicts. Africa faces multiple security and political challenges, including ongoing conflicts in the
Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia, terrorism in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, military
coups in Chad, Guinea, Mali and Sudan, popular uprisings, and refugee flows. The AU has been less
successful in promoting peace, security, and stability on the African continent. In 2013, the AU
Assembly pledged to end violent conflict in Africa by 2020 through its “Silencing the Guns” initiative.
However, old, and new armed conflicts continue in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya,
Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia. The AU’s security operations are externally funded and implemented by
a handful of countries, including Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
Two of them have been embroiled in conflict: the resumption of civil war in Ethiopia, while tensions
have risen between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The AU will have to change the
strategies of partners and donors. One example is the EU's change in attitude towards African
security, with the European Peace Fund (EPF) replacing the African Peace Fund (APF).

Another challenge the African Union is facing, is, striving for self-reliance. The organization’s
mandate is to depend on itself and the countries in the continent of Africa but that has been difficult
to achieve. The organization depends so much on external fundings. This limits the agency by making
it more vulnerable to the interests and agendas of other bodies, such as the UN. AU member states
were supposed to support the group with a 0.2% tax on eligible imports. However, less than 40% of
Member States pay annual dues.

Different continental organizations face different challenges due to the different economic
prospects ongoing in each continent. For example, in Africa, the organization will face way more
challenges than a developed continent like Europe. The EU, which was established in 1949, has main
aims. According to article 3 of the Lisbon Treaty, the organizations’ aims are to;

• promote peace, its values, and the well-being of its citizens.

• offer freedom, security, and justice without internal borders, while also taking appropriate
measures at its external borders to regulate asylum and immigration and prevent and
combat crime.
• establish an internal market.
• achieve sustainable development based on balanced economic growth and price stability
and a highly competitive market economy with full employment and social progress.
• promote scientific and technological progress.
• Combat social exclusion and discrimination.

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With this being said, the EU still comes across many challenges such as;

• Migration - according to Atalayr, 2022, refugee policies are the most urgent challenges the
organization is facing by far. There is a lack of progress in the negotiation of the European
Pact on Migration. There is continuous division between Spain and other frontline states.
There is a call for a fair sharing of migration responsibilities, while others, such as the
Visegrad countries - Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary are reluctant to
accept refugees. On the other hand, states such as Morocco and and Belarus are using
migratory flows as a political weapon, facilitating the arrival of thousands of irregular
migrants at the borders of Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia.
• Rule of Law – in Hungary and Poland, their post-pandemic recovery funding has been held
back until they undo violations of the principles on which the EU is founded, such as judicial
independence and non- discrimination. The Polish Supreme Court's questioning of the
primacy of European law and Hungary's anti-LGTBIQ+ regulations have increased the tension
in the organization. The parties will have to find common ground, as neither Hungary nor
Poland intends to leave the EU, nor can other partners expel them.

In conclusion, one can clearly see that each continental organization face different challenges due to
their economic stand and prospects.

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Regional Organizations
IMF defines regional organizations as a subcategory of international organizations; it can be financial
and non-financial institutions. These are supranational bodies whose members are governments or
monetary authorities of economies located in specific regions of the world. Regional organizations
are created for various purposes, including supporting, directing, and even controlling aspects of
economic relations or integration processes between regional economies. Examples of regional
organizations would be SADC (Southern African Development Community) and ASEAN (Association
of Southeast Asian Nations).

Like many other international and continental organizations, these regional organizations face
challenges on an everyday basis. For example, with SADC, a regional organization established in
1992, with its mandate being to promote regional economic and social cooperation and integration
as well as political and security cooperation between the 16 countries of Southern Africa.
Most of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been relatively peaceful and
stable over the past two decades but the region faces challenges of crisis of governance and lack of
socio-economic development, and SADC is not prepared to manage these issues effectively.

• Lack of socio-economic development: southern Africa has enormous colonialism and

apartheid created social divisions, that remained even in the postcolonial period. Given this,
it is not surprising that socio-economic discontent represents a challenge to peace and
stability in the region. Michael Aeby, 2018 suggests that investment in human capital and
the creation of economic opportunity have been hampered by low growth rates, and
unemployment has risen steadily across much of the region over the past decade. In South
Africa, persistent social protests fueled by extreme inequality have often turned violent and
xenophobic over the past decade. If economic and educational opportunities do not
improve, the region is likely to experience more social unrest in the foreseeable future.

SADC incorporated the Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation into its framework in
1996, and even though this structure was created it lacks political support, organizational capacity,
and resources. SADC’s policies on regional peace and security reflect the normative tension between
the principle of national sovereignty and the mandate to promote peace, human rights, and
democracy in member states.

Principles guiding SADC crisis response are continuously renegotiated by members, meaning that
SADC has limited capacity to enforce these same principles in non-compliant regimes (Michael Aeby,
2018).

Chung-in Moon, 1998 report says that ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) was formed in
1967 with a mandate of accelerating economic growth, social progress, and cultural development
and to promote peace and security in Southeast Asia. After half a century of development, ASEAN
has made many achievements despite the numerous challenges it has had to face. For example,

• Governance challenges for businesses: small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and
micro-entrepreneurs account for at least 89% of the region's business activity while huge
family-owned conglomerates and state-linked enterprises account for the rest. Widespread
corruption has undermined the region's business environment, particularly affecting small
businesses. ASEAN lacks strong institutions to ensure the successful implementation of its
collective anti-corruption decisions. The ASEAN region needs strong independent civil
institutions to prevent corruption and help the region to compete globally.

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In conclusion, it seems most of these regional organizations suffer from challenges of governance
and effectively implementing their policies towards organizational members and their ill-actions.
Working with other regional, continental, or international organizations may be their only chance to
implement certain policies across the different regional members.

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References
• The WTO at Twenty: Challenges and achievements, 2015
• WTO, “Dispute settlement activity 2021
• DSU, Article 17 : Appellate Review, para. 1
• https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/lang--en/index.htm
• Isabel Ortiz, director at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue and former ILO director for social
protection, and Matthew Cummins, an economist at UNICEF, 2019
• https://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/pdf/fp6.pdf
• Michael Aeby, PEACE, AND SECURITY CHALLENGES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: GOVERNANCE
DEFICITS AND LACKLUSTRE REGIONAL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT, 2018
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/ASEAN
• https://thediplomat.com/2020/08/aseans-challenges-and-the-way-forward/, Kimkong Heng,
2020
• https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-on-asean
• https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/the-african-unions-20-years-the-record-and-new-
challenges/
• https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/principles-and-values/aims-
and-values_en
• https://atalayar.com/en/content/seven-most-important-challenges-facing-european-union-
2022
• T. G. Carpenter, 'The Mirage of Global Collective Security,' in T. G. Carpenter
(ed.), Delusions of Grandeur: The United Nations and Global Intervention,
Washington D.C., Cato Institute, 1997
• T. G. Weiss, D. P. Forsythei and F. Coate, The United Nations and Changing
World Politics, Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1994, p.78.

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 APPENDIX I: PLAGIARSIM

Plagiarism in coursework

All work submitted as part of the requirements for any degree must be expressed in the student’s
own words and must incorporate their own ideas and judgements. This applies equally to
coursework and essays no less than to examinations. Plagiarism, the presentation of another
person’s thoughts or words as one’s own in essays or other assessed work constitutes grounds for
failing a candidate on the work concerned; sanctions that are more serious may be also applied if
circumstances warrant them.

Plagiarism must be avoided, with particular care in coursework and essays and reports written in
your own time. Direct quotations from the published or unpublished work of others must always be
clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source
must be provided in the proper form. Remember that a series of short quotations from several
different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as does a single
unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. Equally, if you summarize another person’s
ideas or judgements, you must refer to that person in your text, and include the work referred to in
your bibliography. Failure to observe these rules may result in an allegation of cheating. You should
therefore consult your lecturer or subject librarian if you are in any doubt about what is permissible.

All students must attach a completed, signed Plagiarism Declaration form to all written work. Work
without a signed plagiarism form will not be marked. A sample of the Plagiarism Declaration form is
given below.

Your Name: Boemo Bathuleng

Student number: 201900267

Course code: PAD 408

Lecturer/Tutor: Mr. Daniel Molaodi

PLAGIARISM DECLARATION

I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and to pretend that it is one’s
own. I have used the American Psychological Association (APA) convention for citation and
referencing. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in this essay/report/project from the
work, or works, of other people has been properly acknowledged through citation and reference. I
have included Internet article references used for the assignment.

This essay is my own work. I have not used the material in this essay in any of my other essays. I
have not allowed and will not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as
his or her own work.

Signature: ____________________ Date : Friday, March 24, 2023

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