Volume 11, No 2.

Advancing global ethics through research and education

The case of the United Nations

Alex Otieno

Overview

Although not a panacea and wanting in some areas, the Millennium Declaration – resolution 55/2 of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted on 8 September 2000 – is perhaps the single most influential action taken by the UN since its inception. The millennium development goals (MDG)¹ were adopted from the declaration and are widely viewed as a compact that can only be attained through partnerships between developed and developing nations in activities such as trade, development assistance, debt relief, access to essential medicines and technology transfer. Thus, although a thoroughgoing study of UN’s 60 years might be a moot idea owing to the fact that it would be a prodigious task spanning multiple disciplines, contexts, and settings, and would entail marshalling massive human and financial capital, it is obvious that the challenges stemming from the MDG will provide a meaningful way for assessing the organisation. Fortunately, the proliferation of information and communication technology (ICT) facilitates access to information about UN specialised agencies, its member states and affiliated non-governmental organisations’ work in this arena. The 16 targets and 48 indicators that together constitute the MDG can therefore be systematically investigated in various contexts and settings.

The MDG presuppose an equity ethos and a desire for health for all and social change to facilitate them where needed. The central role of social change in global health is self-evident in both the world system (Wallerstein 1974) approach and the problematisation of inequality in the context of nation and globalisation (Bergesen & Bata 2002). Information exchange facilitates the processes that catalyse what I will refer to as the local-global-regional interface. I address this interface elsewhere (Otieno, forthcoming), thus it suffices it to say that it moves beyond the global-local interface perspective to incorporate the critical role of regional unions in relation to local issues with global dimensions. The MDG are certainly a relevant example here. Take the sub-Saharan Africa region for example; the prospects of engendering the MDG in the nation-states of this region and researching them in universities are hampered by the limited access (see details below) to the internet and the world wide web, war and conflict fueled by regional competition, trade imbalances and debt, among other things. Additionally, regional organisations such as the European Union (debt service in Africa) and the African Union (establishing best practices) are major players in facilitating the attainment of MDG. Substantial knowledge and understanding can thus emerge from projects that embrace the local-regional-global perspective used here.

Proceeding from this vantage point, this article explores the potential for studying the UN as a communication institution focusing on the role of ICT in elucidating instances and processes that facilitate or obviate the UN mandate in general and MDG in particular. It is thus a formative formulation of a synthetic research agenda for a combined and disaggregated model for research on global health and social change and their linkages to the broader goals of peace and social justice. An iterative process involving descriptive analysis and action orientation as strategies for advocacy with potential for linking the UN to local situations and thereby making it relevant to the all citizens of the globe in various contexts and settings provides the basic framework.

It is noteworthy that the conception of health used here transcends the biomedical model by incorporating social and economic development, gender equity, peace and justice as critical components of health promotion (WHO 1986). Similarly, social change may be conceptualised broadly to include social processes occasioned by contemporary global dynamics (see, for example, Haferkamp & Smelser 1992; Giddens 1990), their local and regional manifestations and implications for the MDG. This intersection between global health and social change is evident in the UN’s preamble. The UN was founded to prevent and resolve international conflicts and help build a culture of peace in the world. This mandate has a direct bearing on social change (not long ago war was part of the local and regional ethos in many parts of the world) given the deleterious impact on war on infrastructure, human resources and overall health and well-being.

The UN Chronicle, a quarterly journal (with an online version) published by the Outreach Division of the UN Department of Information, exemplifies the UN’s dedication to communication by its sheer scope (it covers news, commentary and research from all over the globe). To be sure, UN mandates emanating from and implemented by its specialised agencies, General Assembly, Security Council, Secretary-General and member states can only become part of the public domain through communication and information processes. Thus, iterative and reflexive (Bourdieu & Waquant 1992) strategies that elucidate the dynamics between science and technology, economics, politics, culture, history, culture, social systems and peace and justice are relevant to global ethics. Activities of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), for example, can serve as seminal lessons for nation-states and world citizens. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Programme on Human Settlement (UN Habitat), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) are additional examples of the potential for focusing on the UN as a field for research and source material for teaching.

Rationale

It is not unsavoury to investigate the UN by identifying and scrutinising its failures and successes, vilifying or amplifying the inadequacies of its specialised agencies and debating the validity and significance of its treaties or even presuppose its demise (it can be argued that the Millennium Declaration ended the demise debate). This is especially seminal given that the UN is contending with issues such as the rise of collapsed states such as Somalia, the United States’ unilateral invasion of Iraq in 2003, the challenges of managing transition in Haiti following the deposition of President Aristide in 2004, charges of corruption within the UN (in the Iraq food for oil program), recent (2005) criminal acts by its peacekeepers in the Congo, and the urgent need for reforms that the US (its single largest financial benefactor) believes the UN must undergo. However, I contend that such undertakings evoke pathos rather than an engagement with peace and are likely to elicit negative attention. Alternatives that illustrate the UN’s activities in peace and development can thereby be a viable vehicle for generating broader dialogue on the UN. A sustained dialogue has potential for contributing to the development a new paradigm (Kuhn 1970) for analysing the UN’s undertakings in new areas such as its work in fostering the links between human rights and ICT.

This is particularly relevant given that Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers’ and considering Article 2 of the UNGA Resolution 55/2 in which world leaders affirmed that ‘in addition to our separate responsibilities to our individual societies, we have a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level. As leaders we have a duty therefore to all the world’s people, especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, to whom the future belongs.’

The UNESCO mandate, the undertakings of UN ICT for Development Task Force, a UN Division for Advancement of Women conference, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) work on the MDG illustrate the critical role of ICT in UN’s work in general and possibility of developing research projects from them. I focus on these cases as avenues for generating data for illustrating the fact that these agencies and their related activities demonstrate the link between ICT and development and the possibility of using multiple theoretical perspectives in analysing the same issue (UN and inequality) in various contexts and settings. The emerging intersections serve as initial steps in the progressive journey towards development.

Objectives

This study specifically seeks to: 1) explore and explicate the role of communication in the MDG in particular and the UN’s role in promoting ICT in the new information society in general, and 2) identify and illuminate the key components that characterise a selected synthetic strategy for researching and teaching about the MDG as well as the mechanisms for using them as the basis for global ethics. These objectives are linked to theoretically sampled cases (Murphy & Dingwall 2003) to illustrate the relevance of the UN and its critical role in ensuring global peace, equity and justice through the initiatives of its specialised agencies. The emergent data and theoretical discourse illustrate the possibility of conceptual model building that can underpin research and information dissemination, thereby contributing to theory and practice with a specific focus on international/global studies and their broad ramifications for specialised studies in global health and social change.

Method

The collection of data adduced in this article was informed and structured by theoretical sampling with predetermined idea that they are resources that can, based on an iterative scheme, ‘establish whether some process or phenomenon that is identified in a specified setting can or cannot be found in other settings that are similar or different in some specified way’ (Murphy & Dingwall 2003, p.113). Additionally, this research falls into the general rubric of qualitative research that ‘involves selecting cases that (whether observational settings or documentary materials or interviews with informants) will act as critical tests of the limits of the propositions arising out of a previous research’ (Murphy & Dingwall 2003, p.113). Thus, results from previous research (Otieno 2004) led me to the iterative process that was informed by Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) approach. Scholars interested in exploring can therefore expand the emergent analysis in this study or measure and evaluate the implementation of the descriptive model.

Selected articles of legal instruments and related mandates of the UN illustrate the issues arising from limited content analysis undertaken in related ongoing research. The domains can be classified as: women’s advancement; ICT and development; human rights and global justice; and the role of international law in global ethics; and prevention of war. They do not appear in a particular order, although an attempt is made to link facets that show affinity. Emergent ideas are summed as a selective synthesis of research and practice nodes for global ethics for the 21st century.

Bridging the World through ICT and Development

In this article, ICT include audio and visual technologies such as CDs, DVDs, VHS videos, the internet, email, and various applications of instructional technology such as multimedia projection systems and telephones. ICTs have been identified as: ‘an increasingly powerful tool for participating in global markets; promoting political accountability; improving the delivery of basic services; and enhancing local development opportunities’ (UNDP 2004). UN Charter calls for the promotion of ‘higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development’. Additionally, it aims to solve ‘international economic, social, health, and related problems’ and promote international cultural and educational cooperation and the universal observance of ‘human rights and fundamental freedoms’. These goals require peace, equity and justice for all and can be promoted through ICT. It should be noted that ‘development’ is a contested term that has been conceptualised in relationship to human rights (Sen 1999) as human development (UNDP 2000) and capability approaches (Sen 1984).

Content analysis of the UN Charter reveals the importance of communication and information in the operations of the UN system. The UNGA, the Security Council, the Secretary-General and specialised agencies use memos, press releases and reports to communicate news, strategies and research results. The 2000 conference of the Committee of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN – where the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, presented a report entitled ‘Development and international co-operation in the XXI century: the role of information technology in the context of a knowledge-based global economy’, in which he analysed the potential of ICT for the promotion of economic growth in developing or transition countries, as well as for the integration of these countries into the global economy – further illustrates the role of communication. The conference explored the contribution of ICT to stable global economic development and discussed ethics of electronic information with a focus on the principles of equality, justice, mutual respect and freedom of expression. A series of ‘Ministerial Round Table’ discussions considered e-commerce, knowledge-sharing, e-governance, telemedicine, intellectual property and environment dimensions of the internet. Going by subsequent conferences and working groups, ECOSOC’s initiative had a major impact on the discourse on ICT for development.

The World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) emerged from UN General Assembly Resolution 56/183 (21 December 2001) – a phase hosted by the Swiss government and held in Geneva in 2003. It marked ‘the first time that issues such as the role of communications in promoting development, and the challenges of cybersecurity, spam, internet governance and freedom of expression in the information age’ were discussed from a global standpoint with stakeholders from industry and government. It produced the Declaration of Principles that call for: ‘commitment to build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge, enabling individuals, communities and peoples to achieve their full potential in promoting their sustainable development and improving their quality of life, premised on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.’ The 67 articles included in the principles and plan of action can guide the necessary transformation.

Pursuing MDG through ICT

The UN’s Division for the Advancement of Women used ICT in its 2002 Information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women expert group meeting held in the Republic of Korea in November 2002. A pre-conference online forum contributed to the discourse at the meeting. It is evident that bridging gender inequities in access to ICT requires the attention of policy-makers and can be enhanced through the UN with direct implications for MDG regarding gender equity and maternal health. The impetus for further action along these lines is evident in article 67 of the 2003 WSIS Declaration of Principles, which states:

All individuals can soon, if we take the necessary actions, together build a new Information Society based on shared knowledge and founded on global solidarity and a better mutual understanding between peoples and nations. We trust that these measures will open the way to the future development of a true knowledge society.

Incidentally, UNCTAD (2004) points out the equity and access challenges that must be tackled if we are to advance the goals of equality in the knowledge society. Addressing the inaccessibility of benefits of ICT in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with many highly indebted poor countries (HIPC), can therefore be viewed as a step towards achieving the broader goals of the UN. It is therefore laudable that the UN is already taking action in policy and advocacy to broaden access to communication in order to bridge the ‘digital gap’ and by so doing facilitate the role of ICT in addressing development and communication concerns of these member states of the UN classified as HIPC.

If we consider globalisation as ‘the process of increasing economic, political, and social interdependence and global integration that takes place as capital, traded goods, persons, concepts, images, and values diffuse across state boundaries’ (Yach & Bettcher 1998), then the links between development, human rights and ICT and the UN’s role in promoting them becomes even more compelling. Increasingly, human rights and development activists as well as technocrats are using ICT for reporting, education, policy advocacy and monitoring. The success of anti-World Trade Organisation activists in shutting down the meeting was partly attributed to the organisers’ use of ICT. Health information (medical/public health practice and research oriented) and health threats are also available more readily due to ICT. Thus, the benefits of technological advances in health can be used to alleviate disease and suffering and prolong life for millions of individuals in poor countries based on ICT. Of course, the challenges here include connectivity, power sources, sustainability and the associated human and financial cost. The WHO’s efforts in international health regulations (IHR), health equity, the 90/10 research gap, as well as goals related to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment would be remarkably enhanced by increasing access to ICT.

Another facet involves consideration and utilisation of the UN Declaration on Fundamental Principles concerning the Contribution of the Mass Media to Strengthening Peace and International Understanding, to the Promotion of Human Rights and to countering racialism, apartheid and incitement to war of 1978 demonstrates the role of the UN in peace and its recognition of communication as a tool for peace. The declaration can form the basis for advocacy and legal action and sets the standard for all nation-states. Article III section 2 of the Declaration states that:

In countering aggressive war, racialism, apartheid and other violations of human rights which are inter alia spawned by prejudice and ignorance, the mass media, by disseminating information on the aims, aspirations, cultures and needs of all peoples, contribute to eliminate ignorance and misunderstanding between peoples, to make nationals of a country sensitive to the needs and desires of others, to ensure the respect of the rights and dignity of all nations, all peoples and all individuals without distinction of race, sex, language, religion or nationality and to draw attention to the great evils which afflict humanity, such as poverty, malnutrition and diseases, thereby promoting the formulation by States of the policies best able to promote the reduction of international tension and the peaceful and equitable settlement of international disputes.

Thus, the UN recognises communication as a tool for peace and enhanced global efforts for stability and development. The challenge is reconciling the dire reality with the aspirations of the UN. Regular and sustained access to ICT remains an unattainable aspiration among many people in many UN member states. The International Declaration on Human Genetic Data of 2003 further illustrates this situation. This declaration deals with human rights in genomic research and identifies a role for collaboration and ethics. Its Article 24 states that:

States should endeavour to foster all forms of ethics education and training at all levels as well as to encourage information and knowledge dissemination programmes about human genetic data. These measures should aim at specific audiences, in particular researchers and members of ethics committees, or be addressed to the public at large. In this regard, States should encourage the participation of international and regional intergovernmental organizations and international, regional and national non-governmental organizations in this endeavour.

UNESCO’s work on the UN Decade on Human Rights Education (1995-2004) and UN Decade for Education on Sustainable Development (2005-2014), ongoing work on MDG, and development of global ethics and cross-cultural dialogue reveal the seminal role of the UN in global social change.

The ICT Task Force of the UN has sought to ‘find new, creative and quick-acting means to spread the benefits of the digital revolution and avert the prospect of a two-tiered world information society’. The Task Force is composed of individuals from public and private sectors, civil society and the scientific community, and leaders of the developing and transition economies as well as the most technologically advanced. Its affiliation with the UN affords it partnerships and linkages to diverse efforts and a hopeful point of view regarding developing countries with lower access to ICT contending that the ICT revolution has potential for contributing to development despite their current disadvantaged position. The Task Force’s objectives found further support in the Millennium Declaration.

The ECOSOC 2000 Ministerial Declaration identifies the Task Force’s priorities as follows:

Raise policy-maker awareness and understanding on ICT development potential; Promote universal and affordable access to ICT; Assist Member States in creation of national ICT strategies, policy frameworks, and regulatory environment; Build human resources and institutional capacity, including e-government and education and community-based technology training; Develop a cooperative research and communications agenda, in areas such as how to seed a market for small vendors and consumers or to teach digital literacy; Build partnerships, networks and consortia for actions among relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, at global, regional and national levels; Mobilize new and additional resources – financial, technical and human – for promoting and funding ICT-for-development programmes and projects; Advocate for priority action within the UN system and facilitate cooperation and coordination among the various programmes underway in UN agencies; Open and broaden the international approach to setting standards, regulatory frameworks and governance mechanisms for ICT-related activities, including in areas such as Internet name assignments, privacy, cyber-crime and commercial and financial transactions; and, Assure a better balance between women and men in the ICT-for-development programmes and activities. (UN ECOSOC 2002)

It is within this reality that the discourse of global development and the role of ICT in the relevant processes will be undertaken even as it is clear that the chasms can be turned into opportunity. The Task Force has addressed links between ICT and development. An informal working party established by the Task Force examined the impact of ICT on the international development agenda and more specifically, the impact of ICT in furthering efforts to achieve the MDG. It drafted an initial discussion paper entitled ‘Tools for Development: Using Information and Communications Technology to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals’ with a matrix comprised of three categories of ‘ICT for development’ indicators for illustrative purposes: the national and global planning level, the community or systems level and the individual level emerged from this conference. Following discussion and revisions, a robust framework is underway which will include: 1) a list of core ICT for development indicators as agreed upon by the international community; 2) identification of the roles of various organisations in collecting the data (core indicators and impacts measurement); 3) proposed ICT impacts indicators and targets and milestones for each of the MDG; and 4) possible case studies for impacts measurement at the regional, national and local level.

Digital Divide

It is now widely recognised that a significant digital divide between nations exists and needs to be addressed (UNCTAD 2004). The UNCTAD report ranks various regions of the world and notes that Africa has along way to go ‘if it is to keep pace with the other regions in terms of ICT’ (UNCTAD 2004). Developing clear strategies for policy change and financial support is the first logical step in this process. Here again the UN is by far the best resource given UNDP expertise and use of best practices from around the world in developing strategies that expand access to ICT and harness it for development.

The case of global ethics action through ICT

The foregoing sections have illustrated that ICT can be used in transformative learning, thereby aiding the emergence of global ethics incorporating UN human rights and sustainable development goals. Thus, UNESCO’s work in ICT and development can be harnessed to form the basis for identifying the challenges and opportunities of using websites of selected UN agencies in infusing undergraduate and graduate students with a commitment to social change within the framework of global ethics.

The Millennium Project Global Futures Studies and Research under the American Commission for the United Nations University (ACUNU) is a US non-governmental organisation that provides a point of contact between Americans and the primary research organ of the UN – the United Nations University (UNU) – which focuses intellectual resources from all nations on world problems. The Millennium Project Global Futures Studies and Research exemplifies the possibilities in this realm. The project’s nodes are defined as: ‘a self-organizing group of institutions and individuals recognized by the Project that will facilitate the Project’s research or conduct autonomous research in support of the Project. In this capacity, each node will participate in the identification of incipient world issues and opportunities, study their prospect and their potential resolution, as well as methods for accomplishing such research.’ These nodes are organised around three key issues: 1) assuming leadership responsibility for a geographic area or subject; 2) having access to the entire Millennium Project (staff, information system, international panels, and the other nodes) in carrying out its specialised responsibility; and 3) selects its own chair who is responsible for the work of the node and communications with the Project’s coordinating office (Millennium Project 1996). They are therefore relevant to both research and teaching.

Research Agenda and Curricular Strategies

Clearly, the UN (as well as its specialised agencies, such as UNESCO) has utilised communication as a tool from its inception, and it can be argued that this has made communication a seminal part of its work in various contexts and communities (Shah, McLeod & Yoon 2001). Well-developed communication strategies can therefore be utilised in advancing diverse issues that fall within the purview of the UN, such as the rule of law, health and human rights, sustainable development, social justice and social capital, as well as global ethics. In the sections that follow, the implications of using communications in promoting these components of the UN’s work are considered and discussed with the goal of identifying the critical components for incorporation in curricula that link global issues to the work of the UN.

The litany of obstacles to the attainment of MDG is familiar to those engaged in advocacy for change. Tackling them requires multi-layered models for linking equality, the discourse of globalisation, social justice, democracy and human security in research agenda aimed at improved understanding of the social and economic dynamics that are shaping international progress towards the fulfilment of the UN’s mandate in the 21st century. A research and action agenda conscious of genealogies of power (Bourdieu 1992), regional cooperation, interdependence and partnerships can serve as a starting point for such an undertaking. Envisioning research on the processes for constructing a peaceful world based on global ethics is perhaps one of the most contentious issues in such an endeavour. For one, it assumes that the UN, in spite of its weaknesses, has potential for shaping the value systems of the world in the 21st century. This requires abandoning glum predictions and embracing optimism and hope based on ideas of positive psychology (Seligman 1990). A robust approach would involve combining and disaggregating multiple formulations of social capital (Labonte 2004; Shortt 2004; Putnam 2000; Coleman 1990), an empowerment orientation of multiculturalism (Bennett 2001), investigation of the ecological model with a focus on public health, law and human rights, and incorporation of human security (Chen, Leaning & Narasimhan 2003) as foundations of global ethics. Although these approaches recognise inequalities and inadequacies, framing the UN’s work in poverty alleviation and other MDG through them can combat the stultification that such statistics bring to mind. I attempt to describe how these ideas are related and how they can be used as the basis for simultaneous contribution to research and learning opportunities, revitalisation of the UN’s mandate and reconfiguration of social reality with a focus on social justice. Due to space constraints no definitions are offered, although references are provided for those interested in further investigation.

In order to pursue the goals of the UN’s treaties, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Social, Cultural and Economic Rights (ICSCER), and the Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), it is imperative that notions of multiculturalism and diversity be embraced and studied using a communication, context and community approach (Shah, McLeod & Yoon 2001). To effectively do this, multiculturalism should be understood broadly following Bennett’s (2001) broad principles of multicultural education: ‘(a) a theory of cultural pluralism; (b) ideals of social justice and the end of racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and discrimination; (c) affirmations of culture in the teaching and learning processes; and (d) visions of educational equity and excellence leading to high levels of academic learning for all children and youth’ (2001, p.173). This configuration goes beyond the narrow limitations of cultural pluralism that fail to encompass the transformative and reparative consciousness. If adopted in training at the university level, it can serve as a building block for transformation and wellbeing for all. Cultural competence would be a natural dividend here.

The closing years of the 20th century witnessed the inclusion of global equity/disparities in the discourse of international health. The optimistic (some argue utopian) definition of health put forward in WHO’s constitution – ‘state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ – suggests that social policies at the local and national level should be geared towards equity and respect for human rights as a precondition for health. WHO’s ‘health for all’ (WHO 1978) agenda, its health promotion efforts (WHO 1986) and its annual World Health Report are a starting point for investigating inequalities, although thoroughgoing inquiries should include ideas from Wirth (2001), Diderichsen, Evans and Whitehead (2001) or Acheson (1998) to mention but a few. The fruitfulness of such endeavours is evident in Pradham, Sahn and Younger’s (2003) work on global inequalities in health. Scholars can extend their inquiries into the realm of housing and settlements with a focus on access to portable water and sanitation, given the escalating population growth in the world’s urban areas. Here again the UN as a communication institution can provide the important data. UN Habitat provides a source of data for retrospective, prospective and multi-level analysis. The global urban observatory of UN Habitat is a clear illustration here.

Ecological model and social determinants (Wilkinson & Marmot 1998) of health received substantial attention following the seminal report by the United States Institute of Medicine (2003); this approach encompasses multiple models in one and transforms traditional issues into complex processes that are interlinked. Although it may be the source of serious debate, it offers a case for considering paradigm shifts in the health professions. In connection to this, it has been noted that public health, law, and human rights have multiple linkages and have potential for research and education (Fidler 2002; Gostin 2002; Burris 2002; Burris, Lazzarini & Loff 2001; Gostin, Lazzarini, Neslund & Osterholm 2000). The International Conference on Health, Law and Human Rights held in September 2001 in Philadelphia, organised by Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and the American Society for Law, Medicine and Ethics, catapulted this field to new heights. The papers and discourse from the conference have provided further evidence for those who seek to spurn narrow formulations of each of the components of the three-part linkage. The complexity and possibility for problem-based and integrative learning presented by the linkages cannot be overemphasised.

Assuming that an ecological model and notions of equity catapult scholars of the UN to consider the social formations and trajectories of specific societies and communities, then the next logical action would involve research on the processes that produce specific social formations and patterns in specific contexts and settings. Social capital can be a meaningful approach here since it has received increasing attention at various levels (nation-state, regional government, international funding) and portends well as a tool for investigation and social analysis at the national and cross-cultural level. The work of the Sustainable Communities Network, an Australian outfit, speaks to the linkages between policy and notions of community, sustainability and equity. Thus, whether through a single country or comparative approach, social capital can be a useful tool for framing studies of selected UN member states from multiple perspectives. The role of communication (Thorson & Beaudon 2004), civic participation (Putnam 2000) and systems of inclusion/exclusion (Labonte 2004) in social capital building as well as the role of the state in these processes (Shortt 2004) can be meaningfully studied with specific reference to the UN as a source of data. The dividends of partnerships between practitioners and academics as well as the role of community in this arena can offer lessons for policy and action.

Human security and the capability approach have both emerged as critical parts of the discourse on health, democracy, peace and development. The UN is credited with initiating this process under the urgings of the Japanese government. Here again the role of NGOs should be noted, since Soka Gakkai International was instrumental in bringing the human security agenda to the table. Both the report from the Human Security Commission (available free online) and the text by Chen, Leaning and Narasimhan (2003) are both an indication of available resources for research and teaching and evidence of its viability for exploration. Equally important, and perhaps substantially linked to both human development and human security, is the concept of capability advanced by Sen (1984, 1985, 1993, 1995, 1999) and Nussbaum (2000). The Human Development and Capability Association, created in 2004, its Journal of Human Development: Alternative Economics in Action, and professional meetings of the association can form a source for a synthetic approach towards social change and global health.

Each of these components forms a critical part of a multidisciplinary approach that can provide segments of the road map towards global ethics framed as part of capacity-building for social change and global health. Although syntheses emerge in teaching and learning, strategically developed mechanisms for inculcating norms or preserving security are more likely to be fruitful than those dependent on spontaneity. A backwards design approach (Wiggins & McTighe 1998) can thus be used to create meaningful opportunities for enhancing knowledge and understanding about the UN and its activities. The cumulative and regenerative impact of research and learning opportunities that emerge from them can then form the basis for a robust synthetic model for change predicated on the snowballing effect of learning and knowledge transfer.

Conclusion

The scope of the UN’s presence on the web is remarkably vast and its ongoing efforts aimed at bridging the digital divide are laudable; these can therefore be potentially harnessed as material for ICT-based research on advocacy and action. From the foregoing, it is clear that there are multiple avenues for generating questions, sampling data and testing hypotheses related to the UN. The data and conclusions accruing from such research can also be utilised in facilitating, monitoring and ultimately attaining UN goals, though this project will necessarily need to move beyond its current broad-based configuration towards a narrower conception that can encompass and adhere to reliability and validity.

Universities can incorporate the MDG in curricula. ICT-based nodes of action and advocacy have potential for application in research utilising causal layered analysis (Inayatullah 1998) and can be effective tools for incorporating UN studies into a wide variety of curricula in a way that spurs students into research-based action and advocacy, thereby preventing the cynicism that can easily arise when issues of development and inequality are addressed. The proposed activities are aimed at broadening the paths into avenues for dialogue, with potential for broadening the discourse among stakeholders involved in envisioning ICT as a tool for development. Research on the processes for facilitating the attainment of MDG can thus inform advocacy efforts for social change and global health. They are also amenable to conceptualisation as dependent variables of empowerment, communication, development and global ethics. Thus, research and action strategies for enhancing global social justice need to be viewed as covariates of multi-component systems occasioned by several mechanisms that alone or together can be transformative in specific settings and contexts.

The activities of UN specialised agencies and commissions as well as the affiliate NGOs are all viable sources of data for analysis. If creativity, commitment to curriculum change and innovation in education are valued, there is the possibility of incorporating MDG into university courses under various perspectives, including partnerships between government and the private sector in development of infrastructure and policy environment; capacity-building; human rights; diversity of human communities; and global cultures. Clearly, the UN lends itself to problem-based, experiential, and service, cooperative and collaborative learning as well as the fostering of interdisciplinary strategies in topically linked courses that cultivate undergraduate research and enhance discovery approaches to globalisation, just to name a few. The new and celebrated approaches of backward design and understanding by design can be employed in this enterprise. This brings to bear global ethics based on the UN’s Millennium Declaration with an emphasis on peace, security and disarmament; development and poverty-eradication; protecting our common environment; human rights, democracy and good governance; protecting the vulnerable; meeting the special needs of Africa; and strengthening the UN. Research and teaching on these issues can provide a foundation for cultivating skills for both young and seasoned scholars.

Alex Otieno, MPH ABD, teaches in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology as well as the MA Program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at Arcadia University in Glenside, USA. His interests include the role of information and communication technologies in social mobilisation and social change, with a focus on health and human rights, development and transformative learning.

NOTES

1. The MDG were developed from the September 2000 UN Millennium Declaration, endorsed by 189 countries. The eight MDG build on agreements made at UN conferences in the 1990s and represent commitments to reduce poverty and hunger, and to tackle ill-health, gender inequality, lack of education, lack of access to clean water and environmental degradation; they are to be reached by 2015. The MDG goal number eight explicitly recognises the contribution that developed countries can make through trade, development assistance, debt relief, access to essential medicines and technology transfer.

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