GENERAL KNOWLEDGE BRIEF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

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1 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE BRIEF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS The United Nations... 1 The International Court of Justice (ICJ)... 2 World Trade Organization (WTO)... 3 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)... 4 United Nations Security Council... 4 The Group of Twenty (G-20)... 4 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)... 5 European Union (EU)... 5 World Health Organisation (WHO)... 6 International Bank for Reconstructions and Development (IBRD)... 6 International Monetary Fund (IMF)... 7 Asian Development Bank (ADB)... 7 Amnesty International... 7 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)... 8 Interpol... 8 Non Aligned Movement (NAM)... 8 THE UNITED NATIONS The United Nations is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. Due to its unique international character, and the powers vested in its founding Charter, the Organization can take action on a wide range of issues, and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to express their views, through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies and committees. Purposes of UN o To keep peace throughout the world; o To develop friendly relations among nations; o To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other s rights and freedoms; o To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals. Some Important United Nations Decade o : Decade for Human Rights Education 1

2 o : Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism o : United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development o : Second International Decade of the World s Indigenous People o : International Decade for Action, Water for Life o : United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification o : Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism o : United Nations Decade on Biodiversity o : United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All Some Important United Nations Years o 1968: International Year for Human Rights o 1974: World Population Year o 1975: International Women's Year o 1979: International Year of The Child o 1981: International Year for Disabled Persons o 1985: Year of The United Nations o 1985: International Youth Year: Participation, Development, Peace o 1990: International Literacy Year o 1992: International Space Year o 2010: International Year of Youth (12 August August 2011) o 2014: International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People o 2014: International Year of Small Island Developing States o 2014: International Year of Crystallography o 2014: International Year of Family Farming o 2015: International Year of Soils o 2015: International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies o 2016: International Year of Pulses Some Important United Nations Weeks o April (2007): UN Global Road Safety Week o 1 7 August: World Breastfeeding Week [WHO] o 4 10 October: World Space Week THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ) The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America). It is an integral part of the Charter of the United Nations. Only States may apply to and appear before the Court. The Member States of the United Nations (at present 193) are so entitled. Functions of the Court o to settle in accordance with international law the legal disputes submitted to it by States, and o To give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorised international organs and agencies. 2

3 Composition o The Court is composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council sitting independently of each other. o It may not include more than one judge of any nationality. o The Members of the Court do not represent their governments but are independent magistrates. The composition of the Court has also to reflect the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world. o When the Court does not include a judge possessing the nationality of a State party to a case that State may appoint a person to sit as a judge ad hoc for the purpose of the case. Current President: Ronny Abraham (France) Current VP: Abduqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia) Indian Judges: o Dalveer Bhandari o Nagendra Singh: Judge , President: & Vice- President: o Raghunandan Swarup Pathak: o Sir Benegal Rau: WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO) The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTO s current work comes from the negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the Doha Development Agenda launched in Location: Geneva, Switzerland Established: 1 January 1995 Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations ( ) Membership: 164 countries in July 2016 Countries join WTO in the year 2016 o 163 rd - Liberia (14/7/2016) o 164 th - Afghanistan (29/7/2016) Head: Roberto Azevedo (Director-General) Functions of WTO: o Administering WTO trade agreements o Forum for trade negotiations o Handling trade disputes o Monitoring national trade policies o Technical assistance and training for developing countries o Cooperation with other international organizations 3

4 SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION (SAARC) There were seven original members of the SAARC: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan (M B B S P A N I) later joined the SAARC in 2007 bringing the total number of members up to eight. There are also nine observer states: Australia, China, the European Union, Japan, Iran, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea, and the United States. The idea for the SAARC was proposed on May 2, 1980 by Ziaur Rahman, then president of Bangladesh. The founding countries met for the first time in April 1981, and then in 1985, they created the SAARC Charter. They sought peace, stability, amity, and progress including improving quality of life for all involved nations. Head: Arjun Thapa (Nepal) SAARC Summits o 17th SAARC Summit 2011 Addu, Maldives o 18th SAARC Summit Kathmandu, Nepal o 19th SAARC Summit 2016 Pakistan (now indefinitely postponed) UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL Under the Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security. The Security Council also recommends to the General Assembly the appointment of the Secretary-General and the admission of new Members to the United Nations. And, together with the General Assembly, it elects the judges of the International Court of Justice. Five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Non-Permanent Member States (with end of term date) : Angola (2016), Egypt (2017), Japan (2017), Malaysia (2016), New Zealand (2016), Senegal (2017), Spain (2016), Ukraine (2017), Uruguay (2017), Venezuela (2016) THE GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20) The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for international cooperation on the most important issues of the global economic and financial agenda. The G20 was formally established in September 1999 when finance ministers and central bank governors of seven major industrial countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) met in Washington D.C. in the aftermath of the financial crisis of , which revealed the vulnerability of the international financial system in context of economic globalization and showed 4

5 that key developing countries were insufficiently involved in discussions and decisions concerning global economic issues. Finance ministers and central bank governors started to hold annual meetings after the inaugural meeting on December 15-16, 1999, in Berlin. The first meeting of the G20 Leaders took place in Washington, D.C., on November 14-15, 2008, where the Leaders agreed to an action plan to stabilize the global economy and prevent future crises. As a result the premier forum acquired its current name and significance. The objectives of the G20 refer to: o Policy coordination between its members in order to achieve global economic stability, sustainable growth; o Promoting financial regulations that reduce risks and prevent future financial crises; o Modernizing international financial architecture. Members: o Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America plus the European Union, which is represented by the President of the European Council and by Head of the European Central Bank. Latest G20 Leaders' Summit: at Hangzhou, China on 4-5 September, 2016 Next G20 Leaders Summit: at Hamburg, Germany on 7-8 July, 2017 ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC) The idea of APEC was firstly publicly broached by former Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Bob Hawke, during a speech in Seoul, Korea in January Later that year, 12 Asia-Pacific economies met in Canberra, Australia to establish APEC. In 1993, former United States President, Mr Bill Clinton, established the practice of an annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. APEC Members o The founding members were: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. o China, Hong Kong, China and Chinese Taipei joined in Mexico and Papua New Guinea followed in Chile acceded in And in 1998, Peru, Russia and Viet Nam joined, taking the full membership to 21. EUROPEAN UNION (EU) The European Union is an economic and political union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The EU operates through a system of independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member nations. Institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, the Court of Auditors, and the European Parliament. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens. 5

6 Capital: Brussels Members (28) Austria (1995), Belgium (1952), Bulgaria (2007), Croatia (2013), Cyprus (2004), Czech Republic (2004), Denmark (1973), Estonia (2004), Finland (1995), France (1952), Germany (1952), Greece (1981), Hungary (2004), Ireland (1973), Italy (1952), Latvia (2004), Lithuania (2004), Luxembourg (1952), Malta (2004), Netherlands (1952), Poland (2004), Portugal (1986), Romania (2007), Slovakia (2004), Slovenia (2004), Spain (1986), Sweden (1995), United Kingdom (1973) Official Language: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish. The euro a single currency for Europeans Can be used everywhere in the euro zone EURO Zone Members (19): Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain Composition o The European Parliament: Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament o The European Council: Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council o The European Commission: José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission o A High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security: Catherine Ashton o The European Central Bank: Mario Draghi, President of the Central Bank WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) An International Conference, Convened by the UN Economic and Social Council, to consider a single health organisation resulted in the adoption on July 22, 1946 of the Constitution of th WHO. This constitution came into force on April 7, It aims at promoting better health facilities all over the world. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland Regional Offices: Alexandria, Brazzaville, Copenhagen, Manila, New Delhi and Washington. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT (IBRD) IBRD is a world wide effort to guide international investment into productive channels. It was conceived at the Bretton Woods Conference, July The IBRD was established on December 25, 1945 and began operation on June Purposes: o to assist in the reconstruction and development of territories of members who had suffered during war, o to promote the long term foreign investments, o to promote the long-range balanced growth of international trade and the maintenance of BOPs, to promote long term foreign investments. 6

7 Headquarters: Washington DC INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) It was established on December 27, 1945 as an independent international organisation. It began operation on March 1, Its relationship with the UN is defined in an agreement of mutual co-operation, which came into force on November 15, Its purposes are: o To promote exchange stability and prevent unnecessary exchange depreciations o To assist in the establishment of multilateral system of payments. o To facilitate growth of international trade o To ultimately eliminate foreign exchange restrictions The first amendment to the Fund s article creating the Special Drawing Right (SDR) took effect on July 28, 1969 and the second amendment on April 1, 1978 Headquarters: Washington D.C. Offices in: Paris and Geneva ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) It was initially sponsored by the ECAFE and started functioning in In June 1974, ADB, ADB Launched the ASIAN DEVELOPMENT FUND (ADF) with a view to providing concessional credits to needy members. Headquarters: Manila (Philippines) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL A worldwide human right organisation with headquarters in London. The Organisation began on May 28, 1961 with a newspaper appeal by the British lawyer Peter Berenson to fight for the basic human right of people all over the world. The Organisation enjoys the support of the UN and has more than 5,00,000 members in more than 150 countries. It won Nobel Prize for Peace in Its objectives are officially stated to include the following : o To secure the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscilince, o To ensure fair and prompt trial for all political prisoners and abolish torture and execution 7

8 NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION (NATO) North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949, which sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II. Members: o Its original members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. o Joining the original signatories were Greece and Turkey (1952); West Germany (1955; from 1990 as Germany); Spain (1982); the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland (1999); Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia (2004); and Albania and Croatia (2009). o Today, NATO is an organisation made up of thirteen European states, two American States (Canada and USA) and an Asiatic State (Turkey). NATO Council o The council is the supreme body of the NATO. o It consists of the ministry of member states. o The Secretary General is appointed by and responsible to the Council. o Current Secretary General: Military Committee o The Military Committee is the Supreme Military body of NATO. o It consists of the Chiefs of staff of members states. INTERPOL 190 Nations Police Commission, established in To co-ordinate police activities of participating nations with headquarters in Paris. After a terrorist bomb blast in May, 1986, the Headquarters was shifted to Lyons. NON ALIGNED MOVEMENT (NAM) It is a group of one hundred and eighteen countries, mostly developing countries. The principle of non alignment was defined in the Bandung (Indonesia) Declaration of 1955 and reiterated in the Brioni (Yugoslavian) Declaration of 1956 by Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Abdul Nasser of Indonesia. The first non- aligned conference was held at Belgrade in 1961 in which twenty five countries participated. This Movement was based on the ideology of 'Panchsheel', viz. the principle of mutual respect for each other s territorial integrity, non-aggression, non-interference in each other s international affairs, equality and peaceful co-existence. The basic thrust of the movement is in favor of peace, disarmament development, independence, eradication of poverty and illiteracy. Total 120 members 8