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The article discloses the basic privileges and immunities of the international organizations staff, as established by the provisions of international law. The author considers dispute settlement practices involving international organizations staff to determine compliance with international norm-setting which regulates the law institution in question, including cooperation with the national norm-setting.

International Relations scholars have long neglected the question of leadership in international organizations. The structural turn in International Relations led to an aversion to analysing or theorizing the impact of individuals. Yet, empirical studies suggest that different leaders affect the extent to which international organizations facilitate cooperation among states and/or the capacity of a global agency to deliver public goods. It is difficult to study how and under what conditions leaders have an impact due to the challenges of attributing outcomes to a particular leader and great variation in their powers and operating context. We offer a starting point for overcoming these challenges. We identify three different types of constraints that executive heads face: legal-political, resource and bureaucratic. We argue that leaders can navigate and push back on each of these constraints and provide illustrations of this, drawing on existing literature and interviews with executive heads and senior management of international organizations. Executive heads of international organizations may operate in a constrained environment but this should not stop scholars from studying their impact.

International Relations scholars have long neglected the question of leadership in international organizations. The structural turn in International Relations led to an aversion to analysing or theorizing the impact of individuals. Yet, empirical studies suggest that different leaders affect the extent to which international organizations facilitate cooperation among states and/or the capacity of a global agency to deliver public goods. It is difficult to study how and under what conditions leaders have an impact due to the challenges of attributing outcomes to a particular leader and great variation in their powers and operating context. We offer a starting point for overcoming these challenges. We identify three different types of constraints that executive heads face: legal-political, resource and bureaucratic. We argue that leaders can navigate and push back on each of these constraints and provide illustrations of this, drawing on existing literature and interviews with executive heads and senior management of international organizations. Executive heads of international organizations may operate in a constrained environment but this should not stop scholars from studying their impact.

What explains geographical representation in the professional staff of intergovernmental organizations (IOs)? We address this question from an organizational perspective by considering IO recruitment processes. In the United Nations (UN) system, recruitment processes are designed to ensure bureaucratic merit, with experience and education being the relevant merit criteria. We develop and test a supply-side theory, postulating that differences in countries' supply of well-educated and highly experienced candidates can explain geographical representation. Drawing on staff data from 34 IOs and supply data from 174 member states, and controlling for endogeneity and alternative explanations, we find no such relationship for education. However, countries with a high supply of candidates with relevant working and regional experiences have significantly higher representation values. These findings offer a complementary narrative as to why some countries are more strongly represented in the international professional staff than others. Findings also unveil the nature of bureaucratic merit in the UN, which seems to emphasize local knowledge and working experience over formal (Western) education. Points for practitioners What explains member states' representation in the staff bodies of organizations in the UN system? Previous work has shown that member state power is a good predictor. But what about bureaucratic merit? The paper demonstrates that representation patterns can also be explained when measuring states' supply of candidates with relevant working and regional experience. Supply of educated candidates plays no significant role. Bureaucratic merit in the UN seems to emphasize local knowledge and working experience over formal (Western) education.

International organizations' (IOs) power in shaping global governance outcomes is not only determined by the formal delegation of tasks and issue areas but also by the necessary capabilities to fulfill these tasks. Yet, extant research on the delegation of power to IOs gives few insights into the financial and staff capabilities of IOs and focuses mainly on the formal rules that specify IOs' tasks and issue scope. To address these limitations, this paper makes three contributions. First, we propose a more encompassing concept of IO power which incorporates three principal components: tasks, issue scope, and capabilities. Second, we introduce a new concept – IO empowerment (IOE) – which encapsulates formal and informal changes in IO power over time. Third, we introduce a novel dataset on IO capabilities, which measures the formal rules governing IO staff and financial resources as well as the actual capabilities available to six well‐known IOs over 65 years. These original data show that capabilities vary not only across IOs but also over time.

This project paper aims to analyze the staff turnover of international non governmental organizations (NGO) and particularly the case of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Non government non profit organizations are one type of the institutions that provide employment opportunities in addition to the private sectors and government institutions. The success of NGOs is determined by the availability and commitment of efficient and effective human resources. However, currently most of the NGOs are highly affected by staff turnover and therefore the quality of the service they provide to the beneficiaries is affected and the financial and non-financial cost of replacing vacant posts is significantly increased. In order to identify the causes and impact of the staff turnover in IRC, the project has used both primary and secondary data. With regard to primary data, first hand data have been collected through questionnaire filled by twelve terminated, thirty one existing non-management and seven management staffs of the organization selected based purposive sampling. Moreover data about the trend of both existing and terminated staff were collected from the organization. IRC (An American NGO) was founded at the suggestion of Albert Einstein in 1933 with the objective to assist Germans suffering under Hitler. Currently it works in twenty five countries and fifteen are found in Africa. IRC Ethiopia program has started in 2000 in response to the severe drought in Somali Region. With 209 permanent employees IRC Ethiopia participate in education and Community service, Environmental Health (Water and Sanitation), Health, and other sectors in the four refugee camps and local communities. Since from the period 2004/2005 to 2006/2007 the total number of staffs terminated from the IRC is counted to 89. However, though the organization does not keep detailed record for each resigned/terminated staffs, the total number of terminated staffs since from establishment is around 174. This indicates that the organization has lost almost 45% (174 out of 383) of its employees due to different reasons. The analysis of the three year period figures portray that most of the employees are terminated /resigned from the IRC during the first months of their employment period. Of the total terminated 89 employees, the highest share of terminated staff based on position is counted for the Officer and Assistant positions. Regarding termination based on filed office Assosa and department Education and Community service takes the lion shares.The findings of the study also revealed that the causes of staff turnover are a combination of factors. Family problems, poor leadership, dissatisfaction with the job, better opportunity in other organizations, dissatisfaction with the area, and educational opportunity are some of the causes. Based on the findings recommendations are suggested.

AbstractInternational organizations' (IOs) power in shaping global governance outcomes is not only determined by the formal delegation of tasks and issue areas but also by the necessary capabilities to fulfill these tasks. Yet, extant research on the delegation of power to IOs gives few insights into the financial and staff capabilities of IOs and focuses mainly on the formal rules that specify IOs' tasks and issue scope. To address these limitations, this paper makes three contributions. First, we propose a more encompassing concept of IO power which incorporates three principal components: tasks, issue scope, and capabilities. Second, we introduce a new concept – IO empowerment (IOE) – which encapsulates formal and informal changes in IO power over time. Third, we introduce a novel dataset on IO capabilities, which measures the formal rules governing IO staff and financial resources as well as the actual capabilities available to six well‐known IOs over 65 years. These original data show that capabilities vary not only across IOs but also over time.