https://www.tni.org/en/transnational-institute
The Transnational Institute (TNI) is an international research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable world. For more than 40 years, TNI has served as a unique nexus between social movements, engaged scholars and policy makers.
TNI has a reputation for well researched analysis on key global issues long before they become mainstream concerns. As a non-sectarian institute made up of researchers, scholar-activists and movement-builders, TNI uniquely combines a ‘big picture’ analysis with proposals and solutions that are both just and pragmatic. Our capacity to build long-term respectful mutual relationships with strategic social movements is helping put radical ideas into movement.
TNI has few resources and limited staff, but through our strategic alliances with social movements has a history of making a difference. These are some of the major victories and achievements that TNI has contributed towards in the last decade:
- Exposed the injustices of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism (ISDS) that allows corporations to sue states for regulations that affect their profits. Our strategic research and expertise has turned this hitherto unknown core element in free trade agreements into the ‘most toxic acronym in Europe’ (according to EU’s lead trade negotiator) and led to a serious crisis of legitimacy for transnational corporate ‘free trade’ agreements.
- Emerged as one of the leading international watchdogs on drug policy, helping build a movement of affected communities, experts and decision-makers in favour of reform. This has led to important breakthroughs in laws approving evidence-based harm reduction approaches to drugs in the Americas and elsewhere
- Built an international movement to challenge corporate impunity that has led the UN Human Rights Council to set up an intergovernmental group that is working on a binding legal mechanism proposal to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses.
- Supported an international wave of more than 240 cities and communities that have brought failing privatised water services back under public control with resources, analysis and best practice. TNI has also actively facilitated partnerships between public water utilities and with public service unions to build.
- Supported, trained and worked with peasant and landless movements in many countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe to use international UN instruments (eg CFS Tenure Guidelines) to challenge landgrabbing and land concentration and regain control over territories and resources.