T.Y.B.

A POLITICS
SEMESTER - V (CBCS)

INTERNATIONAL
ORGANISATIONS

SUBJECT CODE: 97151

 © UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

Dr. Suhas Pednekar

Vice Chancellor
University of Mumbai, Mumbai
Prof. Ravindra D. Kulkarni Prof. Prakash Mahanwar
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Director,
University of Mumbai IDOL, University of Mumbai

Programme Co-ordinator : Mr. Anil R. Bankar

Associate Professor,
Head, Faculty Head, Arts and Humanities,
IDOL, University of Mumbai
Course Co-ordinator : Mr. Bhushan Thakare
Assistant Professor
IDOL, University of Mumbai

Editor : Dr. Priyamvada Sawant

Associate Professor,
H.R College, Mumbai-20

Course Writers : Prof. Priti Sawale

Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Political Science,
B.K. Birla College (Autonomous), Kalyan.
: Dr. Preeti Sharma
Assistant Professor,
School of International Studies,
Centre for International Politics,
Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar
: Dr. Palu Joshi
Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science,
Kanoria P.G. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Jaipur.

September 2021, Print - 1

Published by: Director,

Institute of Distance and Open Learning,
University of Mumbai,
Vidyanagari,Mumbai - 400 098.

DTP composed and Printed by: Mumbai University Press

 CONTENTS
Unit No. Title Page No.

1. Concept of International Organization.........................................................................1

2. Concept of International Organization.......................................................................35

3. Un and Contemporary Socio-Economic Issues.........................................................50

4. International Economic / Financial Organizations....................................................64

 T.Y.B.A POLITICS
SEMESTER - V (CBCS)

TYBA POLITICAL SCIENCE REVISED SYLLABUS for 2018-19

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Paper VIII (A): International and Regional Organizations
SYLLABUS
Semester V: International Organizations

No. of lectures

Module 1: Concept of International Organization 12

1.1 Meaning, Nature and Scope

1.2 Evolution and Significance

1.3 Structure of the United Nations

Module 2: Untied Nations and Security Concerns 10

2.1 Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and Peace Keeping Operations

2.2 Regulation and control of Nuclear Technology: Role of International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA)

Module 3: United Nations and Contemporary Socio-economic Issues 14

(Poverty, Health, Food Security, Development and Environment)

3.1 Millennium Development Goals

3.2 World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

3.3 United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP)

Module 4: International Economic/Financial Organizations 9

4.1 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

4.2 Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

 1
CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATION
Unit Structure
1.1 Objectives

1.2 Meaning, Nature, and Scope

1.3 Evolution and Significance
1.4 Structure of United Nations
1.5 Summary/Conclusion
1.6 Further Readings

1.1 OBJECTIVES

The aim of this unit is to familiarize the student with the concept of
International Organization, its nature, scope, evolution, and significance.
This unit will also help to understand the structure of United Nations. After
studying this unit, the student will be able to:

• Explain an international organization and how it is different from

regional organizations and trans-continental groups.

• Explain the nature, scope, stages of evolution and significance of

international organization.

• Develop first-hand knowledge about the UN (United Nations), its

evolution, charter and its structure.

1.2 MEANING, NATURE, AND SCOPE

Introduction:
Since time immemorial, nations have been interdependent on each other.
Nations cannot survive in isolation. With the rise in the means of transport
and communication, the export and import of goods and services between
the nations increased and as they came in close contact with each other. This
encouraged economic development, however the threats of war,
imperialism, colonialism created a feeling of political insecurity amongst
the nations. To deal with this, the nations of the world took support of
International Organization for maintaining world peace and security.
International Organization is one of the most important non-state actor
which brings all the nations of the world under one umbrella.
1
International Organizations Let us understand this, with the help of the following diagram:

From the above diagram, we can see that today there an existence of a
proper world system which is based on State Actors and Non-State Actors.
The State Actors are all the nations of the world. In fact, there are
differences of opinion about the question that how many total nations are
there in the world? *According to the United Nations, there are 195 nations
in the world.
The Non-State Actors comprises of the International Non-governmental
Organizations like Amnesty International, Red Cross or Consumers
International. There are many religious groups at the International level
which have their own movements that give shape to world politics at their
own level. The Multi-National Corporations have definitely made the world
a global village in this age of Liberalization, Privatization and
Globalization. Hence, they are also included as a Non-State Actors in the
world system. Last but not the least, the International Organization
comprises of a big world organization-the United Nations and many
Regional (SAARC/ASEAN) and Transcontinental Groups (BRICS/IOR-
ARC) which provide a platform to the nations of the world to come together
and develop mechanisms to protect their national interest and maintain their
security.
Now, you must have understood that the International Organization is of
one of the Non-State Actors in the world system. One of the striking feature
about the international organization is that it came into existence only after
war i.e., World War. For example, after the Battle of Waterloo and the fall
of Napoleon, in 1815, the Holy Alliance was established by the European
22
nations. After the end of the First World War (1914-1918), the League of Concept of International
Organization
Nations was established in the year 1920 to maintain world peace and
security. After the Second World War (1939-1945) the United Nations was
established as an International Organization to protect the rights of human
beings and maintain international peace and security. The United Nations
continues to remain the only International Organization in the World. The
first two international organizations, the Holy Alliance and the League of
Nations are not in existence today as they had proved to be a failure. The
United Nations established on 24th October, 1945 is a platform for all the
nations of the world to stay united and live peacefully, minimize conflicts
and maximize cooperation. This underscores the importance of the study
of International Organization in international politics.
Understanding the difference between International Organization and
National Organization:
Apart from international organization, there are also national organizations
like the Government and Non-Governmental Organizations within a nation.
Let us understand this difference.
The process of an International Organization and the process of
Governments within the nation are totally different from each other. The
subjects of International Organization are the sovereign nations of the
world. Whereas the subjects of a Government within the nation are its
citizens, its associations, boards, commissions etc. The citizens have to
follow all the orders, policies and programmes of the Government within
the nation. For example, as a citizen of India, we follow the rules and
regulations of the Government of India.
However, this is not the case with International Organization. It is not
compulsory for the subjects of International Organization i.e., its member
nations to follow all the rules and regulations of the International
Organization compulsorily as all the member nations are sovereign nations
which means all the member nations are free nations. Thus, as a member of
the United Nations, India is not bound to follow all the rules and regulations
of the United Nations. There is no guarantee that whatever orders are given
by the International Organization to its member nations will be followed
strictly by all the member nations. This means, that International
Organization is not rigid but a flexible organization. The members are not
duty bound to International Organization as the membership is voluntary
and any nation can withdraw its membership whenever it desires to do so.
A Government within the nation makes laws for the protection of its citizens
and development of the nation and implements those laws directly. In an
International Organization, all the laws or policies made will be
implemented indirectly through nations depending on the will or wish of the
nation to do so. A Government within the nation is required to frame and
implement policies for the entire nation on different subject matters.
However, the International Organization will frame policies only on
political issues and can provide political, economic, social help and support
to the developing and underdeveloped nations of the world.
3
International Organizations As there are differences between the International Organizations and the
governments within the nations, there are certain points of similarities also.
Both, the international organizations and the national governments try and
maintain a balance between its unequal elements. The government within
the nation controls the relations between its citizens and serves the needs of
different individual groups within the nation. In the same way, the United
Nations as the International Organization also strives to maintain a balance
between its rich and poor, developed, developing and underdeveloped
nations, resolves the conflicts between the nations, fulfils the security needs
of the nations and protects the national interests of all the member nations.
Meaning of International Organization:
The famous political thinker, Jeremy Bentham coined the term
‘International’. International means anything which involves more than one
nation or which is generally beyond our national boundaries. Hence,
International Organization is an organization which comprises of a group of
many nations of the world which have come together with a specific
purpose and objective. Today, International Organization has become a
permanent feature of world system. International Organizations are also
referred as Intergovernmental Organization as many governments form an
International Organization. The United Nations is by far the largest IGO as
it comprises of 193 member nations and 2 Non-Member Nations. India is a
member of United Nations.
International Organization forms a part of regular life. In fact, in our daily
life, we are directly or indirectly influenced by the decisions of the
International Organization, the United Nations many times. For example, in
the past two years you must have heard more about World Health
Organization (WHO), in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. WHO has been
working relentlessly for better health and well-being of all the people in the
world. In another example, when we have to send letters or call our near
and dear ones settled abroad, we have to follow the norms of International
Telecommunication Union(ITU). Our national policies are always guided
by International Law designed and developed by International
Organization.
Definitions of International Organizations

• National Geographic Society

“An international organization is one that includes members from
more than one nation. Some International Organizations are very
large, such as business corporations. Others are small and dedicated
to a specific purpose, such as conservation of a species”

• OECD Glossary of Statistical Terms

“International Organizations are entities established by formal
political agreements between their members that have the status of
international treaties, their existence is recognized by law in their

44
 member countries; they are not treated as resident institutional units Concept of International
Organization
of the countries in which they are located.”

• The Year Book of International Organizations

It states that we can call an organization as an International
Organization, if it fulfills the following eight conditions:
1. It should be an organization of at least three states.
2. Its membership must be individual or collective participation,
with full voting rights, from at least three states and must be
open to any individual or entity appropriately qualified in the
organizations area of operations. Voting must be so that no one
national group can control the organization.
3. It should have its own constitution and the constitution must
provide for a formal structure giving members the right to
periodically elect governing bodies and officers. Provision
should be made for continuity of operation with permanent
headquarters.
4. Its officers should not all be of the same nationality for more
than a given period.
5. Its members should contribute to the budget i.e., annual fee
should be given by the members. But the members should not
attempt to make profits for satisfying their selfish motives.
6. The members of the International Organization can be members
of other organizations independently.
7. Evidence of current activities must be available.
8. The size, politics, ideology, fields of activity, location of
headquarters, nomenclature is irrelevant criteria in deciding
whether a setup is an International Organization.

• Grigori I. Morozov
Grigori I. Morozov, widely recognized as the father of the Russian
theory of international organizations states, an International
Organization is “in its most general form as a stable clearly structured
instrument of international cooperation, freely established by its
members for the joint solution of common problems and the pooling
of efforts within the limits laid down by its statutes. It has as a rule to
have at least three member states. These may be governments, official
organizations or non-governmental organizations. International
organizations have agreed aims, organs with appropriate terms of
reference and also specific institutional features such as statutes, rules
of procedure, membership etc. The aims and activity of an
international organization must be in keeping with the universally
accepted principles of international law embodied in the Charter of
5
International Organizations the United Nations and must not have a commercial character or
pursue profit making aims.”

• Wallace and Singer:

Michael Wallace and J. David Singer state that an International
Organization should satisfy the following three main criteria:
1. At least two qualifies members subject to a formal agreement
between the governments of the nation states.
2. The organization must hold more or less regular plenary
sessions at intervals not greater than a decade.
3. A permanent secretariat with a permanent headquarters
arrangement and which performs ongoing tasks.
Thus an international organization can be defined as a formal,
continuous structure established by agreement between members
(governmental and/or non-governmental) form two or more sovereign
states with the aim of pursuing the common interest of the
membership.

• Penguin Dictionary of International Relations

International Organizations are formal institutional structures
transcending national boundaries which are created by multilateral
agreements among the nation states. Their purpose is to foster
international cooperation in areas such as security, law, economic and
social matters and diplomacy.
From the above definitions, we understand that an International
Organization means an organization which is legally established by
two or more than two sovereign states for fulfilment of their common
interests. Such an organization has its own constitution or charter, it
should have its headquarters, its members should pay annual fees, it
should have its own budget, it should have a formal structure and most
important of all, its members should have common interests and
pursue common goals and objectives.
Nature of International Organization:
Now let us understand the nature of an international organization with the
help of the given points:

• An international organization is like any nation’s parliament with

a set of rules and agenda:
When we use the term ‘International’, we mean the involvement of
two or more than two nations. So International Organization is
nothing but a group of nations which have come together on a
common platform with specific agenda. As mentioned earlier, the
term ‘International’ was coined by Jeremy Bentham. He referred to it
66
 in his book titled “Introduction to Principles of Morals and Concept of International
Organization
Legislation.” According to Professor Northedge, “It is well known
that the expression ‘International’ came into use through the famous
mistake made by Jeremy Bentham when he coined it to describe the
system of law between sovereign states as a translation of the term ius
gentius, which the Romans used to refer to the corpus of rules,
controlled, of course by Rome itself, between themselves and the
tribes of Italy and later various parts of the Roman Empire. The first
use of the term ‘International Organization’ was probably made by J.
Lorimer of Edinburgh University in 1867. Some writers say that the
term ‘Interstate’ or ‘Intergovernmental’ can be used to describe war,
trade or any such activity which takes place between two or more
nations. However, many writers accepted the term ‘International’
instead. Hence, the word ‘International’ is preferred by all. An
International Organization is a kind of an institution which is like any
nation’s parliament. As in India, we have our Sansad, which has its
own rules and regulations. Similarly, any International Organization
has its own set of rules and regulations, its meeting place i.e., its
headquarters/office and its own members and agenda of work.

• It could be both formal and informal, in nature:

An organization can be either formal or informal or both. Michael
Hass said that “If ‘organization’ is an arrangement of parts into a
unified whole, then there is a non- institutional aspect to the phrase
International Organization.”
What is the purpose of organization? He purpose is to consciously
coordinate various activities for achieving a common goal. This co-
ordination could be formal or informal. The formal coordination takes
place when there is a set official system or structure with an
organizational machinery. The informal co-ordination takes place
when there is unwritten system of practices between the nations.
The formal international organizations like the United Nations have
legally binding charters and have permanent secretariat but for global
coordination, there are less formal international organizations which
may not have their own charters or secretariats. Vabulas and Snidal
who have conducted a survey of informal international organizations
believe that there are many International Inter-Governmental
Organizations like G8 or G20 which lack a proper formal structure of
organization but they play a significant role in global coordination.

• International Organization are institutions which include Ad Hoc

arrangements:
‘Ad Hoc’ is a Latin word which literally means “to this” and is
commonly used to denote “for this purpose.” It refers to action taken
to address a specific situation.
As far as our subject is concerned, Joseph Frankel who has widely
written on international relations and foreign policy, states that 7
International Organizations International Organizations include such Ad Hoc arrangements as
International Conferences to settle a specific matter. But generally,
the name of International Organization is given to only those
institutions which operate continuously. It is interesting to note that
more than 2000 international institutions in the world are Non-
Governmental in nature as they are a combination of national
associations and individuals and many are also not directly related to
the political sphere. There are more than 200 international institutions
which are regional and inter-governmental. The first international
institution was the Geodetic Union which was established in 1864
followed by many such institutions.

• An international organization is a reaction to extreme

decentralization:
Thinkers like Rowland Egger say that International Organizations
refer to the process by which states establish and develop formal,
continuing institutional structures for developing political, social,
economic and cultural relations with each other. Thus, the nations of
the world come more closer on a global platform and try to solve their
problems in a friendly way through the medium of talks, discussions,
debates, conferences. Thus, the nations become more and more
interdependent on each other and the problem of extreme
decentralization is kept at bay.

• It is idealistic in nature:
Basically, International Organizations reflect the idealistic view of
International Relations. After all what do we expect from the nations
of the world? The answer is more cooperation and fewer conflicts.
International Organizations aim to reduce conflicts, wars and develop
friendly cooperation amongst the nations.
In fact, International Organizations recognize both, conflict and
cooperation as basic feature of multi-state system. But ideally
speaking, International Organizations treat conflict as bad and to be
controlled and cooperation as good and hence to be promoted.
International Organizations try to develop peace and harmony
amongst the nations of the world.

• It expresses the awareness of the leaders to preserve world peace

and security:
The political leaders can use international organizations as a
mechanism of preserving world peace and security. This is done by
striking a balance between national interest and world peace. The
leaders know that it is in their national interest if world peace is
maintained, and security is provided through international
organizations. For example, in the eventuality of war, world peace and
security will be disturbed, and everything will come on standstill.
Thus the political leaders are likely to make use of the established
international organizations to resolve the issues between warring
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 nations and promote peace and security. The United Nations (1945) Concept of International
Organization
and prior to it the League of Nations (1920) were established with the
sole purpose of maintaining world peace and security.

• Scope of International Organizations:

To determine the scope of International Organizations, we should first
try to understand the classification of International Organizations.
Broadly, the International Organizations are classified into two types:
1. IGOs- Inter-Governmental Organizations

2. INGOs-International Non-Governmental Organizations.

• The IGOs are public in nature as their members are nations for
example, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Trade
Organization etc. Whereas the INGOs are private in nature as their
members are private or unofficial individuals or groups. For example,
Red Cross Society, Consumers International, Amnesty International
among others is the International level Non-Governmental
Organization.

• The Union of International Associations publishes the Yearbook of

International Organizations that profiles both IGOs and INGOs. It
states that there are more than 300 Inter Governmental Organizations
in the world including United Nations. It is interesting to note that out
of 300, the United Nations is the largest IGOs. It also includes a list
of 25,000 international Non-governmental Organizations excluding
for profit enterprises. Thus, in its scope, the International
Organizations includes both IGOs and INGOs.
Apart from this, there are many Regional Organizations which are also
included in the scope of International Organizations like SAARC-South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or ASEAN-Association of
South East Asian Nations. There are many international organizations
which includes members from different continents. So, we call them Trans-
Continental Regional Organizations like BRICS-Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa or Arab League or NATO-North Atlantic Treaty
Organization. So, in the scope of International Organizations we include
Regional Organizations and Trans-continental Organizations too.
It is to be noted that Clive Archer excludes international business
corporations, cartels and transnational and multinational business
enterprises or the Multi-National Corporations from the scope of
International Organizations.
The modern International Organizations include in its scope, the following
subject areas:

• Implementation of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy

• Formulation of Treaties and rules of warfare

9
International Organizations • Development and Implementation of International Law

• Regulation of the use of force

• Organization of Conferences and Workshops

• Developing economic cooperation and fostering international trade

• Developing the feeling of Cosmopolitanism, Universalism

• Promoting global human rights and developing HRMs-Human Rights

Mechanisms

• Establishing Leagues and Federations

• Developing Collective Security amongst the nations

• Extending cultural ties amongst the nations

• Fostering Global Competencies

• Bridging the communication gaps between the nations

• Promoting World Travel

• Developing Universal Citizenship

• Developing political and social co-operation amongst the nations

• Thus, the scope of International Organizations is very broad, and it is

not limited to a particular function but it is of multi-functional in
nature.
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Define International Organizations.

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2) Examine the meaning and nature of International Organizations.
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Organization
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3) Discuss the scope of International Organizations.
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1.3 EVOLUTION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Evolution of International Organizations:

• The evolution of International Organizations can be studied in the

following stages:
1. Ancient Age
2. Middle Age
3. International Conferences from the year 1648 with special
reference to the Concert of Europe
4. Establishment of Public International Organizations
5. The Hague Peace Conferences (1899 and 1907)
6. Establishment of League of Nations (1920)
7. Establishment of United Nations (1945)
8. Growth and development of other International Organizations

• Let us briefly examine each stage of evolution of International

Organization.
1. The Ancient Age

• Gerard J. Mangone in A short history of international

organization, stated that “the treaties of the past were the
11
International Organizations first step towards international organizations.” Hence, in
the evolution of international organization, we must begin
our study from the ancient times.

• The evolution of international organizations is believed to

have started from the ancient Greek city states. In older
times, the Greek city states were known as Polis and
Greece was known as Hellas. The ancient Greeks
established the first formal organizations named as “The
Amphictyonic League” which was established in the early
6th century BCE. It was primarily established by 12 city
states to protect the temple known as ‘Delphi’. But
gradually, the scope of league broadened, and the league
started to regulate the political and economic relations
between the city states as well.

• After this, Confederation, Delos was established to

maintain a common navy amongst the city states. Later
on, seventy city states formed the Achaean League of the
Hellanese which was more or less similar to modern day
regional level Intergovernmental Organization.
The Roman Empire covered the Mediterranean area and
also the west and central Europe. The Romans contributed
much to the evolution of international organizations and
international law. Apart from this, there were inter-state
contacts between China, India, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Diplomatic practices, trade relations, alliances and
treaties, rules of war and peace were developed by these
ancient empires.

2. The Middle Age

• The middle age of the international politics was based on

religion. The church, through the Pope, the Holy Roman
Empire and appeal to the ‘faith’ provided a kind of
universal control to check the growth of decentralization
amongst the feudal lords. The decline of Roman Empire
made the Church more powerful. According to thinker
Constance, “the most spectacular international congress
of history assembled in 1414 to consider claims to papacy
and to try and shape the political as well as the spiritual
future of Europe”. Even today, Roman Church is
considered as the world most powerful international non-
governmental organization.

• During the middle age, there was a growth of several

alliances and associations. The Hanseatic League was
established to promote trade and political relations. In
1315, treaty amongst eight Swiss cantons was formed
which was the main centre of modern Switzerland.
12
12
3. International Conferences from the year 1648 with special Concept of International
Organization
reference to the Concert of Europe:

• The 15th, 16th and 17th century witnessed the growth of

western state system. Europe was the epicentre of the
growth of international institutions of modern day.

• The political thinkers like Machiavelli, Jean Bodin and

Hugo Grotius contributed to the evolution of the
international organizations. Machiavelli provided a
realistic foundation to the inter-state system. Bodin gave
the idea of legal concept of sovereignty. Jeremy Bentham
coined the word international and in his book ‘Plea for a
Universal and Perpetual Peace’ (1793) emphasized on the
development of international institutions to solve disputes
in a peaceful way. Hugo Grotius, known as the father of
International Law envisioned the development of “laws of
nations” related to war. William Penn’s essay “Towards
the Present and Future Peace of Europe” (1693) proposed
for establishing a Parliament of Europe.

• The concept of Diplomacy became broader and it saw the

growth of conferences or gatherings to deal with the
problems related to two or more state.
I. In 1648, through the treaty of Westphalia, the first
three nations of the world came into existence
namely England, France and Spain. This treaty was
formed in the Congress of Westphalia (1648) which
ended the Thirty Years of War because it ended the
authority of the Pope by creating sovereign and
independent territorial states. However, no
international organization was formed by this
treaty.
II. In 1713, the European nations signed the Treaty of
Utrecht. Under this treaty known as ‘The Peace of
Utrecht’, England, France and Spain gave rise to the
concept of ‘International Cooperation.’ It was a step
towards establishment of international
organizations.
III. In 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo and the defeat
of Napoleon Bonaparte, the victorious nations
organized a conference in Vienna (Austria). This is
known as the Congress of Vienna. The Congress of
Vienna proved to be a milestone in the growth and
development of international organizations. The
Vienna Settlement was due to the quadruple
alliance of Austria, England, Prussia (Germany)
and Russia. It developed the concepts of
13
International Organizations Ambassadors (Diplomats) and laws related to the
Open Sea. The Congress of Vienna introduced three
important landmarks in international politics.
Firstly, it agreed to foster peace after every war.
Secondly, the nations decided to renew their
meetings at fixed intervals. Thirdly, it was agreed
that the maintenance of peace depended on this sort
of big power collaborations. It was also known as
the Holy Alliance or the Grand Alliance. The
famous political scientist Hans Morgenthau said
that, the Holy Alliance was an international
government in the true sense of the term.
IV. In 1856, the European Nations signed a treaty
named as ‘Peace of Paris’. Under this treaty, the
rules of naval warfare were created and also laws
were made to protect the rights of the neutral states.
V. In 1874, in Belgium’s capital city Brussels, 15
nations of Europe came together for a meeting and
established the rules related to war fought from
land.
VI. In 1884-85, in Berlin (Germany), the 15 European
nations again came together for a conference. Otto
Van Bismarck, the Chancellor of Berlin presided
over this conference, to discuss the division of
territories won from the African Continent. In this
conference, Africa’s region ‘Congo’ was declared
as a State. Apart from this, in this conference,
discussions were also held to abandon the practice
of slavery and trade of slaves from Africa.

• One of the prominent thinkers of International Politics,

Inis Claude pointed out that the conferences organized by
the European nations from 1815 till 1920, are named by
historians as ‘Concert of Europe.’ The Concert of Europe
was the first actual step of nations towards the evolution
of International Organizations.

• The Concert of Europe was not any International

Organization but were separate meetings or conferences
organized by the European nations from time to time to
develop cooperation with each other and pave the way for
peaceful settlement of disputes. The Concert of Europe
gave rise to many international laws like the laws of the
seas, diplomacy, laws of war etc.
4. Establishment of Public International Organizations:

• The European nations established many International

14
14 Public Institutions. Some of them are as follows:
 • Rhine River Commission (18015) Concept of International
Organization
• Danube River Commission (1856)
• The Geodetic Union (1864)
• International Telegraphic Union (1865)
• Universal Postal Union (1874)
• International Meteorological Organization(1873)
• The Metric Union (1875)
• International Copyright Union (1886)
• Central Office for International Railway Transport
(1890)
• United International Bureau for the protection of
Intellectual Property (1893)

• These international institutions became models for the

establishment of League of Nations and United Nations.

5. The Hague Peace Conferences (1899 and 1907)

• The Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 are

related to the development of international law as well as
to the development of International Organization.

• At the time of the Hague Conferences, there was no war

between the European Nations and actual peace prevailed
in the European continent. The participation of nations in
these conferences was truly international because all the
nations were sovereign nations. In these conferences,
rules were formed with the aim to have control on the
international system. Measures related to limit of war
were also formulated. All types of European nations, big
and small, rich and poor, participated in these
conferences,

• The first Hague Conference was organized in the year

1899, in which 28 nations participated and in the year
1907, the Second Hague Conference was organized in
which more than 40 nations participated.

• The Hague Peace Conferences led to the formulation of

policies based on laws related to war, laws related to High
Seas, laws to limit the military budget, developing foreign
policy and diplomacy, rights and duties of the nation etc.

• Most important of all, the First Hague Conference passed

the policy to establish an International Court for
settlement of disputes between the nations. Hence in the
year 1901, in Hague, the capital city of Netherlands, the
International Court of Justice was established. Even 15
International Organizations today, the International court of Justice is in existence and
is fully functional. It was a part of the League of Nations
(1920) and now it is a part and an organ of United Nations
(1945).
6. Establishment of League of Nations (1920)

• The League of Nations was established after the First

World War came to an end and after the Versailles Treaty
(1919), in the year 1920. It was the first step towards
establishment of a formal international organization with
a set of rules and procedures and a proper structure with
its own headquarter.

• In the words of Philip Noel-Baker, a Nobel award winner

who took part in the international peace conference in the
Hague and later worked at the League of Nations says,
“The League of Nations is the first attempt in the history
to furnish the international society of nations with a
permanent and organic system of international political
institution.”

• The then American President, Woodrow Wilson, in his

famous 14 Points Programme, made a plea for the
formation of a “general association of nations” which
could guarantee political independence and territorial
integrity of big and small nations.

• The victorious nations of the First World War- America,

France, and England developed a covenant (Constitution)
for the League in 1919. The covenant contained articles
related to the maintenance of territorial integrity of the
members against an attack. It also stated that violation of
the articles of the covenant leading to war would invite
economic sanctions on such nation. The League of
Nations was formally established in January 1920 with
headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Initially, it was an
organization of 42 member nations.

• In the structure of the League, there were three main

organs- the Council, the Assembly and the Secretariat.
The Council was the main peacekeeping agency. The
Council consisted of 8 to 14 members. It had permanent
members like England, Italy, Soviet Russia, France, Japan
and Germany which were the most powerful nations. The
other Non-Permanent Members were elected for a period
of three years. The Council met for three times a year and
it was the function of the Council to deal with political
disputes between the nations. The Assembly consisted of
all the member nations and its functions was to decide the
general policy, maintain the budget, elect the Non-
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 Permanent or temporary Council Members and give Concept of International
Organization
membership to nations as well as to amend the Covenant.
It met once a year. The Secretariat was the permanent
office of the league. It was the administrative organ of the
League. It was headed by a Secretary General nominated
by the Council and approved by the Assembly. Apart
from this, the Permanent Court of Justice also acted as a
part of the League of Nations.
• However, in practice, the League of Nations was
unsuccessful as an Organization as the period from 1920
till 1930 witnessed many wars in the European Continent.
The League was not able to control these wars. Moreover,
the nations like England and France interfered in the
functioning of the League. The League was not able to
keep a check on the growing dictatorship of Germany’s
Hitler and Italy’s Mussolini. The main objective of the
League was to prevent war, but it was not able to achieve
this as it could not prevent the Second World War which
started from 1939 onwards. The League of Nations was
not a major success but by its existence, a strong example
was set up which directed the establishment of the United
Nations later.
7. Establishment of United Nations, 1945
• The efforts to establish the United Nations as an
international organization began when the Second World
War (1939-1945) was going on. On 12th June, 1941, the
representatives of five Commonwealth and eight
European governments-in-exile decided to establish an
organization to make the world a better place to live and
signed the Inter-Allied Declaration. After this, the
Atlantic Charter was signed by America, England and
Soviet Russia on 14th August, 1941 which aimed to
establish world peace and security. This was followed by
the signing of the Declaration by the United Nations on
1st January, 1942 in Washington D.C, America on behalf
of 26 nations who subscribed to the principles of the
Atlantic Charter. For the first time, the name United
Nations was first used in this declaration. The term United
Nations was coined by the American President, Franklin
D. Roosevelt.
• On 30th December, 1943, the Moscow Declaration on
General Security was signed by the representatives of
England, China, Soviet Russia and America which
approved the idea of establishing an international
organization named as United Nations for maintaining
world peace and security.
• The Tehran Conference took place between the American
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Soviet Russia
17
International Organizations Premier Joseph Stalin, in November-December 1943 to
plan the establishment of the United Nations. After this,
the Dumbarton Oaks Conference was organized from
August to October 1944 by the representatives of China,
Soviet Russia, England and America in the Dumbarton
Oaks Estate in Washington, USA. In this conference, the
basic plan of establishing the United Nations was
developed. They published the proposed framework of
the United Nations on 7th October, 1944. In
February1945, the Yalta Conference was organized
wherein the leaders from USA and Soviet Russia met and
discussed the further course of action.
• Finally, the UN Conference on International Organization
was organized in San Francisco, USA which is referred as
‘the conference to end all the conferences’, on 25th April,
1945. 50 delegates of the world attended the conference.
It formulated the official UN Charter. On 26th June, 1945,
all the 50 nations signed the charter. Later on Poland also
signed the charter as it was not present during the meeting.
So, originally 51 member nations signed the UN Charter.
It should be noted that, India is one of the founder member
of the United Nations as it is a signatory to the UN Charter
• The Charter came into effect from 24th October, 1945.
Hence, we say that the United Nations was established on
24th October, 1945. The day is celebrated every year as
the United Nations Day.
8. Growth and development of other International
Organizations:
• It is not that after the establishment of United Nations, no
other international organization was established. In fact,
many regional and transcontinental as well as many
International Non-Governmental Organizations were
established. The International Monetary Fund, the World
Bank, the World Trade Organizations are the international
economic organizations or Institutions established in
1944. In the UN itself, there are many specialized
agencies which are international organizations like the
UNDP, FAO, WHO etc.
• Thus, we find that the International Organizations
evolved gradually with the changes in time and situation.

• Significance of International Organizations:

• International organizations can help maintain peace at the

international level.
• They provide a platform to the nations of the world to come
together and discuss their issues and find solutions to them.
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 • The international organizations play an important role in Concept of International
Organization
developing the international agenda and act as a catalyst for
joining the nations together.
• The international organizations facilitate the cooperation and
coordination amongst the member nations.
• Due to International relations, the nations can satisfy their
national interest, maintain regional peace and security, and
avoid war or warlike situation.
• The international organizations set the tone of a truly
cosmopolitan world where multiculturalism prevails and there
is a respect for each other’s diverse culture, traditions and belief
systems.
• The international organizations collect information, formulate
databases and monitor trends related to global poverty or
economic standards or wellbeing and happiness of all the
people. They generate a universal pool of information related to
all the issues like environment, society, culture, politics etc.
related to the mankind.
Check Your Progress Exercise 2
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.

1) Describe the evolution of International Organizations.

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2) Write about the significance of International Organizations.
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1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE UNITED NATIONS:

• Before learning the structure of the United Nations, let us first

understand the Objectives, Purpose and Principles of the United
Nations as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. 19
International Organizations • As every nation has its own constitution, similarly the United Nations
has its own Constitution which is known as the Charter. The UN
Charter consists of 111 articles which are divided into 19 chapters.
All these articles deal with the operation of United Nations and also
tell us about the objectives, purpose and principles of United Nations
which are mentioned in the Preamble of the Charter.

• The first draft of the Preamble to the UN Charter was made by

General Jan Christian Smuts of South Africa. The preamble is the
guiding spirit of the United Nations.

• There are four main objectives of the UN:

1. To save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war;

2. To reaffirm faith in the fundamental human rights, in the work
and dignity of human person and equal rights of men, women
and nations large and small;
3. To establish conditions under which justice and respect for the
obligations arising from treaties and other sources of
international law can be maintained;
4. To promote social progress and better standard of life in larger
freedom.
Article 1 of the UN Charter, gives the following purpose of the UN:

1. To maintain international peace and security;

2. To develop friendly relations among nations;
3. To seek international cooperation in solving the problems of
economic, social, cultural and humanitarian nature, promotion and
encouragement of respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms; and
4. To be a centre of harmonising the actions of nations to achieve the
above ends.
Article 2 of the UN Charter, mentions about the following principles to
fulfil the above purpose of the United Nations:
1. The principle of sovereign equality of all members will be followed.
2. All members shall fulfil in good faith the obligations they have
assumed under the Charter.
3. The members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful
means.
4. The members shall refrain from using any threat or force in any
manner inconsistence with the purpose of the United Nations

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5. The members will provide assistance in any action taken by the Concept of International
Organization
United Nations in accordance with the Charter and shall refrain from
giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is
taking preventive or enforcement actions.
6. The United Nations shall ensure that the Non-members act in
accordance with these principles so far as it is necessary for
maintaining international peace and security.
7. The United Nations shall not interfere in the internal matters of the
member nations. However, there will be enforcement of action by the
United Nations in case there is breach of peace or threats to peace and
acts of aggression.

Membership of the United Nations:

An applicant must fulfil the following five conditions to be admitted to
membership in the United Nations:
1) Be a State;
2) Be peace-loving State; 21
International Organizations 3) Accept the obligations of the Charter;
4) Be able to carry out these obligations; and

5) Be willing to do so.
It is to be noted that the membership of the principal organs of the United
Nations is determined by the Charter of the United Nations and the Statute
of the International Court of Justice.
Currently, there are 193 Member States in the United Nations. Thus, the UN
Membership has grown from the original 51 Member States in 1945 to the
current 193 Member States. The most recent state to join the United Nations
is South Sudan which was recognized as an independent nation in 2011.

Non-Member States:
Non-Member states are those states which receive standing invitation from
the United Nations to participate as Observers in the sessions and the work
of the General Assembly and maintaining Permanent Observer Missions at
Headquarters.
There are two Non-Member States of the United Nations. They are:
1) Holy See- Permanent Observer of Mission of the Holy See to the
United Nations
2) State of Palestine- Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the
United Nations.
The Structure of the United Nations:
There are six main organs of the United Nations, these are:
1. General Assembly
2. Security Council

3. Economic and Social Council

4. Trusteeship Council
5. International Court of Justice
6. Secretariat
Of the above, the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic
and Social Council, Trusteeship Council and Secretariat are in the UN
Headquarters in New York, USA. Only the International Court of Justice is
in Hague, Netherlands.
Now, let us take a review of each organ of the United Nations:
1. General Assembly

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In the General Assembly, all the 193 members of the United Nations Concept of International
Organization
are represented. Hence it is also known as the “town meeting of the
world” According to Article 9 of the UN Charter, The General
Assembly shall consist of all the Members of the United Nations:

• Each Member State can send five representatives but has a

single vote.

• The General Assembly elects a President, 21 Vice-Presidents

and Chairmen of 7 main Committees of the Assembly at the
beginning of each annual session.

• The presidency of the Assembly rotates each year among the

five geographical groups of states- African, Asian, Eastern
Europe, Latin American and Western Europe. This ensures
equal geographical representation.

• The main function of the President of the General Assembly is

to direct the work of the assembly and preside over the
discussions.

• The assembly meets once a year. If there is a need and urgency,

then the Assembly can meet in special sessions as requested by
the Security Council or by the members or by any member state.

• The voting in the General Assembly is done by a simple

majority. The important issues like elections of new members,
issues of peace and security require two third majority.

• All the member states are represented in the Six Main

Committees of the Assembly:
First Committee – Disarmament and International Security
Second Committee- Economic and Financial Committee
Third Committee-Social, Humanitarian and Cultural
Committee
Fourth Committee-Special Political and Decolonization
Committee
Fifth Committee-Administrative and Budgetary Committee
Sixth Committee-Legal Committee
Each committee will study the problems assigned to it and make
recommendations to the General Assembly.

• The 28 member General Committee coordinates the

proceedings of the Assembly and its committees.

• There are two standing committees:

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International Organizations 1. Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary
Questions
2. Committee on Contributions, which recommends the
scale of members payments to the UN.

• Subsidiary Organs: The subsidiary organs of the General

Assembly comprises of Committees, Commissions, boards,
Councils and Panels and Working Groups and others. Amongst
the Commissions, there is the UN Peace Building Commission,
International Law Commission etc. Amongst the Committees,
there is a Committee on the UN Populations Award and
Committee against torture. Amongst the Council, there are the
Human Rights Council and the Council of the UN Universities.

• Functions of the General Assembly:

1. It elects the members of the other major organs such as
the 10 Non-Permanent Members of the Security Council,
ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council), Trusteeship
Council and Judges of the International Court of Justice.
2. It appoints the Secretary General of the UN Secretariat on
the recommendation of the Security Council.
3. It approves the UN Budget.
4. It receives and considers report from the other
organizations.
5. It may discuss any question related to the work of the
United Nations.
6. If for any reason whatsoever, the Security Council cannot
make decisions than General Assembly can consider the
issue and make suggestion to restore world peace and
security.
2. The Security Council
If the General Assembly is called as the UN Parliament, then the
Security Council is the UN Executive. The primary responsibility of
the maintenance of world peace and security is with the Security
Council.
1. Originally, there were 11 members in the Security Council but
gradually it expanded to 15 in 1965.
2. Out of the 15 members of the Security Council, 5 members are
the permanent members viz., America, England, France, Russia
and China. The 10 members are the Non-Permanent Members.
The non-permanent members are elected for a two-year term by

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 a two-third majority of the General Assembly. Five non- Concept of International
Organization
permanent members retire every year.
3. In the year 2022, the non-permanent members are Albania,
Brazil, Gabon, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway
and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
4. The Council members are permanently represented at the UN
Headquarters.
5. Each member of the Council has One Vote. Decisions on
procedural matter are taken by affirmative vote of at least nine
members, while decisions on substantive matters are taken by
votes of nine members which must also contain the concurring
votes of all permanent members.
6. The Permanent members have a special right to use ‘Veto
Power’. Out of five permanent members, if any member uses
veto i.e., a No vote, then it will defeat the question which came
up for decision. For example, Russia has used veto power to
support India over the Kashmir issue. Many criticize the use of
veto power by saying that it has prevented the United Nations
from taking decisions on many issues.
7. The Security Council may set up as many committees as it
needs. The Charter created a Military Staff Committee, with
Military Representatives of all Five Permanent Members, to
advise on and assist the Council’s military requirements for the
maintenance of peace, regulation of armaments and
disarmaments.
8. Currently, the Security Council has three standing committees-
the Committee on Admission of New Members, the Committee
of Experts on Rules of Procedure and the Committee on Council
Meetings.

• Functions of the Security Council:

1. The Security Council has the power to discuss, investigate
and make recommendations about any question brought
on its panel.
2. It is responsible for framing plans for the establishment of
a system for the control of armaments.
3. It is empowered to decide what measures should be
adopted in order to maintain international peace and
security when the peaceful settlement among the
disputing parties fails. It includes measures like complete
or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail,
sea, air, postal, radio and other means of communication
and the severance of diplomatic relations. Actions may
include blockades, demonstrations and other operations 25
International Organizations by air, sea or land forces of Members of the United
Nations.
4. New member states to the UN are admitted by a decision
of the General Assembly on the recommendations of the
Security Council.
5. The Security Council also participates in the election of
the Judges of the International Court of Justice.
6. Its recommendations are also necessary for the
appointment of the Secretary General.
It is often said that, the Security Council has not been able to play the role
which was envisaged to it under the charter. The balance is tilted more
towards General Assembly because of admission of huge number of Afro-
Asian Countries to the General Assembly.
3. Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) under the authority of
the General Assembly is the organ which is responsible to function as
a co-ordinator of the economic and the social work of the United
Nations and the specialised agencies and institutions known as the
‘United Nations Family.’

• ECOSOC comprises of 54 members, 18 (one-third) of whom

are elected every year by the General Assembly of the UN for a
term of three years. Members are elected according to a system
based on geographical distribution. The President is elected
annually. The retiring members as well as the President are
eligible for immediate re-election.

• The Council meets twice a year and can also hold special
sessions.

• The day-to-day working of the Council is carried on by its

Commissions and Committees which meet at regular intervals
and report back to the council.

• Each member has one vote and decisions are made by simple
majority.

• Functions of ECOSOC:
1. It takes initiative studies and prepares reports on
international economic, social, cultural, educational,
health and other matters.
2. It makes recommendations with regards to the
international economic, social, cultural, educational,
health and related matters to the General Assembly.

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 3. It undertakes the preparation of draft convention for Concept of International
Organization
submission to the General Assembly regarding all matters
falling within its jurisdiction.
4. It calls international convention on socio-economic,
cultural and human rights related issues.
5. It is the co-ordinator of the work of specialized agencies
of the United Nations.
6. It can consult Non-Governmental international
organisations on matters with which they are concerned
and which fall within the competence of the Council. The
organizations may send observers to public meeting of the
Council and its subsidiary bodies and may submit written
statements relevant to the work of the Council. Over 600
NGOs have been granted Consultative status within the
Council.
4. Trusteeship Council

• The United Nations Trusteeship Council was established to help

ensure that trust territories were administered keeping in mind
the benefit and welfare of the concerned people and also to see
that world peace and security is maintained.

• It consisted of the administering states, the five permanent

members, equivalent to the administering states.

• It acts under the authority of the General Assembly, or in case

of ‘strategic means ’under the authority of the Security Council.

• Originally, there were eleven trust territories. The Council was

to help these territories become self-governing or independent.
By 31st October, 1994, all the trust territories had achieved
independence either as a separate state or by joining
neighbouring independent states. The last such territory which
became independent was the Pacific Islands (or Palau Islands),
which was being administered by America.

• From 1st November, 1994, the Trusteeship Council formally

suspended its operations. The Council, however, was not
dissolved, it remained in existence with the provision that it
would meet as and when a need of extraordinary nature arose.
It is proposed to the United Nations that the Trusteeship Council
should be used as a trustee of the “global commons,
environment and resource systems.”
5. International Court of Justice
The international Court of Justice is the Judiciary of the United
Nations and it deals with all the legal problems of the United Nations.
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International Organizations • Its headquarters are located in Hague, Netherlands.

• It was established as a statue signed as an Integral Part of the

UN Charter at San Francisco on 26th June,1945. All the UN
members signed the statute and are a party to it.

• The purpose of the ICJ is to adjudicate disputes referred to it by

the member states and to provide advisory opinion on any legal
question raised brought before it by the General Assembly or
the Security Council or any other organ of the United Nations
and the Specialized agencies of the United Nations.

• Any member who was a signatory to the Statute of the ICJ may
bring a case before the court, though no nation can be forced to
bring its disputes before the Court.

• Other Countries who had not signed on the ICJ Statute can refer
cases to the Court under the conditions laid down by the
Security Council.

• Individuals cannot be a party to a dispute. Only member nations

can bring a case before the ICJ.

• It consists of a total number of 15 Judges who are elected by the

UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote
independently, for a renewable term of nine years.

• The Judges belong to different nationalities and are nominated

b “national groups” in the Permanent Court of Arbitration
(PCA), established by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and
1907.

• No Judge is allowed to exercise any political or administrative

function. He/she cannot be dismissed unless He/she has ceased
to fulfil the required conditions of service.

• The ICJ elects its president and vice-president for a three years
term.

• ICJ Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction to ICJ can be conferred though any of the following
methods:
1. Two or more states may confer jurisdiction upon the court
through special agreements.
2. It may be provided in a multilateral treaty that the matters
relating to the interpretation of the treaty shall be entrusted to
the court.
3. Jurisdiction in respect of any specific matter may also be
conferred upon the court by a bilateral treaty.
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 4. Jurisdiction may also be conferred upon the Court in an Concept of International
Organization
informal way after the proceedings have commenced in the
Court.

• Functions of ICJ:
1. To decide the cases in accordance with international law,
international custom, the general principles of law recognized
by civilized nations; and judicial decisions and the teachings of
the most highly qualifies publicists as subsidiary means for the
determination of the rules of the law.
2. To decide the cases on the principles of equity if the parties
concerned agree.
3. It provides advisory opinions on legal questions to the General
Assembly, Security Council and other Specialized Agencies.

• It is important to note that the advice of the International

Court of Justice is not binding on the agency soliciting it.
There exists no specific machinery to enforce or
implement the decisions of the International Court of
Justice.

6. The Secretariat
The Secretariat is the headquarters or administrative office of the
United Nations. It is in New York, USA. The Secretariat is headed by
the Secretary General of the United Nations. Equal parts diplomat and
advocate, civil servant and CEO, the Secretary General is a symbol of
United Nations ideals and a spokesperson for the interests of the
world’s peoples, in particular the poor and vulnerable among them.

• The day-to-day business of the UN is managed by the

Secretariat.

• It is headed by a Secretary General who is assisted by several

Under Secretary Generals, Assistant Secretary Generals and
Deputy Secretary Generals. There is also a staff of over 8,000
people to support the Secretary General.

• The Secretary General is appointed by the General Assembly

with the recommendation of the Security Council, for a period
of five years. Any of the five permanent members of the council
can veto a nomination.

• The Secretary General reports to the General Assembly each

year on the organizational accomplishments, activities,
problems and challenges.

• Powers and functions of the Secretary General:

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International Organizations 1. Article 99 of the Charter gives the Secretary General the
power to bring to the attention of the Security Council any
matter which, in his opinion, may threaten the peace and
security of any region.
2. The Secretary General oversees the entire administration
of the United Nations.
3. The Secretary General attends sessions with United
Nations specialized agencies and other affiliated
institutions.
4. The Secretary General publishes annual report on the
work of the United Nations which includes an assessment
of its activities and an outline of future priorities.
5. The Secretary General is also the Chairman of the United
Nations System Chief Executives Board of Coordination
which comprises of the heads of all UN funded
programmes and specialized agencies.
The following table provides a chronological list of Secretary Generals of
the UN:

List of Secretary Generals of the United Nations

Sr.No Name Country Period

1. Trygve Lie Norway 1946-1953

2. Dag Hammarskjold Sweden 1953-1961

3. U.Thant Myanmar 1961-1971

4. Kurt Waldheim Austria 1972-1982

5. Javier Perez de Cuellar Peru 1982-1992

6. Boutros Boutros Ghali Egypt 1992-1997

7. Kofi Annan Ghana 1997-2006

8. Ban Ki-Moon South Korea 2007-2016

9. Antonio Guterres Portugal 2017-till

today

Specialized Agencies of the United Nations:

The UN works jointly with 15 international organizations which are known
as the ‘Specialized Agencies’. However, they are independent legal entities.

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The following table provides a list of these 15 specialized agencies of the Concept of International
Organization
UN:

List of Specialized Agencies of the United Nations

Sr. Name of the Specialized Headquarter Brief Description
No Agency of Functions
. performed
1. Food & Agriculture Rome To fight hunger
Organization (FAO) and provide food
security.
2. International Civil Montreal To facilitate safe,
Aviation Organization reliable
(ICAO) international air
travel.

3. International Fund for Rome To work directly

Agricultural with rural poor in
Development (IFAD) developing
nations.
4. International Labour Geneva It was the first
Organization (ILO) specialized agency
of the UN in 1946.
Its work is to
promote and
develop safe
workplace
practices.
5. International Monetary Washington To maintain
Fund (IMF) , DC stability of the
international
monetary system.
6. International Maritime London To maintain a
Organization (IMO) framework to
govern the
shipping industry
and provide
maritime security.
7. International Geneva To promote
Telecommunications international
Union (ITU) cooperation in the
emerging
telegraphic
industry.
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International Organizations 8. United Nations Paris To promote
Educational, Scientific international
and Cultural cooperation in the
Organizations field of Education,
(UNESCO) science and
culture.
9. United Nations Vienna To promote
Industrial Development industrial
Organization (UNIDO) development.
10. United Nations World Madrid To promote
Tourism Organization tourism for
(UNWTO) economic growth.
11. Universal Postal Union Bern, To set rules for
(UPU) Switzerland international mail
and promote
postal services.
12. World Health Geneva To provide global
Organization (WHO) healthcare
services.
13. World Intellectual Geneva To establish rules
Property Organization and norms for
(WIPO) intellectual
property rights.
14. World Meteorological Geneva To monitor
Organization (WMO) weather and
climatic
conditions and
exchange data.
15. World Bank (WB) Washington To provide finance
DC, USA and technical
assistance to
developing
economies
Check Your Progress Exercise 3
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Evaluate the objectives, purpose and principles of the United Nations.

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Organization
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2) Explain the structure of the United Nations.
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1.5 LET US SUM UP:

International Organizations are the Non-State Actors in the World System.

Hence, their rules, norms, code of conduct are not binding on the sovereign
nations. International organization as the United Nations is often criticized
for being a weak organization. Many have also questioned the very
relevance of the United Nations. Yet there are many others who support the
existence of the United Nations and also other international organizations
which may be regional or transcontinental or an International Non-
Governmental Organization.
The success or failure of any international organization depends on the
member nations. If the member nations abide by the rules of the
organizations and carry out their duties towards the organization, then the
organization will definite become powerful and also successful. The
international organizations provide a platform to the inter-state cooperation.

1.6 FURTHER READINGS

1. Archer, Clive (1983), International Organisation: Key Concepts in

International Relations, London, George and Unwin.
2. Barros, James (ed.)(1972), The UN :Past, Present and Future, New
York, The Free Press
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International Organizations 3. Madan, Sabina, Dev Praveen, Sebastian, Kranti, Rajaram Kalpana
(2013) International Organisations, Conferences and Treaties,
Spectrum Publications
4. Mangone, Gerard J. (1954), A short history of International
Organization,
5. Potter, Pittman B (1945), “Origins of the term International
Organization”, American Journal of International Law.
6. Roger Charles B (2020), The Origins of Informality: Why Legal
foundations of Global Governance are shifting and Why it Matters,
Oxford University Press.
7. Draft articles on the responsibility of international organizations, with
commentaries, Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 2011,
Vol. II, Part Two.
8. Vabulas, Felicity and Snidal, Duncan. "Organization without
delegation: Informal intergovernmental organizations (IIGOs) and the
spectrum of intergovernmental arrangements," The Review of
International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 193-220,
June, 2013
9. Wallace, Michael and Singer David J. “Intergovernmental Organization
in the Global System, 1815-1964: A Quantitative Description”,
International Organization, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Spring, 1970, pp. 239-287
(49 pages), University of Wisconsin Press.

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 2
CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATION
Unit Structure
2.1 Objectives
2.2 Pacific Settlements of International Disputes and Peace Keeping
Operations
2.3 Regulation and Control of Nuclear Technology: Role of International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
2.4 Summary/Conclusion
2.5 Further readings

2.1 OBJECTIVES:

The aim of this unit is to make you understand the importance of peace in
the world and realize the efforts put in by the United Nations, as a general
international organization to maintain world peace. This unit will
familiarize you with the ways implemented by the United Nations to solve
international disputes peacefully. Moreover, you will also know about the
army maintained by the United Nations known as United Nations Peace
Keeping Forces (UNPKF) to ensure peace in war zones. After studying this
unit, you should be able to:

• Explain the ways adopted by the United Nations for solving the
international disputes in a peaceful manner.

• Describe the working of the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces.

• Evaluate the Pacific Settlements of International disputes and Peace-

Keeping Operations.

• Explain the role of International Atomic Energy Agency.

2.2 PACIFIC SETTLEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL

DISPUTES AND PEACE KEEPING OPERATIONS:

Conflict Management and Disputes Settlement are the core issues and
challenges in international politics. Over many centuries, the nations have
been trying to minimize conflicts such as War and maximize cooperation
between the nations by establishing institutions for pacific settlement of
disputes between the nations.

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International Organizations The political history of the world is the evidence to the fact that until and
unless the nations do not become selfless and learn to develop mutual
respect, in a true sense, till that time complete peace cannot be achieved.
We find that even United Nations is helpless as even after establishing the
United Nations we find that wars have occurred in the world, though not on
a large scale like a Third World War. However, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine
Conflict (2022) is a clear indication of this.
Let us take a brief historical review of how nations used to settle their
disputes peacefully prior to the establishment of the United Nations.
The first ever effort to develop international peace was the establishment of
the ‘Congress System’ by the European nations. Why was it known as
Congress System? It is known so because regular congresses or meetings
were organized to discuss the ways of resolving disputes between the
nations. Hence, it is known as the Congress System. It was established after
the French Revolution of 1789 and Fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815.
The Congress System is also known as the Vienna System (Congress of
Vienna,1815) was the system developed by Five Great Powers of Europe
namely, Austria, France, Prussia (Germany), Russia and England to resolve
potential political disputes and prevent wars and conflicts between the
nations. Till 1848, the Congress System was able to maintain peace as
occasional meetings were organized during crisis. However, the Congress
System received a major setback due to the 1848 Revolutions which were
based on ideas like democracy, independence and national unity. These
revolutions were controlled by the Congress but due to the growing
tendencies of imperialism, finally, the Congress System came to an end.
There was Unification of Germany under Otto Van Bismarck and
Unification of Italy under Count Cavour and Garibaldi in 1870. This
increased the competition amongst the European Powers and efforts to
develop peace between the European nations became impossible.
After the First World War (1914 to 1918), the League of Nations was
established in 1920 to maintain peace and security. But the League of
Nations also failed to prevent conflicts as it could not control the Japan’s
aggression on China in 1931 and 1937 as well as Italy’s invasion in
Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in 1935. Moreover, it could not check the growth of
dictatorship in Germany under Hitler and in Italy under Mussolini. Then the
Second World War occurred from 1939 to 1945 and eventually, we find that
the United Nations was established to maintain world peace and security.
Now let us examine the concept of Pacific Settlements of Disputes and then
find out how United Nations settles disputes between the nations as an
International Organization.
What is the meaning of Pacific Settlement of Disputes?
Disputes are a part and parcel of our daily life. This can be seen through the
huge number of cases in our judicial system. What role is our Judiciary
performing? Naturally, the answer is that judiciary is providing a platform
and is a mediator in solving the disputes of general public in the nation and
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giving justice to the people. Similarly, at the international level, there are Concept of International
Organization
disputes between two or more nations on many issues such as cross border
terrorism or disputed boundary lines or arms race or imperialism etc. If
within the nation, we have judiciary and administrative tribunals to solve
our disputes then certainly at the international level also, there should be a
mechanism to solve disputes amongst the nations as wars and armed conflict
will never make the world a better place to live.
Pacific Settlements of Disputes means resolving the disputes amicably, in a
friendly way rather than fights or waging wars. The term Pacifism was
coined by French Peace campaigner Emile Arnaud in 190, in his treatise
named as “Code de la Paix” which gave broad outline about how to carry a
movement in a peaceful manner and what are the goals of a peaceful
movement. He said that we can achieve peace through mutual consent,
tolerance, and non-violence. Any person who believes and follows the idea
of settling disputes peacefully, is known as a Pacifist.
If we look at the political history of the world, we find that attempts were
made since ancient times to solve disputes between the nations peacefully.
Whether in the Buddhists or Jain traditions or in ancient Chinese traditions
war was renounced completely and peace was promoted on the large scale.
The Quakers and Religious Friends Society of the ancient European
Christian traditions also supported peace more than war. Jean Jacques
Rousseau, Emmanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, all advocated peace. To
understand the importance of peace, one must read, Leo Tolstoy’s book
“The Kingdom of God is Within You”, which is a treatise on peace. The
Hague Conventions and International Court of Justice served the purpose of
establishing peace amongst the warring nations. The League of Nations and
the United Nations symbolized the sincere attempts by the nations of the
world towards establishing permanent world peace.
United Nations and Pacific Settlements of International Disputes:
United Nations as an international organization from past 77 years (1945
till today) is relentlessly carrying out the work of maintaining world peace
and order within its structural limitations. We cannot say that after
establishment of United Nations, the nations stopped going on war
completely. In fact, immediately after United Nations was established Cold
War started between the two Super Powers- USA and USSR which lasted
for about 45 years. In between all these 45 years, the world witnessed many
wars and war like situations such as the Korean War of 1950 or the Cuban
Missile Crisis of 1962. India’s wars with Pakistan, Iran and Iraq war,
Falklands War, the Vietnam War speaks volumes about the spread of war
even after the establishment of United Nations. In 1991, there was fall of
Soviet Russia, Gulf War, and Kargil War wherein the concept of peace was
questioned vis-à-vis the role of United Nations. The United Nations was not
a silent spectator in all these wars. In the Korean War of 1950 and in the
Gulf War of 1991, the United Nations intervention was highly successful.
But the intervention was not so successful in other wars. So now let us
examine exactly how the United Nations maintains peace in the world?
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International Organizations If we go through the UN Charter, we find that it mentions three ways and
also talks about the UN Army-UNPKF, through which the UN tries to
maintain peace in this anarchical world.

UN EFFORTS TO PEACE
1. PACIFIC SETTLEMENT OF
DISPUTES

2.COLLECTIVE SECURITY

3. REGIONAL
ARRANGEMENTS

UN ARMY-UNITED
NATIONS PEACE KEEPING
FORCES(UNPKF)

Let’s examine the above-mentioned ways in detail, as follows:

1. Peaceful Settlement of Disputes:

The UN Charter explains the way peaceful settlement of disputes will
be carried out by the United Nations.
The following articles of the UN Charter deals with provisions related
to the Pacific Settlement of Disputes:
1. Article 11- It states that the General Assembly may consider
the general principles of cooperation in the maintenance of
international peace and security, including the principles
governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments and
make recommendations regarding such principles to the
Members or to the Security Council or to both.
2. Article 33- It states that any dispute that is likely to endanger
the maintenance of international peace and security should first
be addressed through negotiation, mediation or other peaceful
means, and states that the Council can call on the parties to use
such means to settle their dispute.
3. Article 34- It empowers the Security Council to investigate any
dispute, or any situation that is likely to endanger international
peace and security.
4. Article 35- It grants both Member and Non-Member States the
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38 power to bring any dispute, or any situation that is likely to
 endanger international peace and security, to the attention of the Concept of International
Organization
Security Council. It covers instances where disputes or
situations have been brought by States to the attention of the
Security Council, according to the provisions of Article 35.
5. Article 36- The Security Council may, at any stage of dispute
of the nature referred to in Article 33 or of a situation of like
nature, recommend appropriate procedure or methods for
adjustment. This article also states that the Security Council
should also consider the legal disputes referred by the parties to
the International Court of Justice in accordance with the
provisions of the Statute of the Court.
6. Article 37- It states that, if the parties to a dispute of the nature
referred in Art.33 fail to settle the disputes, then the Security
Council will decide whether to take action under Article 36 or
to recommend such terms of settlement as it may consider
appropriate.
7. Article 38- It states that without prejudice to the provisions of
Article 33 to 37, the Security Council y, if all the parties to any
dispute so request, make recommendations to the parties with a
view to a pacific settlement of the dispute.
In simple terms, we can say that in order to settle the disputes between the
nations pacifically, the United Nations uses the following ways:
1. If there is any dispute between two or more nations, then such nations
are brought together on a common platform by the United Nations.
The representatives of such nations have discussions with each other
and try to find out solutions related to the issues between them. In
this, there is no interference of any third party.
2. In certain disputes, the United Nations invites a third party who is not
related to the nations or who is not concerned with the dispute and
will act only as a mediator. So through mediation of a third party,
disputes between the nations will be solved. The third party i.e., the
mediator nation co-ordinates the talks and discussions between the
nations who have disputes with each other. The mediator nation also
suggests measures to solve the disputes between the nations and tries
to control the war-like situation, if any, between the nations. It is the
ultimate right of the United Nations to decide who will be the
mediator nation.
3. The United Nations can appoint special enquiry committees or
commissions to solve the disputes amongst the nations amicably. It
will be a fact-finding committee and will suggest measures to the
United Nations to find out peaceful solutions to the disputes.
4. Certain disputes between the nations are referred by the United
Nations to the International Court of Justice which is located in
Hague, Netherlands. The International Court of Justice applies
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International Organizations International Law to solve the disputes between the nations
peacefully. If the nations are not interested in taking their disputes to
the International Court of Justice, then the United Nations will try to
find out an out of court settlement of disputes between the nations.
Thus, we find that the United Nations, in all possible ways, tries to bring
an ultimate solution to the disputes between the nations

2. Collective Security:
Collective Security means “All for One and One for all.” Basically, it
assumes that an attack on one nation will be considered as an attack
on all the nations and collectively security will be maintained by all.
The United Nations also believes in the principle of Collective
Security.
The Article 48 and Article 49 of the United Nations Charter speak
about the principle of collective security.
1. Article 48 – The action required to carry out the decisions of
the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace
and security shall be taken by all the Members of the United
Nations or by some of them, as the Security Council, may
determine. It also states that such decisions shall be carried out
by the Members of the United Nations directly and through their
action in the appropriate international agencies of which they
are members.
2. Article 49 – The members of the United Nations shall join in
affording mutual assistance in carrying out the measures
decided upon by the Security Council.
The United Nations believes that to establish peace, the most
important way is to follow the principle of Collective Security.
For the implementation of the principle of Collective Security,
the United Nations has focussed on the following:

• All the member nations should have common goal of

Collective Security. There national interest should be of
less importance than collective security.

• The member nations should unanimously believe that

there is a threat to their security.

• The member nations should unanimously agree that a

particular nation is the arrogant nation or a belligerent
nation who has attacked the victim nation.

• Once it is decided that a particular nation is belligerent

then all the member nations should unanimously decide
the course of action to be followed. There should be no
differences of opinion amongst the member nations about
this.
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3. Regional Arrangements: Concept of International
Organization
The Articles 52-54 of Chapter VIII of the UN charter provides the
constitutional basis for the involvement of Regional Organizations in
the maintenance of international peace and security.
1. Art 52- It provides for the involvement of regional
arrangements or agencies in the peaceful settlement of disputes.
2. Art 53- It allows such arrangements to take enforcement action,
but only with explicit authorization by the Security Council. In
other words, this article creates a way through which Security
Council is allowed to utilize regional arrangements to
implement its enforcement actions.
3. Art 54- It states that the regional arrangements or agencies shall
inform the Council of their activities for the maintenance of
international peace and security.
In the decades since the UN Charter, regional arrangements
have flourished around the world from the European Union to
ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations). The UN
may be an international organization but it has always
recognized the importance of regional affiliations and
arrangements.
Why Regional Arrangements?
The United Nations had seen many successes like the Gulf War,
Cambodia, Haiti and many failures like Somalia, Bosnia,
Rwanda, in its attempt to maintain peace and order in the world.
As the years passed, there was an increase in financial and
operational problems of the United Nations. Hence the United
Nations decided to take help of Regional Organizations,
Intergovernmental Organizations, Non-Governmental
Organization, and many regional agencies in the world. The
former UN Secretary General, Boutros Boutros-Ghali also
stated that “Regional arrangements or agencies in many cases
possess a potential that should be utilized.”
The General Assembly in its Resolution 49/57 of December 9,
1994, approved the Declaration on the Enhancement of
Cooperation between the United Nations and Regional
Arrangements or Agencies in the maintenance of international
peace and security. Thus, we find that with the help and support
from the Regional Organizations like SAARC, APEC, African
Union, BRICS, BIMSTEC, and many such others, the United
Nations is able to take a first-hand account of issues that hamper
global peace and security and find grass root regional solutions
to them.

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International Organizations UNPKF (UNITED NATIONS PEACE KEEPING FORCES) AND
PEACE KEEPING OPERATIONS
In 1948, the UN Security Council authorized the deployment of UN
Military /observers to West Asia and commenced the UN Peacekeeping
Operations. In other words, it means that the UN also has an army of its own
which is known as the UNPKF which helps the nations to maintain peace
during conflicts like war. The UN Charter gives the Security Council the
responsibility to maintain international peace. Hence all the peacekeeping
operations are authorized by the Security Council as per the rules of Chapter
VII authorizations of the UN Charter. The UN peacekeepers are often
referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue colour
helmets.

Let us examine the functions of the UN Peacekeepers:

1. To provide security and peace building support enough to help the
nations transform smoothly from conflict to peace.
2. To protect the civilians during war.
3. To actively prevent conflict and reduce violence in the war prone
zones.
4. To strengthen security and empower national authorities to assume
the responsibility of maintaining peace.
5. To help the host countries to become more resilient to conflict and
laydown the blueprint for long term and sustainable peace.
6. To use modern technology as well as innovations in the work of peace
building.
7. To promote human rights during war.
8. To empower women who are affected in the war torn areas.

The UN Peacekeeping is guided by the following three basic principles:

1. Consent of the parties
2. Impartiality
3. Non-use of force except in self-defence of the mandate.
Let’s see the strength of the UN Military i.e., UNPKF and other facts related
to it:
The soldiers in the UNPKF comes from over 120 nations and according to
the current statistics provided by the UN, there are more than 97,000
uniformed soldiers in the UN Military. They come from nations which are
either large or small and rich or poor.
As per the latest report of the U.S State Department Archives, currently
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42 there are 12 Peacekeeping Missions deployed in three different regions:
seven in Africa, three in the Middle East, two in Europe and one in Asia. Concept of International
Organization
The largest UN Peacekeeping Mission globally was the UN Mission in
South Sudan (UNMISS) with more than 15,000 military personnel. It was
established in July 2011 to support the recently independent South Sudan.
The UN Peacekeeping operations are collectively financed by all the
member nations of the UN. It is interesting to note that for any peacekeeping
operation, the authorization of America is required. As per the UN Charter,
no UN Peacekeeping operation can be authorized, deployed or withdrawn
without America’s support.
The deadliest UN Peacekeeping Mission till date was in the Republic of
Mali in West Africa. In this mission out of a force of about 15,200, nearly
209 peacekeepers were killed.
In the year 1988, the UNPKF was awarded the Noble Prize for Peace. The
Noble Prize was awarded in recognition of the services rendered by the
Peacekeepers in extremely difficult conditions which contributed in
reducing tensions between the conflicting nations. The International Day of
the United Nations Peacekeepers is observed every year on 29th May. On
this day, the UN pays tribute to the uniformed and civilian personnel who
had contributed in the work of the UN and to honour nearly 4,200
peacekeepers who had become martyrs while serving under the UN Flag
since 1948.
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Examine the ways through which the United Nations maintains peace
in the world.
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2) Discuss Collective Security and Regional arrangements of the United
Nations with reference to peace building.
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International Organizations ………………………………………………………………………………
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3) Write a note on the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces.
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2.3 REGULATION AND CONTROL OF NUCLEAR

TECHNOLOGY: ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL
ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)

The subject of Political Science is inter-disciplinary in nature. As a student

of Political Science, we should also try to gain knowledge about science, its
core topics like Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Technology and its impact on
mankind. The United Nations shoulders the responsibility of maintaining
world peace and security and hence it becomes important for the UN to
monitor the use of Nuclear Technology by the nations. Now, let us first
understand what exactly is Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Technology and
why the UN wants to control the use of Nuclear Technology?

Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Technology:

The energy which is in the core of an atom and which is discharged by the
reactions of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion is known as the Nuclear
Energy. The application of nuclear energy is known as Nuclear Technology.
Use of Nuclear Technology:
The Nuclear Technology is used for both peaceful and violent purposes. Its
peaceful uses are in many industries like food and agriculture, industry,
medicine, power generation, transport, water supplies and many more.
The biggest drawback of nuclear technology is the production of atomic
bombs and hydrogen bombs. The atomic bombs are a WMD (Weapons of
Mass Destruction) which is made through nuclear fission. It was used for
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the first time by the USA on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Concept of International
Organization
Nagasaki, in August 1945 which put an end to the Second World War. The
hydrogen bomb is also a WMD which is made through nuclear fusion which
has higher destructive power and greater efficiency than the atomic bombs.
The hydrogen bombs were made and tested by both the USA and Russia
(erstwhile USSR). These bombs can generate high amount of heat wherein
human body can literally vaporize and those who survive have to face the
effects of nuclear radiations.
The nuclear technology not only affects the very existence of mankind but
also harms the environment. The use of hazardous chemicals like uranium
in nuclear power plants is responsible for the pollution of the environment.
It produces a radioactive waste and also causes accidents like the Chernobyl
disaster in Russia or the Fukushima disaster in Japan and the Bhopal Gas
tragedy in India, which had affected millions of people.
The Nuclear plants are a serious threat to our national security. The Uranium
used to produce the power can be turned into nuclear weapons by the
terrorists and hence there is a need to continuously monitor the nuclear
plants and keep an eye on the use of nuclear materials like Uranium.
Another fact to keep in mind is that the raw materials required for nuclear
energy like Uranium and thorium are limited and hence it is expected that
the nations use these resources in a judicious way and only for peaceful
purposes.
UN and Nuclear Technology:
On 26th April, 2022, the United Nations marked the 36th Anniversary of the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident (26th April, 1986) which was one
of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. This shows that the United
Nations, as an International Organization has taken the complete
responsibility of promoting safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear
technology.
It is interesting to note that the Nuclear Age (1945) and the United Nations
(1945) were born almost simultaneously. The tremendous horror of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki made the United Nations to address the nuclear
issue first. In its first resolution, the UN General Assembly established the
UN Atomic Energy Commission to deal with the problems raised by the
discovery of Atomic energy and after this, the US President Dwight D.
Eisenhower in 1953 gave his landmark address titled as “Atoms for Peace”
which culminated in the establishment of the International Atomic Energy
Agency.
Now let’s study about the IAEA and its functions as an UN agency.
IAEA: International Atomic Energy Agency

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International Organizations

The IAEA is the world's centre for cooperation in the nuclear field and seeks
to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
IAEA is an autonomous international organization related to the UN in the
field of nuclear technology which reports to both the General Assembly and
the Security Council of the UN. It is also known as the World’s ‘Atoms for
Peace and Development’. It is the greatest international centre for
cooperation in the nuclear field.
History of IAEA:
“I feel impelled to speak today in a language that in a sense is new- one
which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, would
have preferred never to use. That new language is the language of atomic
warfare.”(Excerpt from the famous speech of the US President Eisenhower
titled as Atoms for Peace delivered on December 8, 1953) This speech was
an attempt by America to warn the world about the reality, possible risks
and dangers of nuclear warfare. The “Atoms For Peace” is considered as a
landmark in world’s political history because it called for transparency in
the production and use of nuclear technology rather than the age old practice
of maintaining strict secrecy in atomic development. The Atoms for Peace
Program of the USA opened the debate on use of nuclear research for peace
or destruction. This background of Atoms for Peace Program led to the
establishment of IAEA.
While addressing the UN General Assembly in 1953, the American
President Eisenhower called for the establishment of an international
organization which would be entirely dedicated to the peaceful uses of
nuclear energy. Accordingly, in 1954, the proposal for the establishment of
IAEA was drafted by the USA and presented to the General Assembly. The
UN organized an International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic
Energy in New York, in 1956. In this conference, the statute of the IAEA
was signed by 70 nations. The agency became effective from 29th July,1957.
Members in IAEA:

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There are 175 Member nations in IAEA. Its headquarters are located in Concept of International
Organization
Vienna, Austria. IAEA has regional offices in Geneva, New York, Toronto
and Tokyo. It has Research Laboratories in Austria, Italy and Monaco.
Mr. Rafael Mariano Grossi is currently, the Director General of IAEA. The
IAEA and its former Director General Mohamed El Baradei were jointly
awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in the year 2005.

Objectives of IAEA:
1. To seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to
peace, health and prosperity throughout the world
2. To ensure that such assistance is not used in such a way as to further
any military purpose.
3. To establish health and safety standards.
4. To administer safeguards programme to ensure that atomic minerals
are not diverted from peaceful to military uses
5. To provide technical assistance
6. To aid in nuclear research and development.
Structure of IAEA:
The main organs of the IAEA are General Conference, the Board of
Governors and the Secretariat. The General Conference consists of all the
175 member nations who meet once in a year to give final approval to
Agency’s programme and budget. The Board of Governors meets five times
a year for carrying out the activities of IAEA. It consists of 35 members.
Out of these, 22 members are elected by the General Conference on the
basis of the equitable representation while 13 members are designated by
the Board as leaders in nuclear technology and production of atomic source
material.
The Secretariat is headed by the Director General appointed by the Board
of Governor for a term of four years. The Director General appoints the staff
and is responsible for the organization and functioning of the IAEA.
Apart from this, there is a Scientific Advisory Committee and an
International Advisory Group on Nuclear Explosives for peaceful purposes
in the IAEA.
Role of IAEA:
The IAEA plays a major role in preventing the proliferation of nuclear
weapons. The major safeguards applied by the IAEA involve monitoring,
inspecting and analysing information about the production and use of
nuclear power. IAEA implements the safeguards mentioned in the Non-
Proliferation Treaty of 1970.The IAEA is not a party to the Treaty but is
entrusted with key roles and responsibilities under it. Under the NPT, the
IAEA has specific roles as the international safeguards inspectorate and as 47
International Organizations a multilateral channel for transferring peaceful applications of nuclear
technology.
IAEA administers international safeguards to verify that non-nuclear
weapon States party to the NPT fulfil the non-proliferation commitment
they have made, "with a view to preventing diversion of nuclear energy
from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices."
2.0 IAEA facilitates and provides a channel for endeavours aimed at "the
further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes, especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon States Party to
the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing areas of
the world."
3.0 In practical terms, the IAEA also plays the roles in connection with
verification of nuclear-weapon-free zones and in the context of verifying
ex-nuclear weapon material.
During the Gulf War of 1991, the world learned about the Iraq’s production
of Weapons of Mass Destruction. In order to strengthen IAEA and its ability
to detect the nuclear activities of the nations, IAEA adopted the Model
Additional Protocol to strengthen its safeguards system. This Additional
Protocol requires states to provide broader declarations to the Agency about
their nuclear programmes and activities and extend access rights of their
nuclear plants to the agency.
The IAEA plays a key role in the prevention of Nuclear Terrorism. It
provides a variety of advisory and support services to help the nations to
strengthen their nuclear security including the security of vulnerable and
radioactive materials. It enhances national, regional and international
cooperation in the case of any nuclear and radiological incidents.
It works to extend the benefits of nuclear technology to fulfil the goals of
sustainable Development. Its programmes in cancer therapy, prevention of
malaria, agricultural pest control, safe and clean drinking water, food safety
and such others have contributed in improving human health and wellbeing.
Check Your Progress Exercise 2
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Explain the role and functions of the IAEA.
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……………………………………………………………………………… Concept of International
Organization
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2) Comment on the regulation and control of the Nuclear Technology by
the United Nations.
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2.4 LET US SUM UP

Over the decades, the United Nations has laid down the foundations of
Peace and Development. Let us end with quote of the current Secretary
General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres “UN Peacekeeping is an
investment in global peace, security and prosperity. The Blue Helmets are
a concrete expression of the Charter’s determination to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of war.”

2.5 FURTHER READINGS

1. The Role of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in Addressing

Local conflicts, United Nations Dept. of Peacekeeping Operations
and Field Support Policy, Evaluation and Training Division, United
Nations, 2017.
2. The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations
(Oxford Handbooks), 2017.
3. Powels Anna, Partrow Negar, Nelson Nick, (ed) (2015), United
Nations Peacekeeping Challenges, Ashgate Publishing.
4. Kondoch Boris, Basu Rumaki (2019), The United Nations-Structure
and functions of an International Organisation, Sterling Publications.



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 3
International Organizations

UN AND CONTEMPORARY
SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES
Unit Structure
3.1 Objectives
3.2 Introduction-Contemporary Socio-Economic Issues
3.3 Sustainable Development Goals
3.4 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
3.5 World Health Organization (WHO)
3.6 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
3.7 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
3.8 UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG)
3.9 Further readings

3.1 OBJECTIVES

This unit aims at acquainting students with the various global socio-
economic issues, and measures of their solution. After studying this unit
students will be able to:

• Analyse the concepts of socio-economic development.

• Understand the causes of contemporary socio-economic issues and

UN concerns about them to resolve.

• Expound the role and programs of UN and its associations to resolve

these global issues.

• Examine the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals targeting

various socio- economic issues.

3.2 INTRODUCTION-CONTEMPORARY SOCIO-

ECONOMIC ISSUES

In the socio-economic context, development means the improvement of

lifestyles of public through improved education, income and employment
availability. It is the process of economic and social transformation
grounded upon cultural and environmental aspects. Socio-economic
development, therefore, is the process of vital development in a society
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without which no developed system can be imagined. It can be measured Un and Contemporary
Socio-Economic Issues
with specific indicators, such as percent of literacy, gross domestic product
(GDP), life expectancy and employment.
Socio- economic development is prerequisite of an overall progress of a
state and the world at large achieved in a balanced manner. There have been
various concerns of unbalanced patterns of socio-economic developmental
behaviours since the humans got anxious about their power, prosperity and
unlimited development when they overlooked sustainability and sense of
equilibrium. These unbalanced patterns could have beheld in the gender
bias, unemployment, population explosion, poverty, high mortality rate.
Socio-economic issues resulted from certain phases and traits in the society
and economy having an adverse impact on both community and economy.
These issues not only obstruct the cumulative growth of individuals but also
of the state at large. Such issues like poverty, health, food security,
environmental degradation, lack of education, cultural and religious
discrimination, overpopulation, unemployment and corruption has negative
impact on the lives of humans throughout the world.
Social development is a process that results in the remodelling of social
institutions improving the capacity of the whole community to fulfil its
basic desires and advanced growth. It implies a qualitative change in the
community shaping itself and carrying out its activities, through more
progressive attitudes and behaviour by the population, the adopting more
effective processes or more advanced technology.
Economic development is the progress in the level of economic well-being
of the inhabitants and overall wealth of countries or regions. The term
“economic growth” refers to the increase (or growth) of a specific measure
such as real national income, gross domestic product, or per capita income.
The term economic development on the other hand, implies much more. It
is the process by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social
wellbeing of its people.
For a comprehensive development of a state, socio-economic wellbeing
predominantly requires collective efforts of communities without any
divide or differences. It is evident through the Covid-19 pandemic phases
that these issues are no more left to be the concern of developing states only,
but has negative imprint on developed international societies also. In state
politics, during elections in particular, these issues are discussed by political
leaders, political parties, electorates and media. But when it comes to
international scenario, it becomes a concern more of developing countries.
Whenever there are discussions over development and particularly on
socio-economic development, the issue of empowerment of disadvantaged
groups is referred to. These all issues are interconnected, hence, if
developing countries with less growth and more challenges will surely
increase hard tests for developed countries. Economic institutions of society
need to work with the government to address these problems.
UN with its initial goals of safeguarding peace, protecting human rights,
establishing the framework for international justice promoted economic and 51
International Organizations social progress. In the seven decades since its creation the United Nations
has been the witness of various socio-economic issues throughout the globe
and brought several methods to resolve them along with its associations like
UNDP, UNEP, FAO, WHO, UNSDGs, UNDS etc.

3.3 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

In 2015 all United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development providing as a comprehensive response to the
unprecedented public health, humanitarian and development emergency for
peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At
its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an
urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a
global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other
deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and
education, reduce inequality, and offshoot economic growth – all while
tackling climate change and working to preserve our ecosystem.
Looking into the chronological implementation of sustainable development
in June 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, more than 178
countries adopted Agenda 21, a comprehensive plan of action to build a
global partnership for sustainable development to improve human lives and
protect the environment.
At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012, member states adopted the outcome
document "The Future We Want" in which they decided, inter alia, to
launch a process to develop a set of SDGs to build upon the MDGs and to
establish the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development.
The Rio+20 outcome also contained other measures for implementing
sustainable development, including mandates for future programmes of
work in development financing, small island developing states and more.
In 2013, the General Assembly set up a 30-member Open Working Group
to develop a proposal on the SDGs. In January 2015, the General Assembly
began the negotiation process on the post-2015 development agenda. The
process culminated in the subsequent adoption of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, with 17 SDGs at its core, at the UN Sustainable
Development Summit in September 2015.
Member States unanimously adopted the Millennium Declaration at the
Millennium Summit in September 2000 at UN Headquarters in New York.
The Summit led to the elaboration of eight Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) to reduce extreme poverty by 2015. The SDGs build on decades of
work by countries and the UN, including the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs
2030 Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity as adopted
by UN to ascertain a better tomorrow. It seeks to reinforce universal peace
in larger freedom in the times of conflicts and fear. SDGs recognise that
eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme
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poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement Un and Contemporary
Socio-Economic Issues
for sustainable development during the new age of international conflicts
and pandemic after 2019.
SDGs are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and
to heal and secure the planet with hand in hand support of all the
stakeholders of universe. SDGs are determined to take the bold and
transformative steps along with the stake holders which are urgently needed
to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path that no one is left
behind.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets which we are
announcing today demonstrate the scale and ambition of this new universal
Agenda. They seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals and
complete what these did not achieve. They seek to realize the human rights
of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women
and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three
dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and
environmental.
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Mention the Sustainable Development Goals addressing the issue of
Poverty.
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2) Examine the role played by SDGs in achieving the Agenda 2030.
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3.4 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION (FAO)

FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. The Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a dedicated organization of the United
Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
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International Organizations It aims at succeeding in food security for all and make sure that people have
regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives.
With 195 members - 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in
over 130 countries worldwide to protect the basic right of humanity to attain
food. It helps national governments and development agencies coordinate
their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and
land and water resources. It also conducts research, provides technical
assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and
collects data on agricultural output, production, and development. FAO
assists the international community in eliminating hunger, food insecurity
and malnutrition – contributes to the eradication of hunger by facilitating
policies and political commitments to support food security and by making
sure that up-to-date information about hunger and nutrition challenges and
solutions is available and accessible.
It makes agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable
by promoting evidence-based policies and practices to support highly
productive agricultural sectors (crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries).
While strengthening agricultural production it ensures that the basic natural
resource does not suffer which guarantees sustainable development.
FAO focuses upon reduction of rural poverty as prerequisite of growth and
benefits the rural poor gain access to the resources and services they need
including rural employment and social protection to forge a path out of
poverty.
This UN agency enables inclusive and efficient agricultural food systems.
It helps to build safe and efficient food systems that support small
agriculture holders and reduce poverty and hunger in rural areas.
It increases the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises – helping
countries to prepare for natural and human-caused disasters by reducing
their risk and enhancing the resilience of their food and agricultural systems.
Its accountability reaches on top to provide food for everyone when the
world communities struggle for food security.
According to the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, food
security is defined as all the people, at all times, have physical, social, and
economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food
preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. Food security
can be identified through the levels of availability, access utilisation and
stability. Availability or existence of food within a community depends
upon the efficacy of food production on the availability of resources.
Unapproachable food pricing, household proximity to suppliers and
infrastructure are the common grounds of less access to food for
communities in various countries. There are innumerable threats to food
stability including natural disasters, climate change, conflict and economic
factors such as volatile price fluctuations that needs to be minimised to the
stability of food security.
Food security is a multi-faceted concept pointing out the accessibility and
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54 stability of food along with its causes i.e. conflicts, climate change,
population explosion, pandemics etc. Conflict forces people to flee from Un and Contemporary
Socio-Economic Issues
their homes, often leaving behind their only means to a livelihood. Conflict
also divides communities and can cause farmers to abandon any long-term
agricultural strategies for fear that they will never reap the benefits if they
are forced to flee. These uncertainties can also be observed in border area
farm lands also. After years of stagnation, the number of hungry people in
the world rose between 2015 and 2018 by nearly 40 million people, with
the greatest rise coming in drought-affected countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa. An increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters has
devastated some regions, destroying crop yields and limiting the quantity
and quality of food available to communities.
Population explosion is also the main cause of severe food insecurity that
brings out a large gap in food accessibility and malnutrition. According to
the UN, the global population will be nearly 10 billion people by 2050. As
the population continues to grow, it is necessary that food production and
food accessibility grow to match it. Unfortunately, we have already seen in
countries that have experienced population booms that resources needed for
food production (water supply, croplands) can become scarce when divided,
causing food insecurity.
Over the past decades, a changing climate, growing global population,
rising food prices, and environmental stressors have made significant yet
uncertain impacts on food security and women, small scale farmers, urban
labours have to survive under reduced health care, education or food
consumption. In past few years it was found that food availability to
everyone became a challenge because of various climatic and human
lifestyle reasons. To meet the requirements of equal reach to food specific
adaptation strategies and policy responses to global change, including
options for handling water allocation, land use patterns, food trade,
postharvest food processing, and food prices and safety are urgently needed.
According to the FAO, the number of food-insecure people categorised as
crisis level or worse has potentially nearly doubled in 2020. The economic
fallout of Covid-19 affects food production at all levels. We have seen
disruptions to the financial liquidity of food producers, inflation of basic
food items and consumers with reduced incomes unable to meet the rise in
prices. It is essential at this time that we work to protect those most at risk
while laying the groundwork for a more stable and sustainable future. The
devastating COVID-19 virus wreaked havoc across the world, on health and
the economy alike, severely affecting every aspect of human life.
Check Your Progress Exercise 2
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Discuss the functions of FAO.
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International Organizations …………………....................................................................................……
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2) How can FAO succeed in providing food for all after the pandemic
driven crisis?
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3.5 WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO)

Health is very substantial socio-economic issue for the entire world that
restricts the free flow of development of the nations and the whole world is
fighting with as evident through the Covid-19. It didn’t even spare the
developed countries though they have best resources and technique to cope
up with. Health is the paramount reason of socio-economic decline in a state
and world at large that withdraws the resources from the developmental
measures. A country with equally healthy population can only grow hard in
the competing international scenario.
It can be observed in the developed nations’ growth with extensive health
guarantee but in developing global south it is evident through various
examples of countries struggling with venerable diseases and deaths are
lagging behind the growth map. Health security is the prerequisite of a
sustainable world. As global temperatures slowly rise, global health
becomes vulnerable. The mosquito, along with other disease-carrying and
crop-destroying pests, is thriving in a warming world. The result is a rise in
diseases both familiar and unknown like malaria, West Nile virus, Zika
virus, chikungunya, dengue fever. Every time it brings a new challenge to
science and technology to find out the solution of these new diseases, by
then it spreads its web in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin
America.
Women around the world also face many of the challenges regarding health
like proper health care during pregnancy, safe childbirth, anaemia, less
nutrition and moreover HIV Aids in Africa as a pandemic. They are still
fighting for the right to an education which is essential for health education,
gaining equality at work and home to avail proper healthcare, and getting
access to family planning, safe childbirth, and other types of health care.
Because of the roles women play in their families and communities, their
health and well-being affect more than just themselves which is mostly
ignored by the rest half gender of the globe. Their poor health could sway
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the fortunes of our global economy. Increasing maternal and child mortality Un and Contemporary
Socio-Economic Issues
rates reveal the reality of health on stake.
Since beginning, the United Nations has been vigorously involved in
eradicating various health challenges and promoting and protecting health
worldwide. Leading that effort within the UN system is the World Health
Organization (WHO) which since 1948 has been dynamically working
against the conventional poor health trends like malaria, women’s and
children’s poor health, tuberculosis, nutrition and environmental pollution.
After so many years, many of those remain on WHO’s agenda today, in
addition to such relatively new diseases as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, cancer and
emerging diseases such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome),
Ebola and Zika virus and the contemporary popular pandemic Covid-19.
WHO is spearheading the international response to the Coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) pandemic with all its efforts.
In 1948, WHO took the responsibility for the International Classification of
Diseases, which has become the international standard for defining and
reporting diseases and health conditions. Since its creation WHO has
contributed to many historic achievements in global public health. Some of
them are: The COVID-19 pandemic is far more than a health crisis: it is
affecting societies and economies at their core.
The United Nations, since its inception, has been actively involved in
promoting and protecting good health worldwide. Leading that effort within
the UN system is the World Health Organization (WHO) that came into
force on 7 April 1948. WHO contributes in socio- economic well-being of
people in every corner of the world by promoting global efforts to expand
universal health coverage. It directs and coordinates the world’s response to
health emergencies and promotes healthier lives. WHO outlines ambitious
plans for the world to achieve good health for all, using science-based
policies and programmes. It focuses on primary health care to improve
access to quality essential services and works towards sustainable financing
and financial protection. WHO’s role is to improve access to essential
medicines and health products. It trains the health workforce and advise on
labour policies and supports people's participation in national health
policies. It assures improvement in monitoring, data and information.
At the time of health emergencies its role accelerates in preparing for
emergencies by identifying, mitigating and managing risks. Through the
active take up of task it prevents emergencies and supports development of
tools necessary during outbreaks. The detection and timely response to
acute health emergencies is the spinal role of WHO that also supports
delivery of essential health services in fragile settings.
Access to antibiotics, clean water and improved sanitation as powerful
weapons in preventing infectious disease is another role that WHO performs
for the community to ensure sustainability of growth in real. WHO has to
protect the effectiveness of antibiotics, through a global programme to fight
antimicrobial resistance, and to ensure that the entire world benefits from
safe water and sanitation to prevent infections occurring in the first place.
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International Organizations By promoting healthy eating, physical exercise and regular health checks it
focused upon prevention of diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure and
other non-communicable diseases. It also works for increasing mental
health and psychosocial support for people affected by natural disasters and
conflict.
WHO works in conjunction with other roles a host of health and
development partners to achieve the health-related targets laid out in the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs underscore the key role
health plays in assuring the world’s future, with SDG3 calling on all
stakeholders to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all
ages.
In 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency
by the WHO in January and characterized as a global pandemic in March.
The United Nations launched a comprehensive response to the
unprecedented public health, humanitarian and development emergency.
World Health Organisation addresses human capital across the life-course
for non-communicable diseases prevention and mental health promotion. It
focuses upon climate change in small island developing states to improve
the health of populations. It is accountable for antimicrobial resistance and
elimination and eradication of high-impact communicable diseases which
is the priority of health. It is committed to prioritise health in the policy
making.
WHO is to further increase its impact on global health, it must step up its
work with the highest levels of government to ensure that health is placed
firmly on political agendas. It must strengthen leadership in the areas where
it adds most value, and streamline the way it does business to work smarter,
for quicker results.
Check Your Progress Exercise 3

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.

1) Discuss the role of WHO in assuring healthy life on the planet in
pandemic era.
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3.6 UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME

(UNEP)

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Climate change has measuredly caused socio-economic damage to the Un and Contemporary
Socio-Economic Issues
ecosphere. Climate change usually projects drought, famine, floods
triggering poverty and unemployment. Climate change also pushes
population to migrate towards urban areas or cross-border. In a 2018 UN
report, thousands of scientists and government reviewers agreed that
limiting global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C would help us avoid
the worst climate impacts and maintain a liveable climate. Yet based on
current national climate plans, global warming is projected to reach 2.7°C
by the end of the century.
The emissions that cause climate change come from every part of the world
and affect everyone, but some countries produce much more than others.
The 100 least-emitting countries generate 3 per cent of total emissions. The
10 countries with the largest emissions contribute 68 per cent. Everyone
must take climate action, but people and countries creating more of the
problem have a greater responsibility to act first. United Nations has
introduced several global frameworks and agreements i.e. Sustainable
Development Goals, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
and the Paris Agreement aiming at the broad categories of action like cutting
emissions, adapting to climate impacts and financing required adjustments.
UN special agency UNEP takes account of resolving this issue
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been the global
expert agency that arranges the environmental agenda, promotes the rational
implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable
development within the United Nations system and serves as an
authoritative advocate for the global environment.
UNEP’s aims at providing leadership and encouraging partnership in taking
care of the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and
peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future
generations.
UNEP works on delivering transformational change for people and nature
by drilling down on the root causes of the three planetary crises of climate
change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. UNEP
employs seven interlinked sub-programmes for action: Climate Action,
Chemicals and Pollutions Action, Nature Action, Science Policy,
Environmental Governance, Finance and Economic Transformations and
Digital Transformations. Through the campaigns of this agency, chiefly
World Environment Day (5th June), it advances awareness and advocates
for effective environmental action. It has its regional, liaison and out-posted
offices and a growing network of collaborating centres of excellence which
help it executing its functions smooth in every corner of the world.
UNEP works closely with its 193 Member States and representatives from
civil society, businesses, and other major groups and stakeholders to address
environmental challenges through the UN Environment Assembly, the
world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. The
organization hosts the secretariats of many critical multilateral
environmental agreements and research bodies.
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International Organizations UNEP supports Member States to ensure that environmental sustainability
is reflected in development and investment planning and provides countries
with the necessary tools and technologies to protect and restore the
environment.
Check Your Progress Exercise 4
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Explain the causes and impacts of climate change as socio-economic
issue for the world. How does UNEP act to protect the climate
change?
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3.7 UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate

poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries
can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a
critical role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development
Goals.
The United Nations Organisation (UN) extends the connotation regarding
poverty that entails more than the lack of income and productive resources
to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and
malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social
discrimination and exclusion, marking the lack of participation in decision-
making. Here comes the role of UNDP to control poverty and to identify
the possibilities of development. It provides assistance to countries
eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human
development.
The UNDP emphasizes developing local capacity towards long-term self-
sufficiency and prosperity. It administers projects to attract investment,
technical training, and technological development, and provides experts to
help build legal and political institutions and expand the private sector.
UNDP helps countries develop strategies to combat poverty by expanding
access to economic opportunities and resources, linking poverty
programmes with countries' larger goals and policies, and ensuring a greater
voice for the poor. It also works at the macro level to reform trade,
encourage debt relief and foreign investment, and ensure the poorest of the
poor benefit from globalisation.

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On the ground, UNDP sponsors developmental pilot projects, promotes the Un and Contemporary
Socio-Economic Issues
role of women in development, and coordinates efforts between
governments, NGOs, and outside donors. In this way, UNDP works with
local leaders and governments to provide opportunities for impoverished
people to create businesses and improve their economic condition.
UNDP works to reduce the risk of armed conflicts or disasters, and promote
early recovery after crisis. UNDP took responsibility for funding most
essential health services in Afghanistan after taking over by Taliban when
foreign aid was suspended. As the poor are disproportionately affected by
environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable water,
sanitation, and energy services, UNDP seeks to address environmental
issues in order to improve developing countries' abilities to develop
sustainably, increase human development and reduce poverty.
UNDP works with countries to strengthen their capacity to address global
environmental issues by providing innovative policy advice and linking
partners through environmentally sensitive development projects that help
poor people build sustainable livelihoods. UNDP's environmental strategy
focuses on effective water governance including access to water supply and
sanitation, access to sustainable energy services, Sustainable land
management to combat desertification and land degradation, conservation
and sustainable use of biodiversity, and policies to control emissions of
harmful pollutants and ozone-depleting substances.
Check Your Progress Exercise 5
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Discuss the actions of UNDP against global issues? How does UNDP
contribute in assuring sustainable development?
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3.8 UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GROUP

(UNSDG)

After the 8 Millennium Development Goals that UN Member States had

agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015 and later superseded by 17
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to combat poverty, hunger,
disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against
women in all forms around the world. Annually the SDC concerned global
indexes i.e. Global multidimensional poverty index, Global Health Security
Index, Global Gender Gap Index etc. provide a comprehensive and in-depth
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International Organizations picture of global issues in all dimensions and monitor progress towards
Sustainable Development Goals– to end the gaps of development in all its
forms. It also provides policymakers with the data to respond to the call of
Targets, to ‘reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women, and
children of all ages living in poverty, food insecurity, health challenges,
unemployment, fear of war etc.
UN Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG) serves as a high-level
forum for joint policy formation and decision-making with regard to
achievement of the goals. It guides, supports, tracks and oversees the
implementation of development activities in numerous countries and
territories. socio-economic response framework consists of five streams of
work – an integrated support package offered by the United Nations
Development System (UNDS) to protect the needs and rights of people
living under the constraints of the pandemic COVID-19, with particular
focus on the most vulnerable countries, groups, and people who risk being
left behind. The five streams of work that constitute this package include:
1. ensuring that essential health services are still available and protecting
health systems; 2. helping people cope with adversity, through social
protection and basic services; 3. protecting jobs, supporting small and
medium-sized enterprises, and informal sector workers through economic
response and recovery programmes; 4. guiding the necessary surge in fiscal
and financial stimulus to make macroeconomic policies work for the most
vulnerable and strengthening multilateral and regional responses; and 5.
promoting social cohesion and investing in community-led resilience and
response systems. These five streams are connected by a strong
environmental sustainability and gender equality imperative to build back
better.
The SDGs underscore the key role health plays in assuring the world’s
future, calling on all stakeholders to ensure healthy, peaceful and dignified
lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. When in 2020, the COVID-
19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency, in 2021 Afghanistan
was captured by Taliban, 2022 Russia- Ukraine conflict, it was imperative
to take over the charge to resolve these issues that UN and its agencies do.
The United Nations launched a comprehensive response to the
unprecedented public health, humanitarian and development emergency
during Covid-19 and initiatives taken by UN.
UNSDGs addressed the need of development and humanitarian support,
COVID response, and prevent large scale displacement and vulnerabilities,
alarming at the trajectory of conflict, uncertainty, drought. COVID-19
pandemic could endanger fragile development gains, including the rights of
women and girls in different countries of the world. UN is working on the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); which UN agencies, funds and
programmes are working on which SDGs, where, source of funding,
implementing partners and more to bring out the change in future on
development for the 2030 Agenda, addressing key challenges that transcend
country borders such as health and environment.
Check Your Progress Exercise 6
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Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer. Un and Contemporary
Socio-Economic Issues
1) What are the role and responsibilities of UNSDG to address the
contemporary challenges of the world?
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3.9. FURTHER READINGS

1. Gans Joshua: Economics in the Age of Covid-19, Penguin

2. Ivers, Louise (2015) Food Insecurity and Public Health, CRC Press
3. Masys Anthony, J., Ortiz, Ricardo Izurieta Miguel Reina (2020)
Global Health Security; Springer
4. Parthasarathy R, Neeru Bansal (2020), Are SDGs a Myth? Industrial
Development and Water Pollution in India, Routledge Publisher.
5. Sachs Jeffrey D. (2015) The Age of Sustainable Development,
Columbia University Press
6. Sachs Jeffrey D. (2005) The End of Poverty, Penguin Books
7. The State of Food and Agriculture 2016 (SOFA) Climate change,
agriculture and food security published by FAO

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 4
International Organizations

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC /
FINANCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Unit Structure
4.1 Objectives
4.2 Introduction
4.3 Organization for Economic Co-Operation & Development (OECD)
4.4 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
4.5 Summary / Conclusion
4.6 Further readings

4.1 OBJECTIVES

The aim of this unit is to get you acquainted with the two prominent
International Economic Organizations: the Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) and the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC).
After completing this unit you should be able to:

• Explain the meaning of an international economic / financial

organization.

• Understand the organization, role, functions and importance of the

OECD and the OPEC.

4.2 INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS AN INTERNATIONAL

ECONOMIC / FINANCIAL ORGANIZATION?

Modern day studies of International Politics are not restricted to the

relations between nation-states only. The study of international
organizations in also included within the sphere of International Politics.
SJR Belgrami defines International Organizations as "...the process by
which states establish and develop formal, continuing institutional
structures for the conduct of certain aspects of their relationship with each
other." Therefore, it can safely be concluded that international economic /
financial organizations deal with the economic aspect of inter state
relationship. For this purpose, they establish institutions and structures and
lay down rules, which are voluntarily accepted by the member states.

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We shall now examine in detail the following two international economic / International Economic /
Financial Organizations
financial organizations:-

• The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

(OECD)

• The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

4.3 THE ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-

OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is

an international economic organization comprising of 38 countries. It is a
unique inter-governmental panel wherein both the member states and
around 70 non-member states work with the aim of promoting economic
growth, prosperity, and sustainable development.
Most OECD member states are high-income economics which also rank at
elevated levels in Human Development Index (HDI). They are counted as
developed countries, with democratic systems which are supportive of free-
market economics.

Evolution of the OECD

OECD started off in 1948 in the name of the Organization for European
Economic Co-operation (OEEC). The major purpose for the formation of
OEEC was to govern the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was set up for
the reconstruction of the European economies after World War II. It was
heavily funded by the USA.
The OEEC provided a great boost to the European Economic Community
(EEC) which eventually evolved into the European Union (EU). A
European Tree Trade Area was also established under the EU. With the
joining of USA and Canada in 1961, OEEC was renamed to the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Objectives of OECD
The OECD aims at advancing economic development and cooperation to
combat poverty and encouraging economic stability. As a result, OECD was
able to elevate the standards of living in numerous countries. OECD has
contributed significantly in expanding the world trade. OECD also ensures
that the impact of growth is positive on environment and social
development.
Functions of OECD
The OECD is known to play a crucial role in fostering economic stability,
globally. It has published a model tax convention that works as an
arrangement for the allocation taxation rights among countries. Its notable
functions can be listed as:-
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International Organizations • The OECD publishes economic reports, statistical databases, analyzes
and makes predictions on the outlook for economic growth
worldwide.

• It makes an analysis of the effect of social issues on economic growth.

OECD has the responsibility to make recommendations for
accelerating global economic growth. These recommendations seek
to balance the environmental issues along with economic
advancements.

• OECD seeks to abolish, bribery and other kinds of financial crimes

from world.

• The OECD also maintains "blacklist" of countries which are viewed

as uncooperative tax havens.

• It also strives to remove tax avoidance by profitable corporations and

by the G-20 countries. It pushes for tax reforms in G 20 countries.

Composition of OECD

• OECD is comprised of 38 member states, along with Substantive

Committees and a Secretariat.

• The OECD Secretariat has been placed under the control of a

Secretary General. It is organized into Directorates. The OECD
Secretariat is housed at Chateau de la Muette in Paris, France. Its main
function is to provide support to the standing and substantive
committees of the OECD.

• The member countries of the OECD are: Australia, Austria, Belgium,

Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Demark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. All the member
countries are represented by a delegation, led by their respective
ambassadors.

• Along with the EU member states, the European Commission also

participates in the proceedings of the OECD.

• Colombia has been invited to join as a member by the OECD. The

Candidatures of six other countries, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Peru and Romania is under consideration for the grant of
membership.

• Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa are the key partners
of the OECD. These countries participate in the regular OECD
surveys, daily chores and even in policy discussions within OECD
bodies.
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Institutions of OECD International Economic /
Financial Organizations
Secretariat

• The OECD Secretariat provides information, analysis and other

reports for the benefit of the member countries.

• It is responsible for the collection of data, monitoring of trends and

making analysis and predictions of economic development.

• As directed and guided by the governments of the member states. The

OECD Secretariat carries out researches in the following areas: social
changes, evolving patterns in trade, environment, education,
agriculture, technology, taxation and the like.
Committees
The OECD has specialized committees on specific policy areas as
economics, trade, science, employment, education, financial market and
soon. There are a total 200 committees, working groups and expert groups,
working under the aegis of OECD. They comprise of the representatives of
member and observer countries. These committees discuss policy measures
and review their progress in their respective areas.
Specialized Bodies
Following are the specialized bodies that function under the umbrella of
OECD:
1. Africa Partnership Forum (APF)
2. Business and Industry Advisory Committees (BIAC)
3. Development Assistance Committees (DAC).
4. OECD Development Centre.
5. International Transport Forum (ITF) (Formally known as the
European Conference of Ministers of Transport)
6. International Energy Agency (IEA)
7. Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
8. Multilateral Organization Performance Assessment Network
(MOPAN)
9. Partnership for Democratic Governance (PDG)
10. Sahel and West Africa Club

11. Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC)

Significance of OECD

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International Organizations The OECD endeavours to better the global economy and give a boost to the
world trade. It serves as a common stage for its member nations to compare
policy measures, find solutions to identical problems, exchange of know
how and establish co-ordination between the domestic and international
policies. Being a permanent observer, the UN considers it a think tank and
a monitoring group.
The OECD member states collectively comprised 62.2% of global nominal
GDP (US$ 49.6 billion) and 42.8% of global GDP (Int. $54.2 billion) at
purchasing power parity in 2017.
The OECD has devised a hypothetical unit of currency: the Geary –Khamis
dollar. It has the same purchasing power party (PPP) as the US dollar at a
given point in time. Based on the two-fold concept of PPP of currencies and
the international average prices of commodities, it is widely used in
economic and financial statistics.
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer

1. What do you understand by an International Economic Organization?

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2. Discuss the composition of OECD. Also explain its major functions.
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3. What is the significance of OECD in contemporary international system?
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4.4 ORGANIZATION OF THE PETROLEUM International Economic /
Financial Organizations
EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC)

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is a group of 13 of

the world's prominent oil exporting countries. This organization controls
petroleum production, supplies and prices in the international market.
OPEC was founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies amongst
its members and to provide them with necessary technical and economic
aid. Being a cartel, OPEC aims to manage the supply of oil at set rates, to
avoid fluctuations which may prove harmful to the economies of both the
producing and purchasing nations.
Evolution of OPEC
In 1960, representatives of governments of Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
and Venezuela undertook a meeting in Baghdad. They discussed possible
ways to increase the price of crude oil and possible course of action to
counter the unilateral measures taken by multinational, oil companies. The
outcome of this meeting was the formation of OPEC, a move thoroughly
opposed by the USA.
Initially the Arab nations wanted the headquarters of OPEC to be
established at Beirut or Baghdad. But under strong opposition from
Venezuela, the city of Geneva, Switzerland was selected. But Switzerland
was reluctant to extend diplomatic assurances; therefore, its headquarters
was shifted to Vienna, Austria on Sept 1, 1965. The organization grew
rapidly and by the early 1970s, it comprised of more than half of world oil
producing countries.
Objectives of OPEC
The major objective of the OPEC is to regulate the supply and the price of
crude oil in the global market.

• OPEC works for coordinating and unifying the petroleum policies of

its member countries, to determine just and stable prices for the
producers.

• It endeavours to sustain efficient, economic and un-interrupted supply

of crude oil to the consuming countries and an appropriate return of
investment.
Functions of OPEC
The major functions of OPEC can be enlisted as:

• The OPEC countries constantly keep adjusting their oil producing

activities to ensure stability in the petroleum market. They help the
producers in getting adequate return for their investments. They
constantly strive to assure the stable supply of oil to the consumer
nations.
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International Organizations • The ministry of energy and hydrocarbon affairs conducts bi-annual
meetings to review the statues of the global oil market. On the basis
of such analysis, they formulate policy measures to ensure security in
oil markets.

• The member countries also meet at various points of time to discuss

concerns raised by experts and specialized bodies.
Composition of OPEC
The five founding members of OPEC were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
and Venezuela. They were later joined by Qatar, Indonesia, Socialist
Peoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, United Arab Emirates and Gabon.
However, later on Ecuador and Qatar left the organization while Indonesia
suspended its membership. Therefore, the current members of OPEC are:-
1. Algeria
2. Angola
3. UAE

4. Venezuela
5. Saudi Arabia
6. Republic of Congo
7. Libya
8. Nigeria
9. Kuwait

10. Iran
11. Iraq
12. Gabon
13. Equatorial Guinea
OPEC's founding members are considered its full members. Any willing
country whose application of joining is accepted by the organization is also
granted full membership. To be a member, a country must have significant
share in crude oil export. Membership is granted to a nation, only if at least
three quarters of its members vote in favour. Associate membership can also
be granted under special circumstances.
Institution of OPEC
OPEC is essentially considered as an inter-governmental organization,
whose headquarters are in Vienna, Austria. OPEC's Secretariat is situated
here, which is its executive organ.

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The Secretariat functions under a Secretary General. H.E. Mohammad International Economic /
Financial Organizations
Sanusi Barkindo, is the current holder of this post.
Significance of OPEC
OPEC has entrusted itself with the task of coordinating and consolidating
the policies of petroleum production and output, amongst its members
states. It also seeks to maintain stability in oil market.
However, it must be noted that Russia, China and the USA, which are
among the world's largest oil producers are not the members of OPEC.
Besides, OPEC faces significant challenges from novel innovations in green
technology. Also, the nations' quest into alternative sources of energy may
exert pressure on the organization.
However, OPEC has served many advantages since its inceptions. It fosters
cooperation among member nations, which plays a role in differing political
politics among them. As the organization aims to stabilize oil production
and oil prices, it has exerted considerable influence on other oil producing
countries also.

1. Check Your Progress Exercise 2

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
1) Explain the objectives of OPEC.
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2) Enumerate the functions of OPEC.
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3) Elucidate the composition of OPEC.
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International Organizations ........................................................................................................................
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4) Throw light on the significant of OPEC.
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4.5 LET US SUM UP

In this module we discussed the meaning of an International Economic /

Financial Organization. We also examined in detail about two international
economic organizations – the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC). The OECD is a group of 38 high income European
countries. They have democratic systems and they are great advocates of
free-market economics. Its major aim is to promote economic growth and
prosperity while maintaining sustainable development. On the other had
OPEC is an association of oil producing countries. Its 13 members come
majorly from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The OPEC aims to protect
the interest of both oil producing and consuming countries, while ensuring
a steady supply of oil in the global market.

4.6. FURTHER READINGS

1. Bilgrami, SJR, (1977) International Organizations, Vikas

Publicaions.
2. Chandra, Prakash and Arora, Prem (2015), Comparative Politics and
International Relations, Cosmos Bookhive (P) Ltd.
3. Fadia, Dr. Kuldeep (2021), International Organizations, Sahitya
Bhawan Publications.
4. Ghosh, Peu, (2020), International Relations, PHI Learning Private
Ltd.
5. Ghai, U R (2017), International Politics: Theory and Practice, New
Academic publishing Company.

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