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Lesson 7 of 8 · Static General Knowledge: Symbols, Firsts, Awards, Sports and Organisations

International Organisations: UN Organs, Agencies, Headquarters and Regional Groupings

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Birth of the UN

The United Nations replaced the League of Nations (1920, Geneva), which had failed to prevent the Second World War. The name United Nations was first used in the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942; the plan took shape at Dumbarton Oaks (1944) and Yalta (1945), and the Charter was signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945 by 50 countries, with Poland signing later as the 51st original member. The UN came into existence on 24 October 1945, now UN Day. India, though not yet independent, was among the original members. The headquarters is in New York, and the six official languages are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The six principal organs

The General Assembly includes every member state, each with one vote. The Security Council has 15 members: 5 permanent members with the veto (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) and 10 non-permanent members elected for 2-year terms; it had 11 members until it was enlarged in 1965. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with 54 members, coordinates economic and social work. The Trusteeship Council suspended its operation in 1994 after Palau, the last trust territory, became independent. The International Court of Justice at The Hague has 15 judges elected for 9-year terms. The Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, appointed by the General Assembly on the Security Council's recommendation; the first was Trygve Lie of Norway. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was the first woman President of the General Assembly (1953).

Specialised agencies and their headquarters

The International Labour Organization (1919, Geneva) is older than the UN and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969. The Food and Agriculture Organization (1945) is at Rome, UNESCO (1945) at Paris, the World Health Organization (1948) at Geneva, the International Civil Aviation Organization at Montreal, the International Maritime Organization at London, the Universal Postal Union (1874) at Bern, and the International Telecommunication Union (1865), the World Meteorological Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization at Geneva. UNIDO is at Vienna, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at Madrid and IFAD at Rome. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, both planned at the Bretton Woods Conference of 1944, are at Washington DC.

Funds, programmes and other bodies

UNICEF (1946) and UNDP are based in New York, the UN Environment Programme (1972) at Nairobi, the UNHCR (1950) at Geneva and the World Food Programme at Rome. The International Atomic Energy Agency (1957) at Vienna reports to the UN but is not a specialised agency. The World Trade Organization, which replaced GATT (1947) on 1 January 1995, is at Geneva and is outside the UN system. Other headquarters: Interpol at Lyon, the International Committee of the Red Cross at Geneva, OPEC (founded at Baghdad in 1960) at Vienna, NATO (1949) and the European Union at Brussels, the Asian Development Bank (1966) at Manila and Amnesty International at London.

Asian groupings

SAARC was founded at Dhaka on 8 December 1985 by Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; Afghanistan joined in 2007, and the secretariat is at Kathmandu. ASEAN was founded on 8 August 1967 by the Bangkok Declaration of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, with its secretariat at Jakarta; India became a sectoral dialogue partner in 1992, a full dialogue partner in 1996 and a summit-level partner in 2002, steps of its Look East Policy (1991), renamed Act East in 2014. BIMSTEC, begun at Bangkok on 6 June 1997, links Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand around the Bay of Bengal, and its secretariat is at Dhaka. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation grew out of the Shanghai Five of 1996, was founded on 15 June 2001 and has its secretariat at Beijing; India and Pakistan became full members in 2017.

Global economic groupings

The G20 was set up in 1999, after the Asian financial crisis, as a forum of finance ministers and central bank governors; its leaders have met at summits since 2008, it has no permanent secretariat, and India has been a member from the start. BRIC, a term coined by the economist Jim O'Neill in 2001, held its first summit at Yekaterinburg in Russia in 2009; South Africa was invited to join in 2010, making it BRICS, and the New Development Bank, agreed at Fortaleza in 2014, is headquartered at Shanghai. India has attended summits of the G7, a group of major industrialised democracies, as an invited guest, not as a member.

Other groupings with India

The Non-Aligned Movement held its first summit at Belgrade in 1961, after the Bandung Conference of 1955; its founders included Jawaharlal Nehru, Josip Broz Tito, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Sukarno and Kwame Nkrumah. The Commonwealth took its modern form with the London Declaration of 1949, which let India stay a member as a republic; its secretariat is at Marlborough House, London. The Indian Ocean Rim Association (1997) has its secretariat in Mauritius, the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation dates from 2000, and IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) from the Brasilia Declaration of 2003. India is not a member of APEC.

Key facts

UN: Charter signed 26 June 1945 at San Francisco; came into force 24 October 1945; HQ New York; first Secretary-General Trygve Lie; 6 official languages.
Security Council: 15 members, 5 permanent with the veto (China, France, Russia, UK, USA) and 10 elected for 2 years; enlarged from 11 members in 1965.
ICJ: The Hague, 15 judges, 9-year terms; Trusteeship Council suspended in 1994 after Palau's independence; ECOSOC has 54 members.
Geneva: WHO, ILO, ITU, WMO, WIPO, UNHCR, WTO, Red Cross; Rome: FAO, WFP, IFAD; Paris: UNESCO; Vienna: IAEA, UNIDO, OPEC; Washington DC: IMF, World Bank.
Nairobi: UNEP; Montreal: ICAO; London: IMO, Commonwealth Secretariat, Amnesty International; Bern: UPU; Madrid: UNWTO; Lyon: Interpol; Manila: ADB; Brussels: NATO, EU.
SAARC: Dhaka, 8 December 1985, secretariat Kathmandu, Afghanistan joined 2007; ASEAN: Bangkok Declaration, 8 August 1967, secretariat Jakarta.
BIMSTEC: Bangkok, 6 June 1997, secretariat Dhaka; SCO: 15 June 2001, secretariat Beijing, India a full member since 2017.
G20: 1999, leaders' summits since 2008; BRIC first summit Yekaterinburg 2009, South Africa invited to join 2010; New Development Bank HQ Shanghai.
NAM: first summit Belgrade 1961; founders Nehru, Tito, Nasser, Sukarno, Nkrumah; Bandung Conference 1955; Commonwealth: London Declaration 1949.

Quick revision

UN Charter 26 June 1945 San Francisco, in force 24 Oct 1945, HQ New York, 6 languages; UNSC 15 (5 permanent, 10 for 2 years); ICJ The Hague, 15 judges, 9 years; Trusteeship Council suspended 1994; ILO 1919 Geneva; FAO Rome; UNESCO Paris; WHO 1948 Geneva; IMF and World Bank Washington; UNEP Nairobi; IAEA Vienna; WTO 1995 Geneva; SAARC 1985 Kathmandu; ASEAN 1967 Jakarta; BIMSTEC 1997 Dhaka; SCO 2001 Beijing, India 2017; G20 1999; BRICS NDB Shanghai; NAM Belgrade 1961.

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