UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION (UNO)

      A Head quarter of UNO is New York. It is the world’s largest international organization. The United Nations has two main goals: peace and humnan dignity.

      UN charter was signed on June 26; 1945with 50 countries at San Francisco (USA).They were the first UN members.

      The name UNO was suggested F.D. Roosevelt

      UNO formally came into existence on October 24, 2945.

    Yalta conference held in the former Soviet Union between 4-11 February 1945 discussed about the nature and structure of the UNO.

      The United Nations Flag was adopted on 20 October 19547. It is a light blue flag with the UN emblem in white in the centre of the flag.

      The Secretary General of the UN is elected by the General Assembly.

      Judges of International Court of Justice serve nine years terms and are eligible for re election.

      The UN Flag, adopted in 1947, consists of the official emblem of the organization (a circular world map, as seen from the North Pole, surrounded by a wreath of Olive branches) in white centered on a light blue background.

      The Dumbarton oaks proposals and the Yalta conference associated with the formation UNO.

      General Assembly is the only body in which all UN members are represented.

      Economic and Social Council is the largest of any UN subsidiary body.

      The Charter of the United Nations is the constitution of the UN .It includes the plan used for organizing the UN and the rules by which the UN is governed. UN members agree to carry out the requirements of the charter. The charter has 19 chapters divided into 111 articles that explain the purposes (goals), principles (basic beliefs) and operating methods of the UN.

      The Security Council is the executive body of the United Nations. It is responsible for the maintenance of internal peace and security. The Security Council originally consisted of 11 members five permanent and six nonpermanent elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. An amendment to the UN Charter 1965 increased the council’s membership to15, including the original five permanent members plus 10nonpermanent members. The five Permanent members are china, France, Russia, Britain and USA. The permanent members enjoy Veto Power. Five of the 10 nonpermanent members are elected each year by the General Assembly for two-year terms, and five retire each year. The presidency is held by each member in rotation for a period of one month.

      The principal organs of UNO are: (a) The General Assembly (b)The Security Council (c)The Economic and Social Council (d)International Court of Justice (e)Trusteeship Council (f)The Secretariat.

  Total membership of UNO at present is 192. The last countries admitted to the UNO are 190-Swiyzerland, 191-East Timor, 192- Montenegro.

      Taiwan and Vatican City are not the members of UNO

     Headquarters of International Court of Justice (ICJ) is The Hague (Netherlands). The International Court of Justice deals with the legal problems of the United Nations. The court has 15 judges, each appointed to a nine-year term.

      October 24 is celebrated as the UN Day.

      The secretary- general is elected by the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Security Council, for a renewable five-year term. He must have the approval of all five permanent members of the Security Council to be selected to the post: because of this, secretaries-general have usually come from small neutral countries. The secretary-general is the chief administrative officer at all meetings of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council, and he may carry out any functions that these organs entrust to him and his staff. He submits an annual report to the General Assembly on the work of the UN, and he may also bring to the Security Council’s attention any matter that he deems a threat to international peace and security. Trygve Lie (Norway) was the first Secretary General of UNO.

    Nauru is the smallest UN member in terms of Population and Monaco is the smallest UN mem ber in terms of Area.

      Ban ki moon is the present Secretary General of UNO and he belongs to South Korea.

      The UN Library is known as Hammarskjöld Library. It is located in Newyork

      UN University is located in Tokyo.

      The UN has a Post office originating its own stamps.

     General Assembly is the only body in which all UN members are represented, the General Assembly exercises deliberative, supervisory, financial, and elective functions relating to any matter within the scope of the UN Charter.

      UNICEF is the only agency dedicated exclusively to Children.

    In 1980, the General Assembly established a University of Peace in Costa- Rica, San Jose. It is a specialized institute for studies and research to train people for peace.

      Official languages of the UON are:

                    (1)Chinese (2) English (3) French (4) Russian (5) Spanish (6) Arabic.

    The Secretary General, the principal administrative officer of the United Nations, is elected for a five year renewable term by a two-third vote of the General Assembly and by the recommendation of the Security Council and the approval of its permanent members. Secretaries-general usually have come from small, neutral countries.

SECRETARIES-GENEAL OF THE UNO

1.      Trygve Lie                                     Norway                          1946-42

2.      Dag  Hammarskjöld                      Sweden                           1953-61  

3.      U. Thant                                       Myanmar                         1962-71

4.      Dr. Kurt Waldheim                        Austria                            1972-81 

5.      Javier Perez De cuellar                  Peru                                1982-91

6.      Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali            Egypt                               1992-1997

7.      Kofi Annan                                  Ghana                              1997-2006 

8.      Ban Ki moon                              South Korea                   2007-

AGENCIES OF UNO

• World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)

                                 Geneva

• World Health Organisation (WHO)

                                 Geneva

•   United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

                                Geneva

• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

                               Geneva (Switzerland)

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

                               Geneva

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

                               Vienna (Austria)

• Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

                              Rome (Italy)

• United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

                              Paris (France)

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)

                              Washington

• International Monetary Fund (IMF)

                             Washington

• International Maritime Organisation (IMO)

                             London

• United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

                             New York

• United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)

                             New York

• International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

                             Montreal(Canada)

• Universal Postal Union (UPU)

                              Berne (Switzerland)

• United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

                               Vienna

• International Development Organization (IDA)

        Washington

• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

                                Rome

• International Labour Organisation (ILO)

                                Geneva

SAARC

   

• SAARC was established at its first summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1985. Its main aim is to promote social and economic development in Asia. The secretariat of SAARC is located in Katmandu (Nepal)

• The first summit meeting of the heads of South Asian Countries was held on 8 December 1985 at Dhaka.

• The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formally established when the heads of states, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi (India), President Zia-ul-Huq (Pakistan), President Jayewardene (Sri Lanka), King Birendea Bir Buckram  Shah Dey (Nepal), King Jigme Wangchck (Bhutan) and President Ershad (Bangladesh) signed the SAARC Charter. Maldives joined later.

• The idea of the SAARC was first put forth by the former Bangladesh President Ziaul Rehman in 1979.  
• SAARC has eight members, these are:

(1)   Bhutan (2) Bangladesh (3) India (4) Nepal (5) Pakistan (6) Sri Lanka (7) Maldives. (8) Afghanistan

• The SAARC secretariat was set up at Katmandu (Nepal) on 16 June 1987.

• A draft for the establishment of South Asian Prudential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) and South Asian Regional Fund (SARF) was signed in Dhaka in 1993.

• The SAARC Secretariat is headed by the SAARC Secretary General and seven directors and other officers. The post of secretary of General rotates among the member states in alphabetical order for tenure of two years.

IMPORTANT SAARC SUMMITS

                                2002…………………..Katmandu

                                2004……………….Islamabad

                                2005……………….Dhaka

                                2007………………..New Delhi

                                2008………………Male

ASEAN

•  ASEAN was established in August 8, 1967 with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration, or Bangkok Declaration, by the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

• The first ASEAN summit was held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976

• On Jan. 1, 1993, an agreement to create an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) came into effect.

• ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

• The headquarters of ASEAN is located in Jakarta (Indonesia)

• ASEAN is headed by a secretary-general, whose position rotates every three years.

• There are 10 permanent members in ASEAN these are Brunei, Myanmar , Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and ASEAN s10 dialogue partners (Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, New Zealand, and the United States ). The ASEAN Regional Forum is an informal multilateral dialogue of 26 members that seeks to address security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. The ARF met for the first time in 1994

                    The Narmada Dam Project is a project involving the construction of a series of large                hydroelectric dams on the Narmada River in India. Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) is the largest multipurpose project involved in the construction. The project was first conceived of in the 1940 by the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The project only took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity..

                        

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Amnesty International is an independent, worldwide human- Worldwide human-rights organization. It works to free people imprisoned “for their beliefs, colour, ethnic origin, sex,, religion or language, provided they  have neither used nor advocated violence,’ It received  the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977. The organization, founded by Peter Berenson, a British lawyer on May 28, 1961 and it is based in London. From 1961 to 1975 the Chairman of AI, s international Executive committee was Sean Mac Bride, who received the 1974 Nobel Prize for Peace. Amnesty International’s logo is a burning candle wrapped in barbed wire.

WORLD TRADE ORGANISATIONS

The World Trade Organization is a global organization dealing with rules of trade between nations, who are members of the organization. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows smoothly and freely. Decisions the WTO are normally taken by consensus among all member countries and they are ratified by member’s parliaments or senates. The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was created in 1947. WTO began operation on January 1, 1995 and its headquarters is located in Geneva. WTO has 151 members.

OPEC

Multinational organization that was established to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members and to provide the member states with technical and economic aid. The organization was established in September 1960 and formally constituted in January 1961 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. The members of OPEC are Algeria, Angola Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. OPEC headquarters is in Vienna, Austria.

EUROPEAN UNION (E U)

European supranational organization dedicated to increasing economic integration and strengthening cooperation among its member states. The European Union was established on November 1 1993, when the Treaty on European Union or Treaty of Maastricht, was ratified by the 12 members of the European Community (EC) Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Austria, Finland Sweden entered the EU on Jan. 1, 1995. Now it has 27 members. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.

NON ALIGNED MOVEMENT

The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of developing nations whose members meet to form policies for dealing with the major industrial nations. The movement‘s headquarters and leadership rotate every three years. The Non-Aligned Movement had its origins in a conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, in 1955. The Bandung Conference was attended by 29 Asian and African nations. The first Non-Aligned summit met in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1961. Founder members of NAM are: 1 Marshal Tito (Yugoslavia) 2. Dr.Sukarno 3.G.A Nasser (Egypt) 4 Jawaharlal Nehru (India). Now it has 118 members.

YMCA

The YMCA was founded in London in 1844 by a young British clerk named George Williams. YMCA is a Christian movement. It believes that all people should join together to achieve equality and justice for one another. Membership and services are open to people of all ages, religions, races, and incomes. The World Alliance of YMCA’s an international YMCA organization, has headquarters in Gene, Switzerland.         

                          

RED CROSS

Red Cross is an organization that works to relieve human suffering. They try to prevent misery in time of war or peace, and serve all people, regardless of race, nationality, or religion. The name Red Cross comes from the organization’s flag, which is a red cross on a white background. The honours Switzerland, where the Red Cross was founded in 1863. The Swiss flag is a white cross on a red field. Societies in most Muslim countries use a red crescent on a white field, and call themselves Red Crescent societies. In Israel, the symbol is a red Shield of David on white field.  Jean Henri Dunant, a Swiss philanthropist, founded the International Red Cross in 1863. Its headquarters is located at Geneva. Awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1917, 1944 and 1963.

ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

This organization established under the auspices of ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) that entered into force in August 1966. Thirty “rational” South Pacific and 14 “no regional” countries of Western Europe and North America constitute the membership. ADB is the executive agency for the UN Development Programmed authorized to supervise national and regional projects. The headquarters is in Manila (Philippines).

NATO

                           

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance consisting of 16 Western countries. The 26 countries are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NATO was established in the year 1949 and its headquarters is located in Brussels (Belgium). NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in 2001, after terrorist attacks allegedly organized by exiled Saudi Arabian millionaire Osama bin Laden destroyed the World trade Center in New York City and part of the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., killing some 3,000 people

COMMONWEALTH

The Commonwealth, originally called the British Commonwealth of Nations, is an association of sovereign and independent states which formally made up the British Empire. Total member countries in Commonwealth is 54 In 1947 India and Pakistan became members of the Commonwealth, the first with chiefly non- European populations. India hosted the 24^th Common Wealth summit at New Delhi in 1983. The British Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) is the symbolic head of the Common Wealth. Its headquarters is located in London.

WORLD BANK

World Bank is an international organization that provides loans to governments and private firms for development projects, such as irrigation, education and housing. The bank’s official name is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank is an agency of the United Nations. Its headquarters is in Washington D.C.

GROUP OF EIGHT OR G - 8

Economic and political forum for the world’s eight most industrialized nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, Great Britain, Russia and the United States. Established in September 22, 1985.

INTERPOL

International Criminal Police Organization that exists to facilitate the cooperation of the criminal police forces of more than 186 countries in their fight against international crime. The organization was founded in 1923. Headquarters is in Lyon, France.