Indicator: 10.6.1

10.6.1/16.8.1

Last updated: 19 July 2016

ENG

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Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

Target 10.6: Ensure enhanced representation and voice for developing countries in decision-making in global international economic and financial institutions in order to deliver more effective, credible, accountable and legitimate institutions

Indicator 10.6.1: Proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations

Institutional information

Organization(s)

Financing for Development Office, DESA (FFDO)

Concepts and definitions

Definition

The proportion of members and voting rights of developing countries in international organizations has two components, the developing country proportion of voting rights and the developing country proportion of membership in international organisations. In some institutions these two components are identical.

Rationale

The United Nations is based on a principle of sovereign equality of all its Member States (Article 2, UN Charter). This indicator aims to measure the degree to which States enjoy equal representation in different international organizations.

Concepts

The indicator is calculated independently for eleven different international institutions: The United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Trade Organisation, and the Financial Stability Board.

There is no established convention for the designation of “developed” and “developing” countries or areas in the United Nations system. In common practice, Japan in Asia, Canada and the United States in northern America, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, and Europe are considered “developed” regions or areas. The aggregation across all institutions is currently done according to the United Nations M.49 statistical standard which includes designation of “developed regions” and “developing regions”, while an ongoing review seeks to reach agreement on how to define these terms for the purposes of SDG monitoring. The designations “developed” and developing” are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process.

Comments and limitations

Cross institutional comparisons needs to pay attention to the different membership of the institutions. Voting rights and membership in their institutions are agreed by the Member States themselves. As a structural indicator, there will be only small changes over time to reflect agreement on new States joining as Members, suspension of voting rights, membership withdrawal and negotiated voting rights changes.

Methodology

Computation method

The computation uses each institutions’ own published membership and voting rights data from their respective annual reports. The proportion of voting rights is computed as the number of voting rights allocated to developing countries, divided by the total number of voting rights. The proportion of membership is calculated by taking the number of developing country members, divided by the total number of members.

Disaggregation

Data is calculated and presented separately for each international organization.

Data sources

Description

Annual reports, as presented on the website of the institution in question, are used as sources of data.

Sources of information by institution:

United Nations General Assembly: website of the General Assembly

United Nations Security Council: Report of the Security Council for the respective year

United Nations Economic and Social Council: Report of the Economic and Social Council for the respective year

International Monetary Fund: Annual Report for the respective year

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Management’s Discussion & Analysis and Financial Statements for the respective year

International Finance Corporation: Annual Report (volume 2) for the respective year

African Development Bank: Annual Report for the respective year

Asian Development Bank: Annual Report for the respective year

Inter-American Development Bank: Annual Report for the respective year

World Trade Organisation: WTO Annual Report 2015

Financial Stability Board: Charters of the Financial Stability Board

List:

General Assembly website;
Report of the Security Council;
Report of the Economic and Social Council,
Report of the International Monetary Fund;
IBRD’s Management’s Discussion & Analysis and Financial Statements;
IFC Annual Report (volume 2);
AfDB Annual Report;
ADB Annual Report;
IADB Annual Report;
WTO Annual Report;
Charters of the Financial Stability Board

Data availability

Available for all countries.

Calendar

Data release

United Nations General Assembly:
continuous

United Nations Security Council:
annually in September

United Nations Economic and Social Council:
annually in October

International Monetary Fund:
annually in October

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development:
annually in September

International Finance Corporation:
annually in September

African Development Bank:
annually in May

Asian Development Bank:
annually in April

Inter-American Development Bank:
annually in April

World Trade Organisation:
annually in May

Financial Stability Board:
annually in January

(UNGA: continuous UNSC: September 2016 ECOSOC: October 2016 IMF: October 2016 IBRD: September 2016 IFC: September 2016 AfDB: May 2017 ADB: April 2017 IADB: April 2017 WTO: May 2017 FSB: January 2017)

Data providers

Name

UNGA, UNSC, ECOSOC, IMF, IBRD, IFC, AfDB, ADB, IADB, WTO, FSB

Description

The United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Trade Organisation, and the Financial Stability Board.

Data compilers

Name

FFD/UN-DESA

Description

The data is compiled and the proportions calculated by the Financing for Development Office, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Reference

URL

https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/