General Knowledge of International Organisations



The Common Wealth


It was originally known as ‘The British Commonwealth of Nations’. It is an association of sovereign and independent states which formally made up the British Empire.

    Headquarters: London.

    Members: 53

    The British Monarch (Queen Elizabeth II) is the symbolic head of the commonwealth.

    Commonwealth heads of government meet (CHOGM) is held in every 2 years.



Arab League

    Established: March 22, 1945.

    Objective: To promote economic, social, political and military cooperation.

    Members: 22

    Headquarters: Cairo



Asia Public Economic Corporation (APEC)

    Established: Nov, 1989

    Objective: To promote trade and investment in the Pacific basin.

    Members: 21



Asian Development Bank (ADB)
    Established: Dec. 19, 1966

    Objective: To promote regional economic cooperation.

    Members: 59

    Headquarters: Manila



Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

 Established: Aug. 8, 1967
Objective: Regional, economic, social and cultural cooperation among the non-communist countries of South-East Asia.
Members: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia.
Headquarters: Djakarta.



Common Wealth of Independent States (CIS)


 Established: Dec. 8, 1991
Objective: To coordinate inter-common wealth relations and to provide a mechanism for the orderly dissolution on the USSR.

    Members: 12

    Headquarters: Kirava (Belarus)



Group of 8 or G-8

    Established: Sept. 22, 1985

    Objective: To promote co-operation among major non-communist economic powers.

    Members: France, Germany, Japan, UK, US, Canada, Italy, Plus Russia (added later).



Group of 15 or G-15



    Established: 1889

    Objective: To promote economic co-operation among developing nations.

    Members: 18




Group of 77 or G-77


    Established: Oct. 1967

    Objective: To promote economic co-operation among developing nations.

    Members: 130



International Criminal Police Organization For (INTERPOL)


    Established: 1914

    Objective: To promote the international cooperation among criminal police authorities.

    Members: 186

    Headquarters: France.



International Olympic Committee (IOC)


    Established: June 23, 1894

    Objective: To promote the Olympic ideals and administer Olympic Games.

    Members: 203

    Headquarters: Switzerland.



International Organization For Standardization ( ISO)


    Established: Feb., 1947

    Objective: To promote development of international standards.

    Members: 158

    Headquarters: Switzerland.



International Red Cross And Crescent Movement

    Established: 1928

    Objective: To promote worldwide humanitarian aid.

    Headquarters: Geneva.



Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)


    Established: Sep., 1961

    Objective: Political co-operation and separate itself from both USA and USSR (in the cold-war era).

    Members: 118

    The credit of evolving the concept goes to Pt. Jawahar lal Nehru. The other contributors were Marshal Tito (President of Yugoslavia), Dr. Sukamo (President of Indonesia) and General Nasser (President of Egypt). Bandung conference in Indonesia became the forum for the birth of NAM.



European Union

Established: Apr.8, 1965. Effective on July 1, 1967
Objective: To create a united Europe in which member countries would have such strong economic and political bonds that war would cease to be a recurring fact.

 Members: 27 (The ten new countries which joined in 2004 are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slavakia and Slovania). Bulgaria & Romania joined in 2007.
Headquarters: Brussels (Belgium). The common European, currency, Euro, was launched on Jan. 1, 1999



North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)


    Established: April 4, 1949

    Objective: Mutual defense and cooperation

    Members: 26 + Russia

    Headquarters: Brussels



Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)


 Established: Sept,1959
Objective: Attempts to set world prices by controlling oil production and also persues member interest in trade and development.
Members: 12 (Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, UAE, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Angola and Venezuela).
Headquarters: Vienna (Austria).



South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation (SAARC)



    Established: Dec. 8, 1985

    Objective: To promote economic, social and cultural cooperation.

    Members:8, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Srilanka, Afghanistan.

    Headquarters: Katmandu.



World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

     Established: Oct. 11, 1947, Effective from April 4, 1951.

    Objective: Specialized UN Agency concerned with meteorological cooperation.

    Members: 162

    Headquarters: Geneva



Amnesty International (AI)



    Established: 1961

    Objective: To keep a watch over human rights violation worldwide.

    Headquarters: London

    Got Nobel Prize in 1977 for Peace.



Organization Of The Islamic Conference (OIC)


    Established: 1969
Objective: To promote Islamic solidarity among member states and to consolidate cooperation among members.

    Members: 57

    Headquarters: Jedah



Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)



    Established: June 7, 2002.

    Objective: To develop mutual cooperation.

    Members: Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrghiztan and Tajikistan.



Scouts and Guides



    Established: 1907 by Lt. Gen. Baden Powell.

    Objective: To encourage good character, loyalty to god and country, service to other people and physical and mental fitness.

    Members: About 13 million members of around 115 nations.

    World Scouts Bureau: Geneva (Switzerland).



World Wildlife Fund For Nature (WWF)


 
    Established: Sept. 11, 1961

    Objective: To save the wildlife from extinction

    Members: All the countries of the world

    Headquarters: Gland (Switzerland