[governance] IDRC (was Intergovernmental-/NG-Os & Siege agreement)

[Mawaki Chango]

Hi,

--- Garth Graham <garth.graham at telus.net> wrote:

> IDRC is rare, but not unusual, in being a creature of the Act of  
> Parliament that established it.  It is defined in law as working at
> arms-length to the Government of Canada.  
<snip>

> Section 18. (1) of the IDRC Act says: "The Centre is not an agent
> of  Her Majesty, and, except as provided in subsection (2), the
> governors  and the officers, agents and employees of the Centre are
> not part of  the public service."
<snip> 

> IDRC is fully capable of receiving funds from anywhere.  As per  
> Sections 20. (1) and (2) of the Act:
<snip> 

> I think IDRC provides a model worthy of study as to how a single  
> government can establish, and effectively support without undue  
> interference, an arms-length agency with a global mandate and
> reach.

On that account, I wonder how rare the IDRC case is, though I'm
suspecting the answer may lie in its exact difference with CIDA.
However, as far as being established by a single government and
having a "global mandate and reach" are concerned, my impression is
there are many other cases from developed countries: the AFD
(l'Agence Française de Développement) has "diplomatic" representation
in many countries in Africa; I'm not sure whether the British
Institute does not act often as the DFID representation in foreign
countries; what about USAID? GTZ? ; and for the more discrete (e.g.,
NORAD for Norway, SIDA for Sweden, etc.), their representations are
often parts of their country diplomatic services (Consulate, High
Commission, Embassy, etc.)

So yes, the field abounds in all kinds of species and... rules that
would be interesting to explore. Anyway, the fact is many national
organizations (not exactly chancellery related in nature, not
intergovernmental, not international NGOs) do enjoy "diplomatic"
prerogatives internationally.

Mawaki
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