Description
The purpose of the study is to identify decision-making elements necessary for improved ethical and evidence-based decision-making in international organizations for equitable outcomes for the most vulnerable (Leaving No One Behind), through exploration of interactions of variables at individual, organizational and systemic levels in rapidly changing, uncertain and complex external contexts. This is particularly the case in programming for the SDGs where goals, and interventions towards achieving these goals, are closely interconnected and require multi-dimensional/multi-sectoral approaches. Knowledge exists around “effective decisions,” where available knowledge, skills, methods, and deliberate effort at mediating the effects of inevitable challenges, are purposefully applied for impactful decisions, yet the real-world time, budget, political, and cognitive constraints faced by such organizations often makes this difficult to apply. This study adopts a multi-level approach to link features/challenges at macro/meso/micro levels, which usually are studied on their own and little cross-level application of findings. In international organizations (IOs), program/decision quality is assessed through evaluations, which for SDGs poses particular challenges in measuring and attributing impact toward Leave-No-One-Behind unless put explicitly at the forefront of each stage of planning/implementation. The field of organizational behavior has a rich body of research, which this paper seeks to apply specifically to IOs/UN operating at different levels simultaneously–local, national, regional, international, global, while facing multiple stakeholders. In IR, this multi-layered, multifaceted context has been researched paying more attention to the structural constraints IOs face, and long-term strategic development models, at the expense of identifying opportunities/spaces for agency for individuals in decision-making, and how drivers affecting decision-making (cognitive, social, perceptual, motivational, emotional, level of risk tolerance) act not only as limitations but also as opportunities.
