$Unique_ID{COW04269} $Pretitle{001} $Title{United Nations Chapter 7A. Intergovernmental Agencies Related to the United Nations} $Subtitle{} $Author{United Nations Publications} $Affiliation{United Nations} $Subject{international nations united development countries world health organization bank member} $Date{1989} $Log{} Country: United Nations Book: Basic Facts About the United Nations Author: United Nations Publications Affiliation: United Nations Date: 1989 Chapter 7A. Intergovernmental Agencies Related to the United Nations The intergovernmental agencies related to the United Nations by special agreements are separate, autonomous organizations which work with the United Nations and each other through the co-ordinating machinery of the Economic and Social Council. Sixteen of the agencies are known as "specialized agencies", a term used in the United Nations Charter. They report annually to the Economic and Social Council. They are the Following: - International Labour Organisation (ILO) - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) - World Health Organization (WHO) - World Bank/International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) - International Development Association (IDA) - International Finance Corporation (IFC) - International Monetary Fund (IMF) - International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) - Universal Postal Union (UPU) - International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - World Meteorological Organization (WMO) - International Maritime Organization (IMO) - World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) - International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) - United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established in 1957 "under the aegis of the United Nations", reports annually to the General Assembly and, as appropriate, to the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a multilateral agreement which lays down rules for international trade. INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY The Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was approved on 26 October 1956 at an international conference held at United Nations Headquarters, and the Agency came into existence in Vienna on 29 July 1957. On 14 November 1957, the General Assembly approved an agreement concerning IAEA's relationship with the United Nations. Aims and activities. In accordance with its Statute, IAEA's two main objectives are to seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world, and to ensure, so far as it is able, that assistance provided by it, or at its request or under its supervision or control, is not used in such a way as to further any military purpose. IAEA fosters and guides the development of peaceful uses of atomic energy, establishes standards for nuclear safety and environmental protection, aids member countries through technical co-operation, and fosters the exchange of scientific and technical information on nuclear energy. One of the Agency's main functions is to apply safeguards to ensure that nuclear materials and equipment intended for peaceful use are not diverted to military purposes. The IAEA safeguards system is primarily based on nuclear material accountancy, verified on the spot by IAEA inspectors. Various types of safeguards agreements can be concluded with IAEA. Those in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Treaty of Tlatelolco) and the Treaty of Rarotonga (see the section in Disarmament in Chapter II) require non-nuclear-weapon States to submit their entire nuclear-fuel-cycle activities to IAEA safeguards. As of 31 December 1988, there were 168 safeguard agreements in force with 99 States, compared to 166 agreements with 97 States at the end of 1987, a safeguards agreement with Nigeria Pursuant to the NPT, having entered into force in February, and unilateral submission agreements with Albania and India having entered into force in March and September respectively. A unilateral submission agreement with Spain ceased to be in force in June under the terms of the agreement. A safeguards agreement pursuant to a voluntary offer by China to place some of its civilian nuclear facilities under Agency safeguards was concluded. Agreements were also concluded with Panama pursuant to the NPT and the Tlatelolco Treaty, with Saint Lucia pursuant to the NPT, and with the United States pursuant to Additional Protocol I of the Tlatelolco Treaty. IAEA advises and assists Governments, at their request, on atomic energy programmes. The main objective of its technical assistance programme is to promote the transfer of skills and knowledge so that recipient countries can carry out their atomic energy programmes more efficiently and safely. It provides advisers, equipment and training to member States, the majority of which are developing countries. Total new resources available for technical co-operation in 1988 amounted to $45.6 million. IAEA formulates basic safety standards for radiation protection and issues regulations and codes of practice on specific types of operations, including the safe transport of radioactive materials. It also facilitates emergency assistance to member States in the event of a radiation accident. The capability of the Agency to perform its functions under the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency and under the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident was strengthened, in particular, through arrangements for use of the World Meteorological Organization's Global Telecommunication System to transmit measured radiological data. The Agency continued to co-operate with other organizations in the development of a more uniform approach to the setting of derived intervention levels for foodstuffs. Radiological data from member States were collated for use by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation to assess the radiological impact of the Chernobyl (Ukrainian SSR) accident. An expanded safety programme was adopted covering the areas of safety of nuclear installations, radiation protection, human health, radioactive waste management, nuclear power, and the nuclear fuel cycle. Information on virtually every aspect of nuclear science and technology is collected and disseminated by IAEA through its International Nuclear Information System in Vienna. With the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, it operates the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, and maintains three laboratories for studies in basic nuclear physics applications and practical uses. The Agency works with the Food and Agriculture Organization in research on atomic energy in food and agriculture, and with the World Health Organization on radiation in medicine and biology. Administration. IAEA's policies and programmes are directed by the General Conference, composed of all IAEA's member States, which meets annually, and by a 35-member Board of Governors. Director General : Hans Blix Headquarters: Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION The International Labour Organisation (ILO) was established in 1919, under the Treaty of Versailles, as an autonomous institution associated with the League of Nations. An agreement establishing the relationship between ILO and the United Nations was approved on 14 December 1946, and the organization became the first specialized agency associated with the United Nations. Aims and activities. ILO works to promote social justice for working people everywhere. It formulates international policies and programmes to help improve working and living conditions; creates international labour standards to serve as guidelines for national authorities in putting these policies into action; carries out an extensive programme of technical co-operation to help Governments in making these policies effective in practice; and engages in training, education and research to help advance these efforts. ILO is unique among world organizations in that worker's and employers' representatives have an equal voice with those of Governments in formulating its policies. The International Labour Conference is composed of delegates from each member country-two from the government and one each representing workers and employers. One of its most important functions is the adoption of conventions and recommendations which set international labour standards in such areas as freedom of association, wages, hours and conditions of work, workmen's compensation, social insurance, vacation with pay, industrial safety, employment services, and labour inspection. Conventions create binding obligations-for member States that ratify them-to put their provisions into effect, while recommendations provide guidance for national policy, legislation and practice. Since ILO was founded, more than 300 conventions and recommendations have been adopted. ILO monitors the application of conventions by ratifying States and has a special procedure for investigating complaints of infringements of trade union rights. Through the organization's programme of technical co-operation, ILO experts assist member countries in such fields as vocational training, management techniques, manpower planning, employment policies, occupational safety and health, social security systems, co-operatives and small-scale handicraft industries. Opportunities for study and training are offered at ILO's International Institute for Labour Studies in Geneva and the International Centre for Advanced Technical and Vocational training in Turin, Italy. Administration. Between the annual sessions of the International Labour Conference, in which all members are represented, the work of the ILO is guided by the Governing Body, comprising 28 government members and 14 worker and 14 employer members. Director-General: Michel Hansenne. Headquarters: 4, route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was founded at a conference in Quebec on 16 October 1945. Since 1979, that date has been observed annually as World Food Day. Aims and activities. The aims of FAO are to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living; to improve the production, processing, marketing and distribution of all food and agricultural products from farms, forests and fisheries; to promote rural development and improve the living conditions of rural populations; and by these means, to eliminate hunger. In carrying out these aims. FAO promotes investment in agriculture, better soil and water management, improved yields of crops and livestock, and the transfer of technology to, and the development of agricultural research in, developing countries. It promotes the conservation of natural resources, particularly plant genetic resources, and the rational use of fertilizers and pesticides; combats animal diseases; promotes the development of marine and inland fisheries and of new and renewable sources of energy, in particular rural energy; and encourages the rational use of forest resources. Technical assistance is provided in all these fields and in others such as nutrition, agricultural engineering, agrarian reform, development communications, remote sensing for natural resources, and the prevention of food losses. Special FAO programmes help countries prepare for, and provide relief in the event of, emergency food situations. Its Global Information and Early Warning System provides current information on the world food situation and identifies countries threatened by shortages, to guide potential donors. Its Food Security Assistance Scheme is designed to assist developing countries set up national food reserves. Other programmes aim at improving seed production and distribution in developing countries and assisting countries in the supply and use of fertilizers. There is also a programme to control African animal trypanosomiasis, a disease severely limiting the survival of livestock in Africa. FAO acts as the lead agency for rural development in the United Nations system. It gives individuals and organizations the opportunity to participate in rural development through the Freedom from Hunger/Action for Development programme. With the United Nations, FAO sponsors the World Food Programme (see section on World food problems in Chapter III). Administration. The General Conference of FAO, composed of all 158 member nations, meets every other year to determine the policy and approve the budget and work programme of FAO. The Council, consisting of 49 member nations elected by the Conference, serves as the governing body of FAO between sessions of the Conference. Director-General: Edouard Saouma. Headquarters: Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy. UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION The constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was prepared by a conference convened in London in 1945. UNESCO came into being on 4 November 1946. Aims and activities. UNESCO's primary aim is to contribute to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture and communication. To realize these aims, UNESCO expands and guides education so as to enable the people of very country to take their own development in hand more effectively; helps in establishing the scientific and technological foundations through which every country can make better use of its resources; encourages national cultural values and the preservation of cultural heritage so as to derive the maximum advantage from modernization without the loss of cultural identity and diversity; develops communication for a free flow and a wider and better balanced dissemination of information; and promotes the social sciences as instruments for the realization of human rights, justice and peace. In education, its major activity, UNESCO combines literacy programmes with a drive to make primary education universal and eliminate illiteracy's root causes. It also helps train teachers, educational planners and administrators, and encourages local building and equipping of schools. In the natural sciences, UNESCO's programmes include Man and the Biosphere; the programme of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission; and the International Hydrological and International Geological Correlation programmes. In addition, through education and training programmes, UNESCO helps to correct the imbalance in scientific and technological manpower, 90 per cent of which is now concentrated in the industrialized countries. In the social sciences, UNESCO has produced studies on such subjects as tensions leading to war, racism, the socioeconomic factors of development, and the relationship between man and his environment. UNESCO's cultural activities are concentrated chiefly on the stimulation of artistic creativity, the study and development of cultures, and the conservation of the world's inheritance of books, works of art and monuments, as well as the preservation of cultural identities and oral traditions. In communications, UNESCO surveys needs and assists developing countries, through its International Programme for the Development of Communication, to set up infrastructures in that field. Efforts are being made to broaden international co-operation through: studies of the role of the media in establishing a new economic order; co-operation with regional news agencies; and symposia, whose aim is to increase the flow of third world news. Administration. The General Conference of UNESCO, composed of representatives of the 158 member countries, meets biennially to decide the policy, programme and budget of the organization. The Executive Board, consisting of 51 members elected by the General Conference, meets at least two times a year and is responsible for supervising the programme adopted by the Conference. Director-General: Federico Mayor. Headquarters: 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75007 Paris, France. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION The World Health Organization (WHO) came into being on 7 April 1948, when 26 United Nations Member States had ratified its constitution. The date is observed annually as World Health Day. Aims and activities. WHO's objective is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Since 1977, when the World Health Assembly set "Health for All by the Year 2000" as WHO's overriding priority, a global strategy has been worked out to reach this goal. The strategy, which requires the combined efforts of Governments and people for its implementation, is based on the primary health care approach, involving eight essential elements: education concerning prevailing health problems; proper food supply and nutrition; safe water and sanitation; maternal and child health, including family planning; immunization against major infectious diseases; prevention and control of local diseases; appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries; and provision of essential drugs. WHO helps countries reinforce their health systems by building up infrastructures, particularly health manpower and including services for the individual, family and community, health institutions, systems for referring complex problems to more specialized services, and the provision of essential drugs and other supplies and equipment. WHO also promotes the research required to develop appropriate technologies relating to all aspects of health, including nutrition, maternal and child care, environmental safety, mental health, control of specific diseases, accident prevention, medical care and rehabilitation. Provision of safe drinking water and adequate waste disposal for all are objectives of the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), in which WHO plays a major role. WHO is leading a world-wide campaign to provide effective immunization for all children by 1990 to prevent the six major communicable diseases of childhood-diphtheria, measles, poliomyelitis, tetanus, tuberculosis and whooping cough. It is also active in international efforts to combat the diarrhoeal diseases, killers of infants and young children. Global research programmes administered by WHO include a special programme, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank, of research and training in tropical diseases (malaria, leprosy, schistosomiasis, filariasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis). Working in co-operation with the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNDP and several donor countries, WHO is engaged in a massive programme to combat onchocerciasis, or river blindness, in western African. WHO also directs and co-ordinates a special programme and global strategy to prevent and control AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), first identified in 1981, with public information and education about the modes of transmission as major priorities. Administration. The governing body of WHO is the World Health Assembly, on which all 166 member States are represented. It meets annually to review the organization's work and decide on policy, programme and budget. The Executive Board has 31 members, designated by as many countries; it acts as the executive arm of the Assembly. Director-General: Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, M.D., Ph.D. Headquarters: 20, avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. WORLD BANK The World Bank is a group of three institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), established in 1945; the International Finance Corporation (IFC), established in 1956; and the International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960. The common objective of all three institutions is to help raise standards of living in developing countries by channelling financial resources to those countries from developed countries. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT Aims and activities. IBRD was established when 28 countries had signed the Articles of Agreement that had been drawn up at a United Nations monetary and financial conference of 44 Governments, held in 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire (United States). It was established to assist in the reconstruction and development of territories of its members by facilitating the investment of capital for productive purposes; to promote private foreign investment and, when private capital is not readily available on reasonable terms, to supplement private investment by providing finance for productive purposes; and to promote the long-range balanced growth of international trade and the maintenance of equilibrium in balances of payments by encouraging international investment for the development of productive resources of members. The Bank's charter spells out basic rules that govern its operations: it must lend only for productive purposes (such as agriculture and rural development, energy, education, health, family planning and nutrition, roads and railways, telecommunications, urban ports and power facilities) and must pay due regard to the prospects for repayment; each loan must be guaranteed by the Government concerned and, except in special circumstances, must be for specific projects; the Bank must assure itself that the necessary funds are unavailable from other sources on reasonable terms; the use of loans cannot be restricted to purchases in any particular member country or countries; and the Bank's decisions to lend must be based only on economic considerations. Since 1980, the Bank has made loans supporting programmes of specific policy changes and institutional reforms. The Bank, whose capital is subscribed by its member countries, finances its lending operations primarily from its own borrowings in world markets, as well as from retained earnings and the flow of repayments on its loans. Loans may be made to member countries, to their political subdivisions or to private business enterprises in their territories. In addition to granting loans, the Bank provides a wide range of technical assistance services. Administration. All powers of the Bank are vested in the Board of Governors, composed of one Governor and one alternate appointed by each of the 151 member countries. The Board normally meets once a year. There are 22 Executive Directors-five appointed by members having the largest number of shares and 17 elected by Governors of the remaining members. The Board of Governors delegates to the Executive Directors authority to exercise all powers of the Bank, except those reserved to the Board by the Articles of Agreement. The President of the Bank is selected by the Board of Governors, of which he is ex officio Chairman. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION Aims and activities. The need for lending to many poor countries on much easier terms than the Bank alone could give became apparent in the 1950s, and the IDA was therefore established in 1960, as an affiliate of the Bank, to help meet this need. The bulk of IDA's resources comes from three sources: transfers from the Banks's net earnings; capital subscribed in convertible currencies by the members of IDA; and contributions from IDA's richer members. In order to borrow from IDA, a country must meet four criteria: it must be very poor (the "poverty ceiling" was $796 per capita gross national product in 1981 dollars); it must have sufficient economic, financial and political stability to warrant long-term development lending; it must have an unusually difficult balance-of-payments problem and little prospect of earning enough foreign exchange to justify borrowing all it needs on conventional terms; and it must have a genuine commitment to development as reflected in its policies. Nearly all IDA "credits", as they are called to distinguish them from Bank "loans", have been for a period of 50 years, without interest, except for a small charge to cover administrative costs. Repayment of principal does not begin until after a 10-year grace period. Administration. The World Bank is responsible for the administration of IDA, and the Bank's Board of Governors, Executive Directors and President serve ex officio in IDA.