ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a transversal analysis of the institutional mechanisms that are in place for the promotion and protection of human rights and for conflict resolution 2 within regional organizations and adds to the literature on global governance a specific view of the role of regional organizations. 3 These activities are a crucial component of global governance mechanisms and are a constituent of a broader tendency for a division of labor between the United Nations (UN) and regional organizations. Global governance occurs at different levels, and one of these levels is regional. This regional governance is part of a more general process of diffusion of authority and offers us a specific view into global institutional architecture, which is the tendency of norm diffusion through regional organizations.
