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International organization

An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own legal personality, such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and NATO.[2][3] International organizations are composed of primarily member states, but may also include other entities, such as other international organizations, firms, and nongovernmental organizations.[4] Additionally, entities (including states) may hold observer status.[5] An alternative definition is that an international organization is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states and other actors in the international system.[6][7][4]

Terminology[edit]

Scottish law professor James Lorimer has been credited with coining the term "international organization" in a 1871 article in the Revue de Droit International et de Legislation Compare.[9] Lorimer use the term frequently in his two-volume Institutes of the Law of Nations (1883, 1884). Other early uses of the term were by law professor Walther Schucking in works published in 1907, 1908 and 1909, and by political science professor Paul S. Reinsch in 1911.[9] In 1935, Pitman B. Potter defined international organization as "an association or union of nations established or recognized by them for the purpose of realizing a common end". He distinguished between bilateral and multilateral organizations on one end and customary or conventional organizations on the other end.[10] In his 1922 book An Introduction to the Study of International Organization, Potter argued that international organization was distinct from "international intercourse" (all relations between states), "international law" (which lacks enforcement) and world government.[11]


International Organizations are sometimes referred to as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), to clarify the distinction from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), which are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate internationally. These include international nonprofit organizations such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement, International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières, as well as lobby groups that represent the interests of multinational corporations.


IGOs are established by a treaty that acts as a charter creating the group. Treaties are formed when lawful representatives (governments) of several states go through a ratification process, providing the IGO with an international legal personality. Intergovernmental organizations are an important aspect of public international law.


Intergovernmental organizations in a legal sense should be distinguished from simple groupings or coalitions of states, such as the G7 or the Quartet. Such groups or associations have not been founded by a constituent document and exist only as task groups. Intergovernmental organizations must also be distinguished from treaties. Many treaties (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade before the establishment of the World Trade Organization) do not establish an independent secretariat and instead rely on the parties for their administration, for example by setting up a joint committee. Other treaties have established an administrative apparatus which was not deemed to have been granted binding legal authority.[12] The broader concept wherein relations among three or more states are organized according to certain principles they hold in common is multilateralism.[13]

Worldwide or global organizations – generally open to nations worldwide as long as certain criteria are met: This category includes the United Nations (UN) and its specialized agencies, the , the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It also includes globally operating intergovernmental organizations that are not an agency of the UN, including for example: the Hague Conference on Private International Law, an operating intergovernmental organization based in The Hague that pursues the progressive unification of private international law; the International Criminal Court that adjudicates crimes defined under the Rome Statute; and the CGIAR (formerly the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research), a global partnership that unites intergovernmental organizations engaged in research for a food-secured future.

World Health Organization

Cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious, or historical organizations – open to members based on some cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious, or historical link. Examples include the , Arab League, Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, Community of Portuguese Language Countries, Organization of Turkic States, International Organization of Turkic Culture, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Commonwealth of Nations

Economic organizations – based on macro-economic policy goals: Some are dedicated to and reduction of trade barriers, e.g. World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund. Others are focused on international development. International cartels, such as OPEC, also exist. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was founded as an economic-policy-focused organization. An example of a recently formed economic IGO is the Bank of the South.

free trade

Educational organizations – centered around tertiary-level study. was chartered as a university and umbrella organization dedicated to sustainable development in signatory countries. The United Nations has founded multiple universities, notably the United Nations University and the University for Peace, for research and education around issues relevant to the UN, such as peace and sustainable development. The United Nations also has a dedicated training arm: the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

EUCLID University

Health and Population Organizations – based on common perceived health and population goals. These are formed to address those challenges collectively, for example, the intergovernmental partnership for population and development Partners in Population and Development.

Economic rewards: In the case of the (NAFTA), membership in the free trade agreement benefits the parties' economies. For example, Mexican companies are given better access to U.S. markets due to their membership. External actors can also contribute to economic rewards and fuel the attractiveness of IGOs - notably for developing countries. For example, external donor funding from the European Union to IGOs in the Global South.[15]

North American Free Trade Agreement

Political influence: Smaller countries, such as and Belgium, who do not carry much political clout on the international stage, are given a substantial increase in influence through membership in IGOs such as the European Union. Also for countries with more influence such as France and Germany, IGOs are beneficial as the nation increases influence in the smaller countries' internal affairs and expanding other nations dependence on themselves, so to preserve allegiance.

Portugal

Security: Membership in an IGO such as gives security benefits to member countries. This provides an arena where political differences can be resolved.

NATO

Democracy: It has been noted that member countries experience a greater degree of democracy and those democracies survive longer.

There are several different reasons a state may choose membership in an intergovernmental organization. But there are also reasons membership may be rejected.


Reasons for participation:


Reasons for rejecting membership:

United Nations agencies and related organizations[edit]

The United Nations focuses on five main areas: "maintaining peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, supporting sustainable development, and upholding international law".[27] UN agencies, such as UN Relief and Works Agency, are generally regarded as international organizations in their own right. Additionally, the United Nations has Specialized Agencies, which are organizations within the United Nations System that have their member states (often nearly identical to the UN Member States) and are governed independently by them; examples include international organizations that predate the UN, such as the International Telecommunication Union, and the Universal Postal Union, as well as organizations that were created after the UN such as the World Health Organization (which was made up of regional organizations such as PAHO that predated the UN). A few UN special agencies are very centralized in policy and decision-making, but some are decentralized; for example, the country-based projects or missions' directors and managers can decide what they want to do in the fields.[28]


The UN agencies have a variety of tasks based on their specialization and their interests. The UN agencies provide different kinds of assistance to low-income countries and middle-income countries, and this assistance would be a good resource for developmental projects in developing countries. The UN has to protect against any kind of human rights violation, and in the UN system, some specialized agencies, like ILO and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), work in the human rights' protection fields.[29] The UN agency, ILO, is trying to end any kind of discrimination in the work field and child labor; after that, this agency promotes fundamental labor rights and to get safe and secure for the laborers.[30]

Barnett, Michael and Finnemore, M. 2004. Rules for the World: International Organizations in Global Politics. Cornell University Press.

Hurd, Ian. 2018. International Organizations: Politics, Law, Practice. Cambridge University Press.

Lall, Ranjit. 2017. "Beyond Institutional Design: Explaining the Performance of International Organizations." International Organization 53: 699–732.

Lall, Ranjit. 2023. Making International Institutions Work: The Politics of Performance. Cambridge University Press.

Lavelle, Kathryn C. (2020): The Challenges of Multilateralism. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300230451.

Muntschick, Johannes, ed. (2022): Regionalism in Africa and External Partners. Uneven Relationships and (Un)Intended Effects. Cham: Palgrave. :10.1007/978-3-031-10702-3.

doi

Claude, Inis L. Jr. (1964) [1959]. Swords into Plowshares: The problems and progress of international organization (3rd ed.). New York: Random House.  559717722.

OCLC

List of International Organisation and their Headquarters

Headquarters of International Organisation

on the 'Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations' in the Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

Procedural history and related documents

on the World News related documents

World News related documents

: IGO/NGO google custom search engine built by the Govt Documents Round Table (GODORT) of the American Library Association.

IGO Search