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This section contains an ever-growing list of organizations which may be of interest to visitors to IRPP's Web site. These external links are provided as a convenience to visitors and do not necessarily imply that IRPP endorses the content of the respective Web sites. If you would like to suggest a site for inclusion in this list, please drop a line to our webmaster. |
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United States |
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Africa and Middle East |
Asia |
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Oceania |
South America |
International and Supranational Organizations The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 developed and developing nations spread over every continent. The Commonwealth's activities and projects are numerous - from promoting democracy, good governance and economic reform to providing technical assistance to governments, to improving skills and the overall quality of life through cutting edge actions in the fields of health, debt management, education, trade, gender equality and youth empowerment, among others. The Council of Europe is an international organisation based in the French city of Strasbourg. Its main role is to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout its member states. The defence and promotion of these fundamental values is no longer simply an internal matter for governments but has become a shared and collective responsibility of all the countries concerned. Under the Treaty establishing the European Community, the main responsibilities of the Council of the European Union are the following: the Council is the Community's legislative body; the Council coordinates the general economic policies of the Member States; the Council concludes, on behalf of the Community, international agreements between the latter and one or more States or international organisations; the Council and the European Parliament constitute the budgetary authority that adopts the Community's budget. Plus, under the Treaty on European Union, the Council takes the decisions necessary for defining and implementing the common foreign and security policy, on the basis of general guidelines established by the European Council and coordinates the activities of Member States and adopts measures in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was established by the Charter as the principal organ, under the authority of the General Assembly, to promote: (a) higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development; (b) solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems; and international cultural and educational cooperation; and (c) universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. Europa is the European Union's server. The Websites of the Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors and other bodies of the European Union (EU) are all accessible through this server. The European Parliament represents, in the words of the 1957 Treaty of Rome, 'the peoples of the States brought together in the European Community'. Some 375 million European citizens in 15 countries are now involved in the process of European integration through their 626 representatives in the European Parliament.The European Parliament, which derives its legitimacy from direct universal suffrage and is elected every five years, has steadily acquired greater influence and power through a series of treaties. These treaties, particularly the 1992 Maastricht Treaty and the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty, have transformed the European Parliament from a purely consultative assembly into a legislative parliament, exercising powers similar to those of the national parliaments. The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). The Court has a dual role: to settle in accordance with international law the legal disputes submitted to it by States, and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized international organs and agencies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization of 182 member countries, established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries under adequate safeguards to help ease balance of payments adjustment. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the world organization of parliaments of sovereign States. It was established in 1889. The Union is the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue and works for peace and co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.The IPU supports the efforts of the United Nations, whose objectives it shares, and works in close co-operation with it. It also co-operates with regional inter-parliamentary organizations, as well as with international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations which are motivated by the same ideals. The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949, creating an alliance of 12 independent nations committed to each other's defence. Four more European nations later acceded to the Treaty between 1952 and 1982. On 12 March 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were welcomed into the Alliance, which now numbers 19 members.The North Atlantic Treaty has continued to guarantee the security of its member countries ever since. Today, following the end of the Cold War and of the division of Europe, the Alliance has been restructured to enable it to participate in the development of cooperative security structures for the whole of Europe. It has also transformed its political and military structures in order to adapt them to peacekeeping and crisis management tasks undertaken in cooperation with countries which are not members of the Alliance and with other international organisations. The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) is an organization of 51 French speaking states and governments around the world. The OIF is active at all levels of education, in particular through involvement in reform of education systems and support for research projects. At the policy level, the OIF works to consolidate the rule of law and democracy of its member states, in particular through election observation missions and electoral capacity building before and after polling. The OECD groups 29 member countries in an organisation that, most importantly, provides governments a setting in which to discuss, develop and perfect economic and social policy. They compare experiences, seek answers to common problems and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies that increasingly in today's globalised world must form a web of even practice across nations. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security organization whose 55 participating member states are from Europe, Central Asia and North America. The OSCE has been established as a primary instrument for early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation under the United Nations' Charter. The United Nations is central to global efforts to solve problems which challenge humanity. Cooperating in this effort are more than 30 affiliated organizations, known together as the UN system. Day in and day out, the UN and its family of organizations work to promote respect for human rights, protect the environment, fight disease, foster development and reduce poverty. The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) was established in 1963 with a mandate "to conduct research into problems and policies of social development and relationships between various types of social development and economic development during different phases of economic growth." The Secretary-General's Bulletin that set up the Institute also called on UNRISD to carry out research and studies which are "urgent and important" to the work of the United Nations Secretariat as well as to regional and national institutes working in the fields of economic and social development. Founded in 1944, the World Bank Group consists of five closely associated institutions: (1) the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); (2) the International Development Association (IDA), (3) the International Finance Corporation (IFC); (4) the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and (5) the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank aims at creating the physical and social infrastructure necessary for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Founded in 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations with 191 Member States. WHO promotes technical cooperation for health among nations, carries out programs to control and eradicate disease and strives to improve the quality of human life. It has four main functions: (1) to give worldwide guidance in the field of health; (2) to set global standards for health; (3) to cooperate with governments in strengthening national health programs; and (4) to develop and transfer appropriate health technology, information and standards. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. |
