UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION
- World’s largest international organisation and a successor of League of Nations (League of Nations was formed after the Ist world War, but it failed).
- The Charter of the UN was signed at San Francisco on June 26, 1945, at a meeting of the representatives of 50 states, representing 2/3rd of the world population.
- The name United Nations was given at the instance of US President Roosevelt.
- The Charter or Constitution was formed at Dumbarton Oaks (Washington DC) Conference by USSR, UK, US and China.
- Formally came into existence on Oct 24, 1945.
- First regular session was held in London in Jan, 1946 and Trygve Lie (Norway) was elected as the first Secretary-General.
- Headquarters located at First Avenue, UN Plaza, New York City, New York, US. It is a 17 acre tract of land donated by John D. Rockfeller. The building is 39 storeys.
- The present membership of UN is 193. Switzerland was the 190th (in2002), East Timor was the 191st (in 2002), Montenegro became the 192nd member in 2006 & South Sudan became the 193rd in 2011.
NOTE
- US, UK, China, France and Russia are the permanent members of the Security Co
SOME IMPORTANT U.N.AGENCIES
| Name of Agency | Established in | Headquarters | Purpose |
| International Labour Organisation (ILO) | 1919 | Geneva | To improve conditions and living standard of workers. |
| World Health Organisation (WHO) | 1948 | Geneva | Attainment of highest possible level of health by all people. |
| United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) | 1946 | Paris | To promote collaboration among nations through education, science and culture. |
| International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) | 1957 | Vienna | To promote peaceful uses of atomic energy. |
| United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) | 1946 | New York | To promote children’s welfare all over the world. |
| United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) | 1950 | Geneva | To provide protection to refugees. |
| United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) | 1967 | New York | For formulating population policies. |
| International Fund for Agricultural Development | 1977 | Rome | For financing agricultural projects in the world to raise the economic growth. |
| United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) | 1964 | Geneva | Promotes international trade to accelerate economic growth of developing countries. |
| International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) | 1947 | Montreal | Promotes safety of international aviation. |
| International Monetary Fund (IMF) | 1945 | Washington D. C. | Promotes international monetary cooperation. |
| International Finance Corporation (IFC) | 1956 | Washington D. C. | Promotes economic development by encouraging private enterprise in its member countries. |
| Universal Portal Union (UPU) | 1947 | Berne | Improve various postal services in the world. |
| United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) | 1972 | Nairobi | Promotes international co-operation in human environment. |
| United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) | 1967 | Geneva | Sets international regulations for radio, telegraph, and telephone and space radio communication. |
| Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) | 1945 | Rome | To improve living condition of total population. |
| International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) | 1945 | Washington D. C. | Development of Economies of members by facilitating investment of capitals by providing loans. |
| World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) | 1950 | Geneva | Promote international exchange of weather reports. |
| World Trade Organisation (WTO) | 1995 | Geneva | Setting rules for world trade to reduce tariffs. |
| United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | New York | Help developing countries increase the wealth producing capabilities of their natural and human resources. | |
| Inter Government Maritime Consultative Organisation (IMCO) | 1958 | London | Promotes co-operation on technical matters of maritime safety, navigation and encourages anti-pollution measures. |
| International Development Association (IDA) | 1960 | Washington D. C. | An affiliate of the World Bank. Aims to help under- developed countries raise living standards. |
| International Tele-communication Union (ITU) | 1947 | Geneva | Sets international regulations for radio telegraph, telephone and space radio communications. |
| United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) | 1965 | New York | Provides training and research to help facilitate UN objectives of world peace and security and of economic and social progress. |
| United Nations Relief and Work for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) | 1949 | New York | Provides basic amenities and education for the victims of Arab-Israel War |
| United Nations Fund For Population Activities (UNFPA) | 1967 | New York | Studying population dynamics, collecting population data, formulating and evolving population policies, family planning and related programmes. |
OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND GROUPS
| The Common Wealth | · It was originally known as ‘The British Commonwealth of Nations’. It is an association of sovereign and independent states which formally made up the British Empire.
· Headquarters: London. · Members: 53 · The British Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) is the symbolic head of the commonwealth. · Commonwealth heads of government meet (CHOGM) is held in every 2 years. |
| Arab League | · Established: March. 22, 1945.
· Objective: To promote economic, social, political and military cooperation. · Members: 22 · Headquarters: Cairo |
| Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) | · Established: Nov, 1989
· Objective: To promote trade and investment in the Pacific basin. · Member: 21 |
| Asian Development Bank (ADB) | · Established: Dec. 19, 1966
· Objective: To promote regional economic cooperation. · Member: 67 · Headquarters: Manila |
| Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) | · Established: Aug. 8, 1967
· Objective: Regional, economic, social and culture cooperation among the non-communist countries of South-East Asia. · Member (10): Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia. · Headquarters: Djakarta |
| Common Wealth of Independent States (CIS) | · Established: Dec. 8, 1991
· Objective: To coordinate inter-common wealth relations and to provide a mechanism for the orderly dissolution of the USSR. · Members: 11 · Headquarters: Kerava (Belarus) |
| Group of 8 or G-8 | · Established: Sept. 22, 1985
· Objective: To promote co-operation among major non-communist economic powers. · Member: France, Germany, Japan, UK, US, Canada, Italy, plus Russia (added later) |
| Group of 15 (G-15) | · Established: 1989
· Objective: To promote economic co-operation among developing nations. · Members: 17 |
| Group of 77 (G-77) | · Established: Oct., 1967
· Objective: To promote economic co-operation among developing nations. · Members: 131 |
| International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) | · Established: 1914
· Objective: To promote international cooperation among criminal police authorities. · Members: 190 · Headquarters: France |
| International Olympic Committee (IOC) | · Established: June. 23, 1894
· Objective: To promote the Olympic ideals and administer Olympic Games. · Members: 105 · Headquarters: Switzerland |
| International Organisation For Standardisation (ISO) | · Established: Feb., 1947
· Objective: To promote the development of international standards · Members: 163 · Headquarters: Switzerland |
| International Red Cross And Red Crescent Movements | · Established: 1928
· Objective: To promote worldwide humanitarian aid · Headquarters: Geneva |
| Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) | · Established: Sept. 1961
· Objective: Political co-operation and separate itself from both USA and USSR (in the cold-war era) · Members:120 · The credit of evolving the concept goes to Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. The other contributors were Marshal Tito (President of Yugoslavia), Dr. Sukarno (President of Indonesia) and General Nasser (President of Egypt). Bandung conference in Indonesia became the forum for the birth of NAM. |
| European Union | · Established: Apr. 8, 1965. Effective on July 1, 1967.
· Objective: To create a united Europe in which member countries would have such strong economic and political bones that war would cease to be a recurring fact. · Members: 28 (The ten new countries which joined in 2004 are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovania).Croatia joined in 2013. · Headquarters: Brussels (Belgium). The common European, currency, Euro, was launched on Jan. 1, 1999. |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | · Established: April 4, 1949
· Objective: Mutual defence and cooperation · Members: 28 · Headquarters: Brussels |
| Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) | · Established: Sept, 1959
· Objective: Attempts to set world prices by controlling oil production and also persues member interest in trade and development. · Members: 12 (Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, UAE, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador and Venezuela). · Headquarters: Vienna (Austria) |
| South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation (SAARC) | · Established: Dec. 8, 1985
· Objective: To promote economic, social and culture cooperation · Members (8): Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. · Headquarters: Kathmandu. |
| World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) | · Established: Oct. 11, 1947, Effective from April 4, 1951.
· Objective: Specialised UN Agency concerned with meteorological cooperation. · Members: 188 · Headquarters: Geneva |
| Amnesty International (AI) | · Established: 1961
· Objective: To keep a watch over human rights violation worldwide. · Headquarter: London · Got Nobel Prize in 1977 for Peace. |
| Organisation Of The Islamic Conference (OIC) | · Established: 1969
· Objective: To promote Islamic solidarity among member states and to consolidate cooperation among members. · Members: 57 · Headquarters: Saudi Arabia |
| Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) | · Established: June. 7, 2002.
· Objective: To develop mutual cooperation. · Members: Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan and Tajikistan. |
| World Wildlife Fund For Nature (WWF) | · Established: Sept. 11, 1961
· Objective: To save the wildlife from extinction · Members: All the countries of the world · Headquarters: Gland (Switzerland) |
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