YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Sources of information

The descriptions of organizations are based on information received from a variety of sources. Questionnaires are sent out once a year, and priority is normally given to information received from the organizations themselves.

Equally, and especially when no primary source information is received, the profile of the organization may be updated by consulting secondary sources (print media, websites, documents of collaborating organizations, etc).

Reliability of sources

Because an organization’s view of itself has been given priority, and because secondary sources are not always available or reliable, the editors cannot take responsibility for any resulting inaccuracies in the information presented. The editors apologize for any inconvenience this might cause the user.

Sources of information

The descriptions of organizations are based on information received from a variety of sources. Priority is normally given to information received from the organizations themselves.

Questionnaires are sent out between May of any given year and February of the following year (the reporting year). The replies received may neglect to mention significant events (e.g. relocation of the secretariat) that will take place later in the reporting year. Such gaps in information will be corrected only in the following reporting year.

Every effort is made by the editors to check this primary source information against other sources (periodicals, official documents, media, etc.).

Equally, and especially when no primary source information is received, the profile of the organization may be updated by consulting secondary sources (print media, websites, documents of collaborating organizations, etc). This information is submitted to the organizations concerned for verification in the following reporting year.

Organizations may over time change their purpose or characteristics. Some changes will have an effect on classification and on statistical reporting. The editors therefore use information from a variety of sources to present the most appropriate static picture of what is essentially a dynamic situation.

Reliability of sources

Because an organization’s view of itself has been given priority, and because secondary sources are not always available or reliable, the editors cannot take responsibility for any resulting inaccuracies in the information presented. The editors apologize for any inconvenience this might cause the user.

The information received, even if from a primary source, does not always originate from the person most competent to provide it. From year to year, different people, of different competence or experience within an organization, may be responsible for replying to Yearbook questionnaires. They may be inadequately informed of the complexities of their organization, or unwilling to take responsibility for more than generalities, or lacking the authority or confidence to give information on an evolving, politically sensitive structure. As a result, the information received may be of inconsistent quality.

Organizations in a process of restructuring may be reluctant to provide information or announce anticipated changes. Organizations that have a radical change of policy may evidence some embarrassment at the reality of their own history and may seek to modify this information.

Some organizations, or some people within organizations, will deliberately deliver false information.

Some organizations report incompletely and/or infrequently because of lack of administrative resources and/or motivation.

It may take a second reporting year, or more, to remedy misleading reporting. A more detailed update of inadequate information initially obtained may necessitate a reclassification of organizational type, thus affecting statistical reporting.