International Organizations

The world has is a global village, the history is a proof that international cooperation is important
for a country to operate peacefully, international organizations are the organizations which
operate beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the nations. The purpose of international
organization is to bring cooperation and peace among the nations and to help the nations build
relations between the nations in all types of international organizations. International
organizations aim to establish peace and harmony between the nations. Any disputes between the
nations can be settled with peaceful discussions under the guidance of the international
organizations. International organization acts as a medium for communication between all the
nations. The importance of having an international organization can be witnessed from the times
when there was no international organization and the times after the establishment of the
international organizations. In this article, the importance of international organization has been
discussed along with the times before and after the establishment of the international
organization.

How do international organizations work?

International organizations are organizations having jurisdiction beyond the territorial boundaries
of the countries. The international organizations help the nations in building relations among the
different nations. International Organizations emerge from the international law. The nations
surrender themselves to the international organizations by signing and ratifying treaties with
other nations such as multilateral treaties or treaties between two nations by way of bilateral
treaties. The treaties among the nations signed in order to build any kind of relations with the
other nations. The disputes countries who are a party to international organizations and treaties
are amicably and peacefully solved in accordance to the international law. There are different
international organizations like World Health Organization, United Nations Organization,
International Labor Organization etc.

History of International Organizations

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) -1889

The foundation of International law can be traced back to the year 1889 with the creation of the
Inter-parliamentary Union which was established by Frederik Passy, who was a French
economist and Pacifist and Sir William Randal Cremer , a politician from the United Kingdom.
The IPU is the first international forum for negotiations among the nations on multilateral
political issues. The IPU is still into existence with a membership of 178 countries. It is an acting
observer of the United Nations General Assembly in political issues in the United Nations.

The League of Nations

After the 1st world war, the League of Nations was found as an international organization as a
means to solve disputes among the nations before such disputes lead to a war. The origins of the
League of Nations can be traced from the 14 Point speech delivered by the US President
Woodrow Wilson.

Mr. Wilson delivered his 14 Point speech at the Palace of Versailles, Paris in the year 1919 after
which the Treaty of Versailles was formed between Japan, the United States, France, Germany
and Britain. The 14 Point speech delivered by President Wilson had a vision for post-war world.
Through his speech, Mr. Wilson proposed a General Association of Nations.

The 14 Points of the speech were:-

“1. Diplomacy should be public, with no secret treaties.

2. All nations should enjoy free navigation of the seas.

3. Free trade should exist among all nations, putting an end to economic barriers between
countries.

4. All countries should reduce arms in the name of public safety.

5. Fair and impartial rulings in colonial claims.

6. Restore Russian territories and freedom.

7. Belgium should be restored to independence.

8. Alsace-Lorraine should be returned to France and France should be fully liberated.

9. Italy’s frontiers should be drawn along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.

10. People living in Austria-Hungary should be granted self-determination.

11. The Balkan states should also be guaranteed self-determination and independence.

12. Turks and those under Turkish rule should be granted self-determination.

13. An independent Poland should be created.

14. A general association of nations must be formed to mediate international disputes.”1

Therefore, the 14 Point speech became the principle guiding the formation of the League of
Nations. However, it is to be noted that the United Nations never joined the League of Nations as
it was opposed by the Congressmen in the United States and hence United States never ratified
the League of Nations.

The League was however joined by the other nations including Britain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Belgium, Greece, Czechoslovakia, however, Germany was not allowed to be the member of the
League. The covenant for the League of Nations was structured and developed in the Paris Peace
Conference held in the year 1919.

The covenant of the League of Nations was signed on 28th June 1919 as a part of the Treaty of
Versailles. It was headquartered in Geneva. By the year 1920, 48 countries had joined the
League of Nations. The goals of League of Nations were stated in its charter known as the as the
Covenant of the League of Nations. The primary goals of the League of Nations included
peaceful settlement of the disputes among the nations by the way of collective security,
disarmament and peaceful settlement of international disputes by the means of negotiation and
arbitration and to solve problems faced by all the nations. The league of Nations however failed
due to lack of unanimity and exiting of the major countries from the league and the outbreak of
the 2nd World War.

United Nations Organization

1
President Wilson's Message to Congress, January 8, 1918; Records of the United States Senate; Record Group 46;
Records of the United States Senate; National Archives.
After the 2nd World War, United Nations Organization (UN) came into existence. The UN came
into existence in the year 1945. It was formed by 51 countries with an aim to commitment
towards maintenance of international peace and security. The UN focused in the means to
provide the settlement of dispute between the nations in an amicable manner and to ensure
building of friendly relations among the nations. The importance of all the nations to stand
together for fighting problems of international concern was also realized. The Charter of the UN
gave a wide range of powers to the Organization. The UN also acts as a forum for all the member
countries to put forward their views on various international and national matters. The UN
consists of various bodies including the UN General Assembly, the Security Council, the
Economic and Social Council and other bodies and committees. The United Nation Organization
primarily acts as a peacekeeper and helps in resolution of conflicts between the nations.
However, there are wide areas which are dealt by the United Nations and thus it is a platform for
solving international issues in a peaceful and amicable manner. Currently, the United Nations
consists of 193 member countries, all the members have equal representation in the United
Nations General Assembly.

The UN Charter

The UN Charter was signed on the 26th June, 1946, in San Fransisco, after the conclusion of the
United Nation Conference. The charter came into force on 24th October, 1956.

The UN Charter has laid down the following purpose of the United Nation:

1) Maintenance of peace globally;

2) Helping establish friendly relations among the nations;
3) To help eradicate global issues such as poverty, illiteracy, environmental issues, freedom
of individuals, fighting against diseases etc;
4) Building harmony among the nations to achieve the goals of the Organization.2

Principal organs of the United Nations

2
History of the UN, United nations, available at: https://www.un.org/un70/en/content/history/index.html
The United Nations has 6 principle organs:

1. The United Nations General Assembly

2. The Security Council
3. The Economic and Social Council
4. The trusteeship Council (ceased operations in 1994)
5. The Secretariat
6. The International Court of Justice

The United Nations General Assembly

The United Nations General Assembly is the organ of the United Nations in which the different
issues are discussed and deliberated upon by all the nations. All the members of the UN are
represented in the General Assembly. The General Assembly also performs certain financial and
elective functions. However, the decisions taken in the General Assembly are not binding upon
the state. The admission of new member to the Economic and Social Council, the member of the
trusteeship council and the non-permanent members of the Security Council are also admitted by
the General Assembly. The Assembly also performs supervisory functions for the other organs of
the UN. The election of judges of the ICJ and selection of the Secretary-General. Each member
of the General Assembly has one vote and the decision of the General Assembly is achieved by a
simple majority vote. However, on important questions such as admission of new members etc, a
2/3rd Majority is required. The meeting of the General Assembly takes place every year. Any
question of international importance and international concern can be raised in the General
Assembly.

The Security Council

The second organ of the UN is the Security Council, the security council is the most powerful
body, the functions of the Security Council is to ensure the maintenance of international peace
and security. There are 15 members in the Security council including 5 permanent members and
6 non-permanent members. The permanent members of the Security Council are China, France,
Russia, United States & United Kingdom. The non-permanent members of the Security Council
are selected in every 2 years by the United Nations General Assembly.
The Economic and Social council

The third organ of the United Nations is the economic and social council. The function of the
economic and social council is to work upon the economic and social issues which are of
international importance. The various areas dealt by the Council include areas relating to human
rights, social issues, health issues, education and other related areas.

The Secretariat

It is the executive organ of the United Nations. The role of the Secretariat is to set the agendas
upon which all the other organs of the UN deliberate and take decisions. It also acts as the organ
to implement the decisions taken by the other organs. The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-
General. The Secretary- General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation
of the Security Council. The term of service of the Secretary-General is 5 years.

The International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the judicial organ of the UN. The ICJ is also called
the World Court. There are 15 Judges in the ICJ who are elected for a period of 9 years by the
UN General Assembly. The role of the ICJ is to settle international disputes including disputes
between the countries. The ICJ also performs advisory functions in legal matters of international
importance. The Court is seated in the Peace Palace in Hague, Netherlands.

The World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is an agency of the United Nations which is responsible for
international public health. The work of the WHO is concerned with the health issues of
international concern and it works in solving the health problems which are prevailing
throughout the globe. The aim of the WHO is to enable the people to achieve the best possible
health. The WHO constantly works to prevent and cure diseases which are harmful to the health
of the humans.

UNESCO
United Nations Educational, scientific and cultural organization is also an agency of the United
Nations which is working with a purpose is to contribute to promoting international collaboration
in education, sciences, and culture in order to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of
law, and human rights.

UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund is also an agency of the United Nations which works in the
areas of development of the children worldwide. UNICEF is working for the rights of the
children worldwide and its priority is to en sure that each child lives a healthy childhood and that
the health of the children is not overlooked, it works in protecting the children from abuse in the
childhood and is also working in the area of education of the children.

Other Organizations

There are many other organizations working in almost all the areas which can be thought of, with
the passage of time it is now understood globally that many international issues cannot be solved
by the nations in personal capacity and international organizations have thus become a very
important aspect of worldwide development.

The importance of International Organization

1. Helps in international co-operation: It is very important to have a co-operation between

all the nations of the world, no country can work without the co-operation of other
nations. In today’s time no economy can survive independently, nations are connected to
each other through trade and economic relations. Therefore international organizations
helps the nations build such relations with much ease.

2. Helps establish international peace: War does more harm than good, wars cause a great
loss of men and assets and seriously affect the countries, therefore international
organization helps in ensuring that the nations do not enter into war with each other and
that no matter how serious the issues are between the countries, those issues are solved in
an amicable manner through the means of discussions and deliberations.
 3. Helps solving problems of international concern: International organizations help in
solving issues which are of international concern, these issues include socio economic
issues including diseases, poverty, women rights, child rights, human rights, human
trafficking etc.

4. International Support: The International Organizations have membership from different

countries, therefore a member of such organization is supported by such other members.
This is useful for smaller countries which are independently not strong, therefore these
countries are supported by the big countries in case of conflicts and problems faced by
such small countries. It also provides international support in times of crises in any
country thus creating a sense of support and strength given by other countries.

5. International Court: The countries build relations with each other by signing of
different treaties. Treaties are the terms and conditions and the circumstances under
which such relations are being built between the countries. The treaties may be formed
for different purposes including the building of trade relations, health treaty, armed forces
treaty, peace treaty etc. In case there is a breach of the treaty from any of the party of the
treaty, any aggrieved party to such treaty may take that matter before the ICJ and the ICJ
decides upon such issue and helps in resolving the dispute between the countries.

A world without international organizations

The importance of international law was very well understood by the countries post the 1 st World
War and thus the League of Nations was formed. The League of Nations however could not
properly solve its purpose. However, after the establishment of the United Nations, the
importance of international law is now understood by the world. The countries started to adhere
to the international law and in today’s time the international law has become a very important
part. A country cannot live in isolation in today’s time and the countries have to build relations
with each other. Without a binding force a situation of confusion may arise which is very well
dealt with by the international law. All the international issues are amicably solved by the
international organizations therefore a world without international law and international
organizations cannot be thought of in today’s time.

CONCLUSION

International law has evolved over time and now it has become a very important part of
international relations, the countries have now understood the importance of international law
and therefore have started to adhere to the international law. The international law does not have
a binding nature and the countries can only surrender themselves to the international law by
giving due importance to the international law. This has helped in building a much peaceful
world and the good relations are built among the nation. In today’s time, one cannot think about
a world without the international law as in that situation no country would ever be in position to
co-operate with its fellow countries.