Brochure 2001 Click for PDF version   UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL COURSES (UNU/IC) UNU CENTRE, TOKYO, JAPAN 14 MAY TO 22 JUNE 2001 Introduction Organization of Courses Learning Outcomes for Participants Learning Environment and Facilities International Teaching Staff UN Internship and Employment Guidance Tuition and Fellowships Accommodation Certificates of Completion Application to the UNU/IC      Application form Course Outlines United Nations System: Structure and Activities Environmental Monitoring and Quality Human Rights: Concepts and Issues International Cooperation and Development Japanese Version top Introduction The United Nations University will organize its second six-week-long regular session of the UNU International Courses (UNU/IC) at its Centre in Tokyo, Japan from 14 May to 22 June 2000. The UNU/IC programme is designed for postgraduate students and professionals with a college or university degree in various occupations in Japan and abroad who wish to pursue careers in international fields in public-service or private organizations, including the United Nations, multinational corporations and non-governmental organizations as well as national foreign service organizations. The courses are designed to provide analyses of global issues from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The UNU International Courses are taught in a cooperative fashion by a team of scholars and practitioners comprising both in-house and outside experts. One of the unique features of the UNU/IC is that most of the practitioners come from United Nations organizations. Another important characteristic of the UNU/IC is the direct access to teaching faculty and the support provided to course participants by the UNU in-house academic staff who serve as academic counselors. The UNU/IC also draw on the research projects undertaken at the UNU Centre in Tokyo and at various UNU Research and Training Centres and Programmes (RTC/Ps) located around the world. The regular courses, though advanced in nature, are open to graduate students and professionals in various occupations who are not necessarily specialists in the field. top Organization of Courses The four courses to be offered in May and June 2001 are: United Nations System: Structure and Activities; Environmental Monitoring and Quality; Human Rights: Concepts and Issues; and International Cooperation and Development. (For a brief outline of each of these courses, click here.) There will be eighteen 90-minute sessions per course (three sessions per week) during the six-week course period. One of the sessions will be used either for a supplementary or special lecture or a discussion session. The courses will involve considerable reading and study, but will be scheduled to allow students to have sufficient preparatory and review time for each session. Daily Schedule There will be three sessions on each day - 10:00-11:30 a.m., 14:00-15:30 p.m. and 17:00-18:30 p.m. (no one course may take the entire three sessions of one day). The final schedule will be made available in May 2001. top Learning Outcomes for Participants The expected learning outcomes for UNU/IC participants include: Deep, sophisticated understanding of the subject at a high level. Sharpened analytical and problem-solving skills. Opportunity to interact intellectually with a wide cross-section of fellow participants from around the world from diverse academic and professional backgrounds. Opportunity to interact socially with fellow-participants from diverse cultural backgrounds. top Learning Environment and Facilities The learning environment and facilities prepared for the UNU/IC include: Complementary theoretical and practical perspectives, from academic experts and practitioners, respectively. Guest lectures by leading specialists and practitioners in Japan and overseas, including those in the UN system. Access to the library and other resources of the UNU in these areas of study. Close contact with UNU in-house specialists in small-group settings. Opportunity to sample life in one of the world's great metropolises. top International Teaching Staff The UNU/IC will be administered and coordinated by the UNU Centre. Each of the courses will be handled by a responsible UNU academic officer (or a team of UNU academic officers), who also will teach at least part of the course. In principle, each course will be taught by a combination of the academic staff of the UNU Centre and the RTC/Ps, adjunct professors and other scholars involved in related UNU research projects, and representatives of various UN agencies and other internationally oriented organizations, as well as prominent professors from universities in different parts of the world and professional experts in relevant fields. top UN Internship and Employment Guidance The UNU will provide assistance to those who wish to serve as an intern with the United Nations and other relevant organizations. The UNU will request all relevant organizations, including those in the United Nations system, to take account of the UNU/IC Certificate of Completion when submitted as part of an employment dossier. This will be done in collaboration with relevant offices of the United Nations, national governments and other organizations. top Tuition and Fellowships The tuition fee per course is 100,000 Japanese yen - about US$935 at the September 2000 UN exchange rate - or 150,000 yen (about US$1,400) for two courses. top Accommodation The UNU has located a low-cost hotel facility in Tokyo to accommodate course participants from outside Tokyo and Japan. top Certificates of Completion Participants who successfully complete at least one course will receive a UNU Certificate of Completion at the UNU/IC closing ceremony. Requirements include a short paper/written discussion contributions, regular class attendance as well as active participation in class discussions. top Application for the UNU/IC [APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR THIS YEAR]

Ms. Wilma James
Training Assistant
United Nations University Headquarters
5-53-70 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 150-8925, Japan
Tel: +81-3/3499-2811
Fax: +81-3/3499-2828
E-mail: james@hq.unu.edu

Deadline for applications was 31 January 2001.

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United Nations System: Structure and Activities

In today's rapidly changing world, power, authority, rights and duties are shifting away from the traditional sovereign state actor to actors that operate below, between or above states. This increasing trend toward globalization is being spearheaded by international organizations that are moving beyond their peripheral roles in the interstate system to become central actors in world politics. The United Nations, besides playing its traditional roles, is now being called upon to assume wide-ranging new duties.

This course introduces the participants to the United Nations system, its core components, the roles they play in the international system, and the UN system's work in the promotion of peace and maintenance of security. More specifically, the course offers a discussion of the historical evolution and contemporary significance of the United Nations; it discusses and analyses the UN's roles in meeting some of the most pressing international problems, such as in the areas of peace, security, human rights, and governance; and it addresses proposals to reform the UN system to allow it to play a more constructive and crucial role in the creation and maintenance of international peace and security.

• Introduction: The International System
• The League of Nations
• Brainstorming Session on "Global Government or Global Governance?"

• The UN Charter
• The General Assembly
• Brainstorming Session on "The General Assembly as a Global Parliament"

• The Security Council Brainstorming Session on "The Role of the SC and SG in Promoting World Peace"

Week Four

• Specialized Agencies
  • Panel session and discussion with representatives of UN agencies with an office in Tokyo
• Promotion of Human Security and Good Governance

• Promotion of Peace
• Peace-keeping, Peacemaking and Peace Enforcement
• Brainstorming Session on "The Elusive Quest for Peace"

• Complex Emergencies, Humanitarian Intervention & Reconstruction
• Review, Evaluation, & Reform of the UN
• Group Project Presentations on "The New UN" and Course Wrap-up

The course will be taught by the staff of UNU's Peace and Governance Programme and selected guest lecturers from UN Headquarters in New York and universities in Japan.

Environmental Monitoring and Quality

This course is designed to inform the participants about the scientific and institutional aspects of environmental monitoring, particularly at the regional and global scale. The first half of the course will focus on the fundamentals of environmental monitoring - introducing the participants to a variety of methodologies and technologies and their application to various environmental sectors. An overview of the latest monitoring technologies and approaches will be provided, including geographic information systems (GIS) and satellite-based monitoring. The second half of the course will focus more on the institutional aspects of monitoring with emphasis on the wide range of existing global environmental monitoring networks. Due attention will be given to the interlinkages between various monitoring regimes, particularly the role of various UN agencies.

Week One - Fundamentals of Environmental Monitoring

• Environmental compartments and processes
• Monitoring strategies - monitoring network design, sampling frequency, statistical analyses, data quality issues
• Environmental impact assessment

• Monitoring methods for water quality
• Evaluating air quality - linkage to environmental pollution and global warming
• Terrestrial monitoring - linkage to food security and forest protection

• Aerial and satellite monitoring
• Existing satellite networks
• Recent advances in information management
• Data management and use of geographic information systems (GIS)
• Internet as a tool for information dissemination

• International cooperative monitoring networks
• Coordination of monitoring networks
• Global observing system and the UN system - weaknesses and strengths
• State of the Environment Assessments - GEO, regional and national initiatives

• Access to information - equity issues
• Using monitoring for environmental impact assessment
• Information for decision makers

• Interlinkages between various monitoring and environmental regimes
• Identifying hot spots
• Course review

UNU Centre Environment and Sustainable Development (ESD) Programme academics, including GEIC, academic staff from and the UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS).

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Human Rights: Concepts and Issues

The conception of human rights, though getting more broadly accepted in the international community in recent years, has been, and continues to be, at the centre of much heated debate concerning its scope, its validity in different cultural contexts, or the legitimacy of its application to justify infringements on nation states' sovereignty. The course is intended to provide participants with the knowledge and awareness to address human rights issues from a proper historical, comparative and global perspective in order to develop feasible solutions to current problems related to human rights. The course will start with a thorough overview of the philosophical and legal basis of the concept of human rights, its historical development and its political implications, with strong emphasis on the different perceptions and definitions of human rights in different national, historical and cultural contexts. Based on this theoretical analysis, the course will review and discuss the roles and activities of various international and non-governmental organizations involved in the promotion and protection of human rights, including case studies on the UN Human Rights Commission, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Week One - Human Rights: Concepts and Norms

• Course Overview
• Review of Human Rights Concepts and Norms
• Human Rights in National, Historical and Cultural Contexts

• The UN Charter and Human Rights: Intention and Subsequent Unexpected Development
• Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Its Significance
• Effectiveness of UN Actions in the Field of Human Rights

• Creation of the Position of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Regional Approaches to Human Rights
• Mainstreaming Human Rights with the UN System

• Human Rights of Refugees
• Human Rights of Women
• Human Rights of Children
• Human Rights and Human Development

• Human Rights and Foreign Policy
• Human Rights and Non-Governmental Organizations
• International Criminal Courts
• Peace-keeping and Human Rights

• University professors and scholars specializing in human rights issues
• Officials in human-rights-related organizations, including UNHCHR, UNHCR, UNICEF and the UN Commission on Human Rights

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International Cooperation and Development

Week One - International Cooperation and Development: Theory, History and Policy

• Foreign Aid and Multilateral Assistance for Development
• Development Theory and Practice
• The Evolution of Development Cooperation
• Development Challenges in an Era of Globalization

• Latest Thinking - World Development Report 2000
• Education and Health
• Gender
• Policies to Improve Growth and Human Development

• Africa
• Asia
• Latin America

• Donor Policy Coordination
• Ensuring Local Ownership
• Transforming Aid

• The UN System - UNDP, UNICEF and ILO
• The World Bank and IMF
• Japan's Development Cooperation System

• In-house scholars and university professors who are development specialists
• Officials of development-related international organizations - UNDP, UNICEF and the World Bank
• Officials from Japan's international cooperation agencies - MOFA and JICA.

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