ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the United Nations (UN) use of knowledge to propel worldwide consensus for global goals and commitments and to encourage measures to promote national compliance. It focuses on ways in which UN management of knowledge for norm setting has evolved, and on UN promotion of universal conventions and protocols on matters of collective global concern. The UN implements a variety of international instruments to establish rights and obligations among parties. The United Nations Treaty Collection (UNTC) provides an overview of these terms but stresses that the title assigned to a particular international instrument has no overriding legal effects. UN General Assembly with near-universal participation of the world's countries serves as a forum for global negotiation and governance; the UN Security Council and a collection of administrative units within the UN system record and disseminate documentation on the world's collective agreements. Additionally, UN-appointed commissions monitor and evaluate individual countries' progress on their stated objectives for compliance with international agreements.
