ABSTRACT
This chapter examines recent survey data by the Future UN Development System (FUNDS) Project in order to better gauge the perceptions of the world organisation’s problems and prospects. It also examines the evidence for the emerging powers’ influence in the UN’s development activities. The chapter provdes a brief overview of recent developments before going into some depth on the findings of the three FUNDS surveys. FUNDS surveys have provided consistent feedback on the weaknesses of that system and the perceptions about many UN organisations – in particular, the regional commissions as well as the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Tourism Organization. If respondents in the emerging powers give a somewhat higher score to the regional commissions than do respondents in developed or other developing countries, this difference probably reflects the greater importance attached to regional cooperation.
