2. The One World Trust is an independent charity that conducts
research, develops recommendations and advocates for
reform to make policy and decision-making processes in
global governance more accountable to the people they
affect now and in the future, and to ensure that international
laws are strengthened and applied equally to all.
3. The One World Trust promotes education
and research into changes required
in global governance to achieve the
eradication of
poverty, injustice,environmental
degradation and war. It develops
recommendations on practical ways to
make powerful organisations more
accountable to the people they affect
now and in the future, and how the rule
of law can be applied to all. The Trust
educates political leaders, decision
makers and opinion-formers about the
findings of our research.
4. Established in 1951 in support of the All-Party Group For
World Government, the Trust continues to have a close
relationship with the UK Parliament. The Trust also is an
NGO with Special Consultative Status with the United
Nations Economic and Social Council.
UK Parliament
5. Governance
The Trust’s work is overseen by a Board of
Trustees. There are currently ten trustees with
Lord Archer of Sandwell, PC as President, and
Tony Colman leading as Chair. The Trust is also
supported by a group of Vice-Presidents
acting as Patrons, and members of different
project related advisory panels.
6. Funding
The Trust’s work is funded by donations and bequests
from individual supporters and through grants. Funders
include the Ford Foundation, the Joseph Rowntree
Charitable Trust, the James Madison Trust, the Konrad
Adenauer Foundation, the Baring Foundation, the
Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation, the Funding
Network and the Allan and Nesta Ferguson
Charitable Settlement. The Trust also derives a limited
level of income from consultancy work.
7. Transparency
Transparency
As part of its commitment to accountability the Trust has
developed an Information Disclosure Policy to provide
stakeholders with an opportunity to identify what information
they can access, including Trustee meeting minutes, strategic
plans and financial accounts, which are all posted online.
8. Sphere of activity
The One World Trust works to make global governance
more accountable. In its research it focuses on the
accountability of global organisations, the political
engagement of citizens at global level, and international
law. Key project areas include the annual Global
Accountability Report, Parliamentary Oversight of Foreign
Policy, and work on the Responsibility to Protect.
9. The Trust conducts
research and
advocacy to
improve
the accountability o
f global
organisations.
Through its Global
Accountability
Framework the Trust
promotes
conceptual
understanding, cros
s sectoral
learning, and
organisational
change in powerful
globally operating
institutions from the
intergovernmental,
non-governmental
and transnational
corporate sectors.
Accountability of global
institutions
10. The Framework breaks up
the concept of
accountability into four
dimensions:
transparency, participation,
evaluation, and complaint
and response mechanisms.
Using indicators developed
for these dimensions, the
Trust seeks to capture
organisational capacity to
be accountable based on
the principles and values
that underlie an
organisation’s policies and
systems.
11. Based on the framework, the One
World Trust produces its annual Global
Accountability Report.Alongside these
reports, the Trust also works with
Parliamentarians, national and
international NGO umbrella groups and
transnational corporations to
strengthen their individual capacity to
be accountable to their stakeholders as
part of an integrated global
governance system.
12. Parliamentary oversight of
foreign policy
The Trust’s Parliamentary Oversight
Project, running since 2003, examines how the
British Parliament holds the British government to
account for foreign policy development and
decisions. The project specifically focuses on the
systems and practices in place for UK
approaches to international organisations like
the World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund, the World Trade Organisation, the
European Union or key countries such as the
USA. This includes the way Britain responds
armed conflict. The project conducts research
on loopholes in Parliamentary controls and
undertakes advocacy to implement reforms.
13. In collaboration with Democratic Audit and the Federal Trust for
Education and Research, the One World Trust published in 2006 the
book Not in Our Name: Democracy and Foreign Policy in the
UK, which looked at the checks and balances between Parliament
and the UK government in the formulation and oversight of foreign
policy. In December 2007 the One World Trust published the most
recent of the three organisations' joint report A World of Difference:
Parliamentary Oversight of British Foreign Policy, which focuses on
the practical experiences and problems with parliamentary
oversight of global security, responses to conflict and scrutiny of UK
policy towards the European Union. On the
website myforeignpolicytoo.org the three organisations encourage
debate and reforms for a more democratic foreign policy process.
14. Responsibility to protect
The Trust's work on international law
currently focuses on the opportunities
and challenges associated with the
increasing development of the
international doctrine of the
Responsibility to Protect
(R2P) .Undertaking its own research and
advocacy the Trust works in particular
to encourage international political
agreement on R2P as a global
framework for conflict prevention,
response and rebuilding of affected
societies.
15. With this focus the Trust builds on its
work in support of the development
and ratification of the International
Criminal Court(ICC)aimed at
strengthening access to justice and
redress for survivors of grave human
rights abuses including war crimes,
crimes against humanity and
genocide. Through its Global
Responsibility lectures and briefing
papers the One World Trust provides
parliamentarians and others in the
policy community with the opportunity
to access key viewpoints and research
results on issues associated with the
operationalisation of the Responsibility
to Protect and enforcement of the
international rule of law.
16. "The application compellingly demonstrated the
need for this work and presented an interesting
and thoughtful way of addressing this need. The
organization is a leader in their field of work and
the Foundation had confidence in its ability to
deliver a project of the highest quality.“
Matthew Smerdon
(on the One World Trust and its work on complaint
and response mechanisms)
Assistant Director
Baring Foundation