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Century of activity |
Following its foundation in 1907, the Union
of International Associations produced many publications on international
organization, the main series being the Annuaire de la Vie Internationale (Vol.
1: 1908-1909, 1370 pages; Vol. 2: 1910-1911, 2652 pages). These have now
developed into other publications and web-disseminated databases. |
Long-term clearinghouse commitment |
The documentary activity at the UIA is based
on commitment to coverage of international organizations and their preoccupations,
notably to facilitate diachronic studies of their evolution. |
Collective memory function |
The UIA has traditionally been associated
with an interest in archival work. In this connection, and in view of
its own centenary, an investment has been made since 2002 in the recovery
(by scanning) of UIA historical documents of research significance published
prior to the electronic era. This information is of value to those undertaking
diachronic research. |
Future orientation |
Although valuing achievements of the past,
the UIA has a strong future orientation. These is most evident in its
documentation of scheduled future meetings of international bodies. It
has also been evident since the 1970s through the UIA's involvement in
the futures studies academic community, and its commitment to production
of an Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential that
arose from that. |
The UIA might usefully be understood as operating
out of domain defined by negatives. This condition has been famously
and fruitfully defined by the poet John Keats as "negative capability",
namely the capacity to be "in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts,
without any irritable reaching after fact and reason" (1817). |
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Non-profit legal status |
The UIA is incorporated in accordance with
a Belgian law of 25 October 1919 providing (uniquely) for the establishment
of international non-profit associations. Pressures
based on for-profit criteria tend to be resisted where they conflict
with improving the quality of data content and coverage |
Non-governmental |
The UIA is an international non-governmental organization
(NGO) and is so recognized by the provisions of Article 71 of the Charter
of the United Nations. |
Non-political commitment |
The documentary commitment, and centennial
tradition, of the UIA precludes any particular political or ideological
commitment. It is fundamentally non-partisan. This is
reinforced by its criteria of membership. In order to ensure adequate
documentation and coverage of any variety of human activity expressed
internationally it has notably resisted political pressures exerted by
intergovernmental organizations. |
Non-dependence |
Being essentially self-funding, the UIA avoids
dependency relationships associated with many conventional forms of program
funding and partnership. |
Non-formal dimensions |
Although conventionally defined as "operating
as an institute for research, study, information, consultation, promotion
and service" with an appropriate General Assembly and Executive
Council, the operations of the UIA benefit to a high degree from an informal
supporting network of bodies and individuals. |
Non-traditional focus |
The UIA is an unusual body both in its focus, in its mode of action, and in the quality of the people who are attracted to its working environment. |
It is useful to recognize that UIA funding is unlike that of many other NGOs and IGOs. It is not dependent annually on funds from its Full Members or their capacity to facilitate access to funding. Unlike many NGOs, the UIA is also not dependent, for the long-term continuity of its activities, on ability to obtain funding or subventions from unpredictable sources. |
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Income generation |
The prime source of income is the sale of
information products (notably its refrence books and their electronic
variants) and services (notably extracts from its databases). |
Minimal subsidies / sponsorship |
The international, interdisdiciplanary focus
of the UIA's comprehensive data collection does not usually fit within
the specialized priorities of funding institutions and foundations. Consequently
the UIA does not actively seek funding from such sources, although it
has occasionally benefited from such funds. |
Project contracts |
The UIA has undertaken projects for the US
National Science Foundation, for the Commonwealth Science Council, for
UNESCO, and for the European Commission. |
Partnerships |
In responding to contract opportunities,
notably with the European Commission and the world Bank, the UIA has
successfully partnered with international NGOs based in Western and Eastern
Europe, and in Asia. |
Commercial associates |
The UIA has partnered since the 1980s with
K G Saur Verlag (Munchen) as one of the principal publishers of international
reference books to libraries. through its Associate membership, it has
a long association with for-profit bodies providing meeting services. |
The UIA has an international reputation for
producing registry products of high quality on a regular basis, over
decades, within the very tight production schedules required for low-cost
reference book and CD production in partnership with for-profit enterprises.
These capacities have been seamlessly integrated with the interactive
services associated with the web dissemination of this registry data
since 1996 |
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Profiling: 5,000 pages / year |
For its printed reference books, the UIA
produces some 5,000 pages / year, in addition to information made available
on CD-Rom or over the web. |
Statistics |
An extensive range of statistics on international
organizations (geographical distribution, membership, etc) and international
meetings is produced each year and distributed in dedicated publications
and over the web. This covers periods back to 1910 |
In a world much-challenged by resource constraints,
in which there are multiple, urgent demands to respond to specific issues,
the viability of the comprehensive scope of UIA activity is a paradox
to many. |
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Improbable range of initiatives |
Many other bodies focus on specific aspects of the range of initiatives of concern to the UIA, using more extensive resources to greater effect. Few venture to interrelate these initiatives to highlight the challenges and opportunities of governance. |
Minimal institutional support |
Largely because of the range of its long-term
preoccupations, and its international focus, the UIA initiatives are
not well-profiled for funding from institutions with conventionally specific,
short-term program priorities. |
Minimal operating budget |
The UIA has successfully operated on subsistence
budgets that have nevertheless enabled it to provide information services
consistent with its objectives and scope -- exploring possibilities where
others have not cared to venture. |
Difficult-to-explain coherence |
In endeavouring to track the complexity of
organized response to the challenges of society, the range of UIA initiatives
necessarily takes on this quality of complexity. This makes the "miracle" of
the coherence of the enterprise difficult to explain. Beyond formal statements,
however, the integrity of the operation is sustained through computer-enhanced
information systems and the insight with which they are developed and
rendered accessible. |