by: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)

It is important to understand what peer review is not. It is not a substitute for, or analogous to, compliance mechanisms or other dispute settlement bodies, such as courts. Review is motivated by a shared effort to implement mutually agreed goals. Thus, while it encompasses monitoring and review, the purpose is to facilitate implementation through a constructive, persuasive and non-adversarial process. Peer review rests fundamentally on the equality of the parties concerned; thus it is compatible with notions of national sovereignty. Commitment to the process of peer review, and its institutionalization, is one of the channels through which change is effected.

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