The functions of international organizations are quite broad. In general, such structures are non-standard associations that solve global problems of mankind through the cooperation of all or most countries of the world. They are aimed at improving the life of earthlings in general, reducing the number of poor people, and also protecting nature from the effects of negative human actions.
Short description
They are characterized by the following distinctive features:
- The nature of the activity is permanent or regular.
- Multilateral negotiations and discussion of issues are a priority.
- Mandatory constituent document.
- The decisions are advisory in nature.
- Consensus is reached during a dispute or through voting.
Operational environment
Such structures are simultaneously subjects and objects of international relations. They are also able to regulate these relations at the legislative level. To develop, such organizations must solve the following tasks:
- Global problems occurring in the international financial market.
- To convince all participants that any decision is important for the whole world, and try to reach consensus on the issue under discussion.
- To solve the issue of dependence of negotiators and government officials on external pressure.
- To provide maximum information support to all interested structures.
As you know, the tasks of international organizations can cover any field of activity. They are necessary for the normal existence and development of companies that are active in the international market.
Functions
The functions of international organizations are different, but the main one is political stability and is expressed by:
- In identifying the interests of Member States.
- In achieving a single solution to common tasks.
- In determining the means to accomplish such joint tasks.
The first and main factor that determines how stable the organization is is the constancy of activity. At first there were one-time congresses and conferences that met to solve certain problems, the scope of which was expanding. Further meetings were held that determined what to do next. After this, organizations began to meet more regularly, and these meetings became permanent.
The participation of the same states in such organizations can be called the second factor of stability. Initially, these were individual individuals and legal entities from different countries, and then various associations began to join, and after them the states themselves.
The structure of international organizations
Usually this is a specially created structure that is created by certain states and has goals agreed by the participants. The following criteria are known that determine membership in international organizations:
- Different nationalities unite.
- Permanent goals are agreed.
- There must be an international constituent instrument.
- Legal equality of participants is ensured.
- Compliance of objectives with international law.
Typing
The most important criterion for typification is the membership of states in a particular structure. Organizations are divided into interstate and non-state.
The former include the union of countries that have entered the structure on the basis of an international agreement. They got international legal personality.
In the second structures, participants have common political, economic, professional, economic and social interests.
However, it is worth noting that structures such as Interpol and the International Labor Organization cannot be called interstate or non-state structures. They are classified as mixed.
They are also typified by geographic coverage. Traditionally, there are three:
- Global - the world level.
- Regional - the majority of representatives of one or another macro-region (continent or part of the world) take part.
- Subregional - a small number of representatives of one or two regions (Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM), Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)).
According to the nature of authority there are:
- International - refer to the confederate type entities. The states that make up such a confederation fully retain their independence. Countries create special common confederal bodies to coordinate actions and achieve their goals faster.
- Supranational are organizations of a federal type. States that are members of the federation have their own constitutions, legislative, executive and judicial bodies.
Also, the structures are divided into temporary and permanent. Temporary are those that in 10 years have not actually held a single event. The date of completion of such activities is the closing date of the last meeting.
Right
The system of international organizations includes a number of legal norms. Member States of such a structure must comply with everything described in the jointly drafted code. If individual organizations have not complied with certain legal norms, then sanctions are imposed on them (that is, any restrictions on activities for a certain period of time, up to and including exclusion from the structure).
All participants in international organizations are equivalent subjects of public law.
Such structures have the right to jointly develop a set of legal principles and norms that allow them to exist normally in today's not-so-simple world.
Sources of law:
- Charters or agreements.
- Agreements regarding regulations.
- Acts establishing the status of participants.
- Arrangements with governments of countries within organizations.
Legal norms are divided into 3 groups:
- Own law - the norms that govern the activities, as well as determine the functions of international organizations.
- Norms that allow some of the participants to participate in the international rulemaking process.
- Foreign law - the norms fixing the place of an international organization in the structure of the system of international relations.
What decisions can be made?
The following solutions can be created in such a structure:
- Decisions - they are adopted by all states, with the exception of those that have abstained, or those that cannot accept this decision because of their constitution.
- Recommendations of an advisory nature.
- Resolutions.
We consider the forms of decisions on the example of the EU:
- Directives - oblige countries to fully implement them in each state of the participating country.
- Proposals can and should be made by all members of the organization.
- Decisions are made only by those countries that are interested in their implementation.
- Recommendations that are not legally binding.
To make a decision, the following points must be observed:
- Statement of a question.
- Consideration and development of a solution.
- Decision making by voting.
International organizations are such structures that are aimed at solving subregional, regional and global problems of mankind. Recently, the following has been observed: the more participating countries talk about global problems and try to somehow solve them, the worse and worse the world becomes, despite the fact that different methods are used to resolve them.
Economic Associations
The functions of international organizations that deal with economic issues are as follows:
- Regulatory - the adoption of decisions that determine the rules of conduct of states, as well as the goals that need to be realized in the future.
- Control - control is carried out to ensure that the behavior of states is consistent with international law.
- Operational - providing all kinds of assistance to states.
Kinds
The subjects of international organizations include:
- Interstate universal organizations.
- World associations at the regional and interregional level.
- Organizations that operate in individual segments of the global market.
Classify them into:
- Currency and financial.
- Credit.
- Trade and economic.
- Industry.
Major international organizations
Among the main associations of world scale, it is worth highlighting the activities of such structures important for society:
- APEC - is engaged in providing an open trade regime in the Pacific region.
- Andean Council - community members are engaged in deepening economic and political integration between countries, where the main goal is to develop a common economic policy in the Latin American region.
- Arctic Council - protects the unique nature of the north and the Arctic Circle.
- The G8 is a collection of eight of the most industrialized countries in the world.
- The EU is a unique economic and political structure consisting of 28 states. The European Union is not a subject of international legal relations, but has the right to participate in them.
- NATO - this also includes 28 independent states. This is a military-political union. If suddenly one NATO country was attacked, then all allies must cooperate and help in resolving the military conflict.
- The UN is the most important structure in the world, which includes the mail of all the states of the globe. She is obliged to deal with the establishment of peace on the entire planet.
- WTO - allows you to regulate commodity relations around the world. Currently, it includes more than 170 independent states.
- UNESCO - engaged in science, education and culture.
- OPEC is an international union of oil exporters.
- WHO is a world health organization that develops and implements uniform standards of medical care, and also helps to implement state health programs.
The creation of international organizations of world level in the main part was carried out after the Second World War. There are hundreds of international organizations in the world, but we have indicated only the main ones.
Why are such structures needed?
The fact is that mankind has come to the conclusion that states can no longer cope alone with pressing problems. That is why the world community has decided that it is necessary to create special interstate associations, thanks to the common efforts of which it will be possible to overcome the problems that have arisen.
From this emerge the goals of international organizations that are universal in nature and possess such distinctive features:
- There must be more than three states.
- All international organizations must respect the sovereignty of each state in it.
- They have their own charter and governing bodies.
- Each of them has its own specialization.
So, we examined the functions, types, essence and tasks of most of the well-known structures on a global scale, functioning today.