The Hague Institute for Global Justice and The Stimson Center, based in Washington, D.C., view the intersection of security and justice as critical to understanding and addressing common global threats and challenges, the effective management of which requires innovative and collaborative action at various levels. On this fundamental theme, the Institute and the Stimson Center conceptualized a major new project built around a Commission on Global Security, Justice, and Governance, composed of a select group of eminent statespersons and public intellectuals. Read the Commission’s Report.

Commissioners

The Commission is co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Nigerian Foreign Minister and U.N. Under-Secretary-General Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari.

Commissioners include:

  • Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani, Founder Chairman – Arab International Women’s Forum
  • Celso Amorim, former Brazilian Minister of Defense
  • Lloyd Axworthy, Chancellor of St. Paul’s University and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada
  • Yoriko Kawaguchi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan
  • Jane Holl Lute, President and CEO of Council on CyberSecurity
  • Asha-Rose Migiro, Minister for Constitutional and Legal Affairs of Tanzania
  • José Antonio Ocampo, Director of Economic and Political Development Concentration at Columbia University
  • Shyram Saran, former Foreign Secretary of India
  • Michael Schaefer, Chairman of Board of Directors of the BMW Foundation
  • Jozias van Aartsen, Mayor of The Hague
  • Erna Witoelar, former UN Special Ambassador for Millennium Development Goals in Asia Pacific
  • Wu Jianmin, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy

Ex-Oficio Members

  • Ellen Laipson, Distinguished Fellow and President Emeritus, Stimson Center
  • Abiodun Williams, President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice

Building on the tradition of the 1995 Commission on Global Governance and the 2004 High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, the Commission will consider new frameworks for collective action on pressing issues such as state fragility, the effect of climate change on peoples’ lives and livelihoods, and the cyber-economy.

The Commission’s chief goal is to develop a distinct set of global policy and institutional reform recommendations, released in June 2015, in advance of the United Nations’ 70th Anniversary Summit. Innovations presented will stem from research by leading experts and a series of informed, international multi-stakeholder consultations. On the basis of these policy and reform recommendations, the Commission on Global Security, Justice & Governance aims to initiate and sustain a dialogue on innovating a global governance architecture commensurate with today’s transnational challenges.

Framework and Consultations

In developing the Commission’s innovative framework, The Hague Institute and The Stimson Center convened over 30 multi-stakeholder consultations across the globe. The consultations were conducted with U.N. Member State representatives and officials at U.N. Headquarters and in conjunction with the 2014 Hague Conference on Business and Human Security, the 2014 India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance, the 2014 U.N. Climate Change Conference in Lima, and the 2015 Munich Security Conference. The consultations brought together eminent thinkers, as well as students and young professionals, to consider frameworks for collective action on the topics of fragile states, cyber security and climate governance, among others.

The Commission’s Report, Confronting the Crisis of Global Governance, was launched at the Peace Palace in The Hague on 16 June 2016. Co-Chairs Dr. Albright and Dr. Gambari presented the Commission’s chief recommendations. Commissioners Mayor Jozias van Aartsen and Ambassador Michael Schaefer also participated in the event. Further launch events around the world, including at the United Nations in New York, in Washington, D.C., Abuja, Berlin and Tokyo, have consolidated the Report’s global reach.

A series of background papers authored by distinguished intellectuals that comprise the Commission’s Research Team strengthen the intellectual foundations of the Commission’s work. The papers elaborate on how and where the core concepts of security and justice intersect in a particular policy or institutional context, review progress to date by a range of global (state and non-state) actors on the most pressing global challenges, and discuss where and why their efforts may still be insufficient. By offering  ambitious but realistic recommendations for reform that take note of global security and justice implications, the papers further the intellectual debate.

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