International Organizations

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the primary organ of the UN tasked with maintaining international peace and security.

The League of nation and the United Nations Organisation was established to promote peace and co-operation among the nations of the world.

• The League of Nation- It was an international organization created after the First World War to provide a forum for resolving international disputes.
• The United nations Organisation- It is an intergovernmental organisation established on 24 October 1945 to promote international cooperation. It was founded to replace the League of Nations  following World War II and to prevent another conflict.

The United Nations has six principal organs: 

1. The General Assembly
2. The Security Council
3. The Economic and Social Council
4. The Trusteeship Council
5. The International Court of Justice
6. The Secretariat.
   

The Economic and Social Council is the central body for coordinating the economic and social work of the United Nations and the UN family of organizations. It has 54 member nations elected from all regions. As much as 70 per cent of the work of the UN system is devoted to promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development. The Council recommends and directs activities aimed at promoting economic growth of developing countries, supporting human rights and fostering world cooperation to fight poverty and under-development.

The Security Council has primary responsibility under the Charter for maintaining peace and security. It can be convened at any time, whenever peace is threatened. The Council has 15 members, including five permanent members: China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The other 10 are elected by the General Assembly on the basis of geographical representation for two-year terms. Decisions require nine votes except on procedural questions, a decision cannot be taken if there is a negative vote by a permanent member and this is known as the Veto.

The United Nations has six principal organs. These are:

The Secretariat is the principal administrative department of UN. It is headed by the Secretary-General. It carries out the day-to-day work of the UN. It services the other principal organs and carries out tasks as varied as the issues dealt with by the UN: administering peacekeeping operations, surveying economic and social trends, preparing studies on human rights, among others.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1981 for its work in assisting refugees worldwide.

The World Bank was set up to provide financial assistance for countries during the reconstruction post World War I phase. the World Bank directly asks the concerned government to show all its accounts and directs it to make changes in its economic policy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an intergovernmental organization that promotes international economic cooperation, focusing in particular on policies that have an impact on the exchange rate and the balance of payments.The organization’s stated objectives are to promote international economic cooperation, international trade, employment, and exchange rate stability, including by making resources available to member countries to meet balance of payments needs.

The United Nations is an international organization aiming to maintain the peaceful equilibrium of the world by preventing wars between countries and aid in the development of living standards in the world. It has 193 sovereign countries as its members at present.

The United Nations Security Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its United Nations Charter. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions.

The General Assembly functions as the main organ of the UN and ensures the proper functioning of its other organs.  All the members hold equal representation in the General Assembly and choose its Secretary-General to lead its sessions.

The Bretton Woods Conference led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank).

The Bretton Woods conference was held in washington, DC in 1944. It was the period after the great depression and most economies in Europe were failing thus the IMF was set up as a bank where member states could draw from to maintain economic activity and employment through periodic crises.