Unit 05

United Nation

• The United Nations was established following the conclusion of the Second World Wa rand in the light of
Allied planning and intentions expressed during that conflict. The purposes of the UN are set out in article 1
of the Charter as follows
• To maintain international peace and security, and to that end, to take effective collective measures for the
prevention and removal of threats to the peace
• To develop friendly relations among nation- principal of equal rights
• To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or
humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental
freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion;
• To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations
• The UN has six principal organs, these being the Security Council, General Assembly, Economic and Social
Council, Trusteeship Council, Secretariat and International Court of Justice
Security Council

• The Council was intended to operate as an efficient executive organ of limited membership, functioning
continuously. It was given primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
• The Security Council consists of fifteen members, five of them being permanent members (USA, UK,
Russia, China and France). These permanent
• members, chosen on the basis of power politics in 1945, have the veto. Under article 27 of the
• Charter, on all but procedural matters, decisions of the Council must be made by an affirmative
• vote of nine members, including the concurring votes of the permanent members. A negative
• vote by any of the permanent members is therefore sufficient to veto any resolution of the
• Council, save with regard to procedural questions, where nine affirmative votes are all that is
• required.
World Trade Organization

• Successor of GATT- General Agreement on Trades and Tarriffs.

• The WTO provides a common platform to negotiate trade
agreements among member countries and to resolve any trade
disputes.
• It manages 60 global and about 300 regional trade agreements.
• The 60 trade agreements are accorded the status of
international law.
• The WTO comprises 164 member states.
• There are also observer states that are not signatories to the
WTO agreements, and they do not participate in free trade.
Structure of the World Trade Organization

• The Ministerial Conference

• Administrative bodies
• General Council
• Dispute Settlement Body
• Trade Policy Review Body
The Ministerial Conference

• The Ministerial Conference of the WTO meets every two years to

make important decisions about existing trade agreements. The
Ministerial Conference holds the authority to make decisions on
any aspects of all multilateral agreements made under the WTO.
• The Conference includes representatives from all members of the
WTO. It gives equal representation to all its members regardless of
the size of their economy or share in international trade. It can be
thought of as the legislative branch of the WTO.
• The WTO is headed by the Ministerial Conference, while the daily
operations are carried out by three administrative bodies
General Council

• The General Council comprises the representatives of all

member countries and acts as the representative of the
Ministerial Conference when it comes to daily operations. Its
job is to carry out the implementation and monitoring
function of the WTO.
• The General Council is further divided into multiple councils
and committees that focus on specific topics. Examples of
such bodies include the Council on Goods, the Councils on
Services, the Committee on Textiles under the Council on
Goods, etc.
Dispute Settlement Body

• The Dispute Settlement Body is a part of the General Council

and is responsible for settling trade disputes between
member states. There is also an Appellate Body, where
member states can appeal any decisions made against them
during a dispute settlement.
Trade Policy Review Body

• The Trade Policy Review Body is also a part of the General

Council and is responsible for ensuring the trade policies of
member states are in line with the goals of the WTO.
Member countries are required to inform the WTO about
changes in their laws and trade policies.
• The body undertakes regular reviews of the policies to
ensure they conform to the rules of the WTO. This is part of
the monitoring function of the WTO, and it helps the WTO to
adapt to the changing economic landscape.
Functions of the WTO

• 1. Trade Negotiations
• The WTO facilitates trade negotiations among countries by
providing a framework to structure the agreements, as well as
providing dispute resolution mechanisms. It creates an
international legal framework that ensures the smooth exchange
of goods and services among the member countries.
• 2. Implementation and Monitoring
• Once the agreements are negotiated, the job of the WTO is to
ensure that the signatory countries adhere to their commitments
in practice. It also produces research based on the impact of the
agreements on the economies of the countries involved.
3. Dispute Settlement
• The WTO also acts as a dispute settlement body when there is a trade
conflict between its member states. The members of the WTO can file
complaints against other member states if they feel the trade and
economic policies of a country are divergent from their commitments
under one of the agreements of the WTO. Following the complaint, there
are formal hearings like a court until a settlement is reached.
4. Building Trade Capacity
• The WTO runs special programs to support developing countries by
helping them build the capacity to participate in free trade with more
developed countries. It also gives concessions under certain agreements to
low-development countries to ease them into free trade with other
countries.
5. Outreach
• Finally, the WTO carries out influencing and outreach across
the world as a part of its larger objectives to promote free
trade. They try to persuade governments to reduce barriers
to trade to free, fair, and open markets around the world.
 International Labour Organization
• The ILO was established as an agency for the League of Nations following World War I.
• It was established by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
• Its founders had made great strides in social thought and action before the establishment
of the organization itself.
• It became the first specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) in the year 1946.
• The ILO has played a significant role in promoting labour and human rights.
• It had held a significant position during the Great Depression (1930s) for ensuring labour
rights.
• It played a key role in the decolonization process and in the victory over apartheid in
South Africa.
• The organization got the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969, for its efforts to improve peace
amongst the classes, and for promoting justice and fair work for the workers.
International Labour Organization (ILO) Objective

• The ILO is the only tripartite U.N. agency. The ILO is a meeting point for
governments, workers and employers of ILO’s member States to set labour
standards, improve upon policies and create programs that promote decent
work for people. The four strategic objectives at the heart of the Decent Work
agenda are:
• To develop and effectuate standards, fundamental principles, and
fundamental rights at work.
• To ensure that men and women have equal access to decent work while
enhancing opportunities for the same.
• To magnify the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for everyone.
• To strengthen Tripartism and social dialogue
International Labour Organization (ILO) – Structure

• The basis of the ILO is the tripartite principle. The ILO comprises
the International Labour Conference, the Governing Body, and
the International Labour Office.
• International Labour Conference:
• The progressive policies of the ILO are set by the International Labour
Conference.
• The Conference is an annual event, which happens in Geneva, Switzerland.
The conference brings together all the representatives of the ILO.
• Function: It is a panel for the review of the important issues regarding labour.
• Governing Body:
• The Governing Body is the executive body of the International Labour
Organization.
• The governing body meets in Geneva. It meets three times annually.
• The Office is the secretariat of the Organization.
• It is composed of 56 members, and 66 deputy members.
• Functions:
• Makes decisions regarding the agenda and the policies of the International Labour
Conference.
• It adopts the draft Programme and Budget of the Organization for submission to the
Conference.
• Election of the Director-General.
• International Labour Office:
• It is the permanent secretariat of the International Labour Organization.
• Functions: It decides the activities for ILO and is supervised by the
Governing Body and the Director-General.
• The ILO member States hold periodically regional meetings to discuss
the relevant issues of the concerned regions.
• Each of the ILO’s 183 Member States has the right to send four delegates to
the Conference: two from government and one each representing workers and
employers, each of whom may speak and vote independently.
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Functions
• The ILO plays an important role in the formulation of policies which are focussed
on solving labour issues. The ILO also has other functions, such as:
• It adopts international labour standards. They are adopted in the form of
conventions. It also controls the implementation of its conventions.
• It aids the member states in resolving their social and labour problems.
• It advocates and works for the protection of Human rights.
• It is responsible for the research and publication of information regarding social and
labour issues.
• The Trade Unions play a pivotal role in developing policies at the ILO, thus
the Bureau for Workers’ Activities at the secretariat is dedicated to strengthening
independent and democratic trade unions so they can better defend workers’ rights
and interests.
• The ILO also assumes a supervisory role: it monitors the
implementation of ILO conventions ratified by member states.
• The implementation is done through the Committee of Experts, the International
Labour Conference’s Tripartite Committee and the member-states.
• Member states are obligated to send reports on the development of the
implementation of the conventions they have approved.
• Registration of complaints: The ILO registers complaints against
entities that are violating international rules.
• The ILO, however, does not impose any sanctions on the governments.
• Complaints can also be filed against member states for not complying with ILO
conventions that have been ratified.