Intergovernmental Channels: Activities in the Social Field

Abstract

While the principle of intergovernmental co operation in the field of social welfare was well established prior to World War II, the current widespread activity and proliferation of channels have developed in direct response to the postwar social upheavals and the rising tide of newly in dependent nations. Present intergovernmental co-operation is conducted through a multifarious network of international or gans. There are those linked to the United Nations as well as a more diffuse group of intergovernmental organs with an independent existence. The Economic and Social Council, an organ of the United Nations, which bears the main responsi bility for United Nations social policy is also the co-ordinator of the specialized agencies' social welfare programs. In addi tion to the complex structure of intergovernmental organiza tions, their efforts encompass all facets of the social field. In such an enormous undertaking the major problem is the co ordination of these activities and the channels through which they move.—Ed.