LEAGUE OF NATIONS

The League of Nations was the international organization that was created after the devastating World
War I. It was established on 10th January 1920. The League was a result of the efforts of the victorious
war allies and the growing public demand of methods to prevent any chances of future war and
maintaining peace and stability.

The League was composed of three main organs The Council, Assembly and a Secretariat. The Council
worked as the Executive body of the League and included allied and associated powers during the WWI
as its permanent members and other non-permanent members.

The decisions made by the Council was based on unanimous decision of its members and the decisions
were not binding upon member states. Furthermore, the members of the League of Nations were to
decide for themselves, if the Covenant of the League had been breached and if sanctions were to be
applied or not.

The League and its sanctions worked well in relations to minor issues as related to the Balkans and
South America, but it proved of no avail in relations to major crisis concerning stronger states such as
Italy, Japan and Russian invasion of Finland.

Objectives:

Its main objectives of the League of Nations were:

 Prevention of War through collective security

 Disarmament
 Settling disputes among and between countries through negotiations and diplomacy
 Improving global welfare
 Other concerning issues that were to be dealt by the League included:
 Improving Labour condition
 Just treatment of natives
 Matters concerning human and drug trafficking
 Arms trade
 Global health issues
 Prisoners of war
 Protection of the rights of minorities in Europe

The League of Nations was an organization for international cooperation. It was established on January
10, 1920, at the initiative of the victorious Allied powers at the end of World War I and was formally
disbanded on April 19, 1946. Although ultimately it was unable to fulfill the hopes of its founders, its
creation was an event of decisive importance in the history of international relations

Organs of the League of Nations:

 The General Assembly.

 The Council.
  The Secretariat.
 The International court of Justice.
 International labour organization.

Chronology of the League of Nations

The main organs of the League of Nations were the General Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat.
The General Assembly, which met once a year, consisted of representatives of all the member states
and decided on the organization’s policy. The Council included four permanent members (Britain,
France, Italy and Japan) and four (later nine) others elected by the General Assembly every three years.
The Secretariat prepared the agenda and published reports of meetings.

The Assembly was the annual conference of League member states. The Proceedings of the Assembly
appeared as a separate publication for the first three sessions, the first of which was held in Paris on
January 16, 1920. Thereafter, until 1938, they were issued as a Special Supplement to the Official
Journal. Resolutions passed in the Plenary Sessions were also published in Special Supplements. These
supplements were numbered consecutively over the years. Dates for Assemblies and links to list of
members of each country’s delegation

The Council's main function was to settle international disputes. The numbers of permanent and non-
permanent members varied. Council meetings were held in ordinary session four times a year and as
often as needed in extraordinary sessions. 107 public sessions were held between 1920 and 1939. From
1922 onwards, the minutes appeared in the Official Journal. Records for meetings held before 1922
were published separately. The resolutions can only be found in the minutes of the meetings.

Hans Aufricht’s Guide lists Assembly and Council meeting records. (Guide to League of Nations
publications : a bibliographical survey of the work of the League, 1920-1947 O.REF/LN.2)

The Secretariat carried out the day-to-day work of the League, under the direction of the Secretary-
General. The three Secretaries-General were Sir Eric Drummond, 1919-1933; Joseph Avenol, 1933-1940;
and Sean Lester, 1940-1946. The Secretary-General wrote annual reports on the work of the League.
These are also listed in Aufricht’s Guide

Autonomous bodies

Permanent Court of International Justice

Establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) was provided for in the Covenant of
the League of Nations. It held its inaugural sitting in 1922 and was dissolved in 1946.International
Labour Organisation

The International Labor Organization/Bureau International du Travail (ILO/BIT) was established in 1919
at the Paris Peace Conference as an international organization working in cooperation with the League
of Nations. The goal of the ILO/BIT was stated in the Covenant of the League of Nations (Article 23a)
which called for the maintenance of “fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women, and
children.” The membership of the ILO/BIT consisted of all of the member states of the League of
Nations, plus the United States (which accepted membership in the organization on August 20, 1934).
The Official Papers section has been designated a depository library since 1938, holding official records
and publications. The collection is on open shelf, under O.ILO. Please search the online catalogue SOLO

Conferences, committees and commissions

Committees, commissions and conferences received mandates from the League of Nations; for example
the Opium Advisory Committee and the Permanent Mandates Commission

Committee documents may not have been printed. The League ceased to print the minutes of most
committees after 1931.

If a committee submitted reports to the Assembly or Council, these reports were printed as Assembly or
Council documents. A general introduction to committee structure can be found at ‘Committees of the
League of Nations’ [C.287.M.125.1934]/General.1934.4

Conference documents received a number using a scheme peculiar to the conference itself, and only
received a formal League document number if they were submitted to the Assembly or the Council. The
preliminary documents and the proceedings of conferences were often issued in collected form as
League documents. Aufricht’s ‘Guide to League of Nations publications’ lists by topic the final acts and
related documents for many conferences.

Explain the ideals that underpinned the forming of the League of Nations

KEY POINTS

 The League of Nations was formed at the Paris Peace Conference to prevent another global
conflict like World War I and maintain world peace. It was the first organization of its kind.
 Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing wars through collective security
and disarmament and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration.
 Unlike former efforts at world peace such as the Concert of Europe, the League was an
independent organization without an army of its own, and thus depended on the Great Powers
to enforce its resolutions.
 The members were often hesitant to do so, leaving the League powerless to intervene in disputes
and conflicts.
 The U.S. Congress, mainly led by Henry Cabot Lodge, was resistant to joining the League, as
doing so would legally bind the U.S. to intervene in European conflicts. In the end, the U.S. did
not join the League, despite being its main architects.
 The League failed to intervene in many conflicts leading up to World War II, including the Italian
invasion of Abyssinia, the Spanish Civil War, and the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Achievements of the League of Nations

a) The League of Nations, through the Permanent Court of International Justice, maintained
international peace and security.

b) The League of Nations achieved its objective of treating the minority with humane. Eg. The Jews after
the Nazi ideology.

c) The league assisted in the administration of the trust territories, through the Mandates.
d) The league successfully restored financial stability in Austria following the economic slump in the
country after the World War 1.

Causes of its Failure:

The League of Nations was the first major attempt as an international organization of state to maintain
peace and promote international co-operation. But it failed. Some of the causes of its failure are briefly
mentioned as follows:—

1. The political background of Europe at the time of the birth of the League was not very conducive
to a peace organization. World War I had been fought ostensibly to make the world safe for
democracy, to end all future wars, etc. But essentially it was an imperialist war for the division
and re-division of colonies.

The major powers namely the allied and the associated powers were, no doubt, victorious but peace as
it emerged was an imperialist peace. The secret treaties among major powers were concluded at the
very outset.

The League of Nations was a part of the Versailles peace treaty. But men like Clemenceau (French P.M.)
and Lloyd George never wanted its success. Clemenceau actually ridiculed the idea and said to Wilson, “I
like your League of Nations. I like it very much but I do not believe in it,” Thus the imperialist character
of the peace handicapped the League throughout its history.

2. At no stage of its history did the League represent the world balance of forces. The U.S.A. never
became its member and Russia stepped in only in 1934. Thus its effectiveness as an instrument
of the world peace suffered.
3. In absence of Russia and America, it was actually dominated by the Anglo-French powers and
became an instrument of their policy in Europe and since these powers were not interested in
peace so much as in maintenance of their imperialist domination and destruction of Soviet
Union, the League of Nations never had a chance to succeed.
4. The League of Nations was founded on the principle of unani of all the members except those
who were party to a dispute. Thus every single member including the smallest had the right to
veto. This system had two very important consequences.
(i) A small power could very irresponsibly hamstring the League in its action against an
aggressor. For instance, aid to Republican Spain and condemnation of Fascist attack
against Spain was prevented by a hostile vote of Portugal. The small powers who
could not have the responsibility of maintaining world peace, could yet wreck it.
(ii) The big powers very often used small powers as stalking horses from behind the
veto of a small member and thus escaped responsibility for a particular decision
before their own people and world public opinion.
5. The world was divided into two social systems-the capitalistic and socialistic. The absence of
Russia created a very real danger that the League might be used against the new socialist state.
Unfortunately, this danger proved to be real. The League which condoned fascist aggressions
one after the other, wasted no time in violating its very principles by expelling Soviet Union on
the question of Finland.
6. The spheres of activity of the Council and the Assembly were not clearly defined. It led to
confusion of responsibility.
 7. The responsibility for maintenance of peace was not securely placed anywhere. The Council of
the League which alone could shoulder it was burdened with other responsibilities regarding
minority treaties, mandatory territories, etc.

Despite these flaws, the League could have been made an instrument of peace if the powers dominating
had wished it so. The articles of the covenant of the League provided for economic and military
sanctions against the aggressors. The League failed because the leading powers never wanted a durable
peace.

The League of Nations aimed at preventing wars. It succeeded in achieving its aim so there were
disputes between smaller nations. But as soon as big countries got involved in wars, it failed in achieving
its aim. Japan was the first nation which disobeyed the League of Nations. In 1931 it committed an
aggression on Manchuria. After that, Mussolini, the Italian dictator followed in the footsteps of Japan
and committed an aggression on Ethiopia in 1935. Chancellor Hitler of Germany did the same. In 1933,
he left the membership of the League of Nations and acted against the Treaties of Versailles (1919) and
Locarno.

(a) On March, 1938, Hitler conquered Austria and after that Czechoslovakia. Then he committed
aggressions on Poland, Belgium and France. As a result, the Second World War broke out and
the League of Nations proved a failure.
(b) Since the League of Nations did not possess sovereignty, its decisions were not a binding on the
member-nations.

© Unanimous support was required for the decisions of the League of Nations. If any of the members
did not agree, no decision could be taken.

(c) The Disarmament policy of the League of Nations could not prove a success.

€ A number of nations including Japan, Germany, Italy, Alabama, Spain and Rumania left the
membership of the League of Nations.

(f) America was not the member of the League of Nations; the U.S.S.R. was later on expelled and Great
Britain and France did not shoulder their responsibilities properly.

(g) The League of Notions did not possess its permanent army which could be deployed against the
aggressor.

(h) The circumstances which gave birth to the League of Nations could not prove favorable for its
smooth-running. The purview of the League v confined by the Treaty of Versailles (1919) as it was the
fourteenth section of the same treaty. Hence, the League of the Nations had to shoulder the heavy
responsibility of acting in consent with the treaty.

In 1919, when Hitler continued to act against the spirit of the treaty, the League of Nations had no force
to compel him not to do so. When the 1919 treaty was renounced, the Second World War broke out and
the League of Nations came to an end.

Short Notes on the Contribution of Treaty of Versailles in Rise of Nazism

The treaty of Versailles had a far-reaching impact and paved the way for the rise of Nazism in
Germany and World War II.

(i) Treaty of Versailles was ‘dictated’ peace. The republican government was compelled to sign
the treaty under the threat of invasion. The war guilt clause, loss of German territories and
colonies were-harsh and humiliating.
(ii) The treaty made provisions for demilitarization of Germany to further weaken it.
(iii) The ceding of the coal mines and return of Alsace-Lorraine and occupation of resources of
rich Rhineland aimed to de-industrialize Germany.
(iv) The clause of war compensation added additional burden to the already crippled economy
of Germany.

Thus the treaty of Versailles was harsh, humiliating and devastating for the economy and national
honour of the Germ In its clauses, lay the causes for the rise of Nazism.

Through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and other bodies
and commit goals

UNITED NATIONS
The work of the United Nations reaches every corner of the globe. Although best known for
peacekeeping, peacebuilding, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance, there are many other
ways the United Nations and its System (specialized agencies, funds and programmes) affect our lives
and make the world a better place. The Organization works on a broad range of fundamental issues,
from sustainable development, environment and refugees protection, disaster relief, counter terrorism,
disarmament and non-proliferation, to promoting democracy, human rights, gender equality and the
advancement of women, governance, economic and social development and international health,
clearing landmines, expanding food production, and more, in order to achieve its goals and coordinate
efforts for a safer world for this and future generations.

The UN has 4 main purposes

 To keep peace throughout the world;

 To develop friendly relations among nations;
 To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease
and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;
 To be a Centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals

The United Nations is neither a supra-State nor a government of governments. It does not have an army
and it imposes no taxes. It depends on the political will of its Member States to have its decisions put
into action and relies on the contributions of its Members to carry out its activities.

The six organs of the United Nations are outlined in the sections below:

General Assembly
The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the United Nations. It is composed of
representatives from all Member States, each of which has one vote. Read more about the General
Assembly here.

Security Council

Under the Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international
peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member
States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. Read more about the Security Council here.

Economic and Social Council

A founding UN Charter body established in 1946, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the place
where the world’s economic, social and environmental challenges are discussed and debated, and policy
recommendations issued. Read more about ECOSOC here.

Trusteeship Council

The Trusteeship Council was established to provide international supervision for 11 Trust Territories and
to make sure that adequate steps were taken to prepare the Territories for self-government or
independence. Read more about the Trusteeship Council here.

International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The Court is
charged with settling legal disputes between States and giving advisory opinions to the United Nations
and its specialized agencies. Read more about the International Court of Justice here.

Secretariat

The UN Secretariat, consisting of staff representing all nationalities working in duty stations all over the
world, carries out the day-to-day work of the Organization. The Secretariat services the other principal
organs of the United Nations and administers the programs and policies established by them. Read more
about the Secretariat here.

Major achievements of UNO

1. UNO has rendered a great service in establishing Peace and Security by solving various problems
generally political disputes by Security Council, Legal disputes by the International Court of Justice and
others by special agencies.

2. The UNO has solved many international disputes and preserves peace in the world through peaceful
negotiations.

3. It settled disputes between Israel and Palestine, Iran and Iraq and withdrawal of Soviet troops from
Afghanistan.

4. It has signed many Nuclear Test Ban treaties like NTBT in 1963 and CTBT in 1996.

5. UN has conducted the conference of environment and development at Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
6. In this conference, all countries adopted -Agenda 21 “ a blueprint to promote economic development
and protect natural resources.

7. The UNO established the International Research and Training Institute for women.

8. The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training
Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) have supported programs and projects to improve
the quality of life for women in over 100 countries.

9. It has supported many programs and projects to improve the quality of life for women in over 100
countries.

10. The UNO played a vital role in the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. It made France, Britain, and Israel
withdraw troops from Egypt. The UNO also settled the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

UN- Origin and its organs:

UN is an international organization founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries.

It provides a forum for its 193 Member States to express their views, through the General Assembly, the
Security Council and other bodies and committees.

It has 4 main purposes–

 To keep peace throughout the world;

 To develop friendly relations among nations;
 To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease
and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms;
 To be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals.

Organs of UN:
The main organs of the UN are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social
Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat. All were
established in 1945 when the UN was founded.

The General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. All
193 Member States of the UN are represented in the General Assembly.

The Security Council has primary responsibility, for the maintenance of international peace and security.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy
dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues.

The Trusteeship Council provides international supervision for 11 Trust Territories that had been placed
under the administration of seven Member States (it is not functional now).
The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations which settles, in
accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States.

The Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and tens of thousands of international UN staff
members who carry out the day-to-day work of the UN.

Success and failures:

 The UN defined, codified and expanded the realm of international law, governing the legal
responsibilities of States in their conduct with each other, and their treatment of individuals
within State boundaries.
 The U.N. has solved many violent conflicts, prevented wars, and saved millions of lives.
 More than 560 multilateral treaties on human rights, refugees, disarmament, trade, oceans,
outer space, etc... Encompassing all aspects of international affairs were negotiated by the U.N.
 The ECOSOC continually monitors the progress of development, particularly in the light of the
MDGs.
 It has created a new UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management
which brings together government experts from all Member States to compile and disseminate
best practices and experiences on geospatial information which helps in the context of
sustainable development and humanitarian assistance.
 The ICJ has a positive effect on the development of International Law and the propagation of the
principles of sovereignty, non-conquest, human rights and the rights of existence and self-
defense of a state.
 The ICJ provides an additional option for states to settle their disputes peacefully through third
party intervention, and this has reduced the threat of open war.

Failures:
 In 1970, though the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed by 190 nations, all five
superpowers owned nuclear weapons. Despite the NPT and Partial Test Ban Treaty, several
countries – North Korea, Israel, Pakistan, and India have developed nuclear weapons. Thus, the
UN has failed to enforce regulations on offending nations.
 Though the ICJ has resolved major international disputes, the U.N.’s veto powers have limited its
effectiveness at critical times.
 Human Rights violations are happening at conflict-prone regions like Gaza-strip but UNSC has
failed as the United States vetoes any action against Israel.
 The Arab Spring in the Middle East which caused thousands of deaths and regime changes, the
rise of ISIS, gruesome killings might have been prevented if the Member States of the U.N. had
the ability to resolutely act in a timely manner.
 But the U.N. is not a world government, and it does not have a standing army of peace-keepers
ready for deployment.
 NGO workers from around the world have blamed that vulnerable people are being denied
representation at the UN by the dysfunctional nature of the NGO committee and its parent
body, the Ecosoc.
  The ICJ is noted for its failures to successfully resolve inter-state disputes. To date there are
more than 30 unresolved frontier cases concerning land of greater value, which has never been
submitted to the ICJ, because one party’s claim is not on legal grounds.
 Major issues of peace and security between the more powerful states are rarely submitted as
most governments tend to “consider the recognition of the jurisdiction of the court as infringing
on their sovereignty”.
 There is no real means of enforcing the ICJ’s verdict.

Overall reforms needed:

 The UN, in recent years, has faced a cash crunch. Hence there should be an increase in funding
which is timely.
 Once the world is on a robust path to achieve the SDGs, the need for peacekeeping and
emergency-relief operations should decline as conflicts diminish in number and scale.
 The UN needs to strengthen its expertise in areas such as ocean health, renewable energy
systems, urban design, disease control, technological innovation, public-private partnerships,
and peaceful cultural cooperation.
 Some UN programs should be merged or closed, while other new SDG-related UN programs
should be created.
 UN’s governance should be mended, starting with the Security Council, the composition of which
no longer reflects global geopolitical realities.
 The Western Europe and Other Group (WEOG) now accounts for three of the five permanent
members (France, the United Kingdom, and the US) but Africa or Latin America has none.
 The rotating seats on the Security Council do not adequately restore regional balance.
 Seats for Asia, which represents the world’s most dynamic and populous region should be
increased.
 Any substantial reform can be achieved by amending the UN Charter which requires an
affirmative vote and domestic ratification by two-thirds of UN member states.
 In addition to charter reform, procedural changes, including greater transparency and closer
consultations with troop-contributing countries is required.

COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
The Commonwealth is an association of countries across the world. Although historically connected to
the British Empire, any country can apply to be a member of the Commonwealth, regardless of its
intersection with Britain’s colonial past. The Commonwealth consists of 54 countries, including the
United Kingdom.

The British monarch is head of the Commonwealth. In some Commonwealth countries, such as the
United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, the monarch symbolically holds the highest office as head of
state.The Statute of Westminster in 1931 established the first countries to become autonomous while
pledging allegiance to the British crown. Sovereign status was given to Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa, the Irish Free State (Ireland), and Newfoundland; however, Newfoundland’s government
refused independence and later became Newfoundland and Labrador, a province of Canada.

Organizations
The Commonwealth is often described as a ‘family’ of nations. At the heart of this family are three
intergovernmental organizations:

The Commonwealth Secretariat supports member countries to achieve the Commonwealth’s aims. This
website is run by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The Commonwealth Foundation supports people’s participation in democracy and development.

The Commonwealth of Learning promotes open learning and distance education.

The international headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat and Commonwealth Foundation are
located in Marlborough House on Pall Mall in London.

Commonwealth member countries are also supported by a network of more than 80 intergovernmental,
civil, cultural and professional organizations

The Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the intergovernmental organisation which supports member

countries and co-ordinates Commonwealth activities.

Commonwealth Secretary-General

The Commonwealth Secretary-General is responsible for representing the Commonwealth publicly, and
is the Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The Right Honourable Patricia Scotland KC is the current Commonwealth Secretary-General.

Board of Governors

All member governments are represented on the Commonwealth Secretariat Board of Governors by
their High Commissioners. The role of the Board of Governors, which usually meets once a year, is to
approve the Secretariat’s strategic plans, work programmes and budgets.

The Chairperson of the Board of Governors and the representative of the Chair in Office also sit on the
Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is a sub-committee of the Board of Governors that can
make policy recommendations to the Board and oversees budgets and audit functions. The Executive
Committee includes the eight largest contributors to the Secretariat’s total resources, with additional
member countries from each region elected to serve two-year terms.

Commonwealth Chair-in-Office

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is the current Commonwealth Chair-in-Office.

The Chair-in-Office represents the Commonwealth at high-level international meetings and reinforces
the Good Offices role of the Commonwealth Secretary-General. The term ‘Good Offices’ refers to the
Commonwealth’s conflict prevention and resolution work.

The Chair-in-Office is the leader of the Commonwealth country that hosts a Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM). The two-year role comes into effect at the start of the CHOGM. The
next CHOGM is in 2024, when Samoan Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa will become Chair-in-
Office.
Staff

Staff at the Commonwealth Secretariat are structured around areas of work and a Senior Management
Committee (SMC)

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH SINCE ITS FORMATION

 It maintains peace by sending peace keepers to the war-tom member countries

 It has established a fund to assist the economically poor member states to meet their needs.
 It provides technical assistance/expertise to the less developed members
 It promotes the development of education by offering scholarships/exchange programmes.
 It promotes mutual understanding/cooperation among members by holding joint
sports/games/cultural activities.
 It promotes consultations among member states in areas of common interests by holding joint
forums.
 It has promoted good governance through holding regular meetings by the members of
parliament/sending observers during elections.
 It promotes the development of the youth through the commonwealth youth programme
 It has enabled the member states to speak in one voice/have a common stand in the
international /for a.
 It promotes trade among members states.

The Commonwealth Values/objectives

The Commonwealth values, which include;

 the promotion of democracy,

 human rights,
 good governance,
 the rule of law,
 individual liberty,
 egalitarianism,
 free trade,
 multilateralism and world peace,
 emerged in independence movements and the struggles for self-government.

Failure of commonwealth

(i) Economic inequality among member states.

(ii) Inability to enforce its resolutions/sanctions
(iii) Divided loyalty resulting from the membership of other international organization.
(iv) Ideological differences of members states.
(v) Political instability of some members states.
(vi) Inability of some member states to the expense of the Common wealth.D
(vii) Introduction of visas by Britain discouraged free movement of people and technology.
(viii) Inadequate funds for the execution of its projects
(ix) Free entry and exit of member states from the organization.
History and Evolution of Non-Aligned Movements
History

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was created and founded during the collapse of the colonial system
and the independence struggles of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America and other regions of the
world and at the height of the Cold War. During the early days of the Movement, its actions were a key
factor in the decolonization process, which led later to the attainment of freedom and independence by
many countries and peoples and to the founding of tens of new sovereign States. Throughout its history,
the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has played a fundamental role in the preservation of world
peace and security.

While some meetings with a third-world perspective were held before 1955, historians consider that the
Bandung Asian-African Conference is the most immediate antecedent to the creation of the Non-Aligned
Movement. This Conference was held in Bandung on April 18-24, 1955 and gathered 29 Heads of States
belonging to the first post-colonial generation of leaders from the two continents with the aim of
identifying and assessing world issues at the time and pursuing out joint policies in international
relations.

The principles that would govern relations among large and small nations, known as the “Ten Principles
of Bandung”, were proclaimed at that Conference. Such principles were adopted later as the main goals
and objectives of the policy of non-alignment. The fulfillment of those principles became the essential
criterion for Non-Aligned Movement membership; it is what was known as the “quintessence of the
Movement” until the early 1990s.

In 1960, in the light of the results achieved in Bandung, the creation of the Movement of Non-Aligned
Countries was given a decisive boost during the Fifteenth Ordinary Session of the United Nations
General Assembly, during which 17 new African and Asian countries were admitted. A key role was
played in this process by the then Heads of State and Government Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Kwame
Nkrumah of Ghana, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Ahmed Sukarno of Indonesia and Josip Broz Tito of
Yugoslavia, who later became the founding fathers of the movement and its emblematic leaders.

Six years after Bandung, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries was founded on a wider geographical
basis at the First Summit Conference of Belgrade, which was held on September 1-6, 1961. The
Conference was attended by 25 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Yemen, Myanmar, Cambodia, Srilanka,
Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco,
Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yugoslavia.

The Founders of NAM have preferred to declare it as a movement but not an organization in order to
avoid bureaucratic implications of the latter.

The membership criteria formulated during the Preparatory Conference to the Belgrade Summit (Cairo,
1961) show that the Movement was not conceived to play a passive role in international politics but to
formulate its own positions in an independent manner so as to reflect the interests of its members.

Thus, the primary of objectives of the non-aligned countries focused on the support of self-
determination, national independence and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States; opposition
to apartheid; non-adherence to multilateral military pacts and the independence of non-aligned
countries from great power or block influences and rivalries; the struggle against imperialism in all its
forms and manifestations; the struggle against colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, foreign occupation
and domination; disarmament; non-interference into the internal affairs of States and peaceful
coexistence among all nations; rejection of the use or threat of use of force in international relations;
the strengthening of the United Nations; the democratization of international relations; socioeconomic
development and the restructuring of the international economic system; as well as international
cooperation on an equal footing.

Since its inception, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has waged a ceaseless battle to ensure that
peoples being oppressed by foreign occupation and domination can exercise their inalienable right to
self-determination and independence.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries played a key role in the struggle
for the establishment of a new international economic order that allowed all the peoples of the world to
make use of their wealth and natural resources and provided a wide platform for a fundamental change
in international economic relations and the economic emancipation of the countries of the South.

During its nearly 50 years of existence, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has gathered a growing
number of States and liberation movements which, in spite of their ideological, political, economic,
social and cultural diversity, have accepted its founding principles and primary objectives and shown
their readiness to realize them. Historically, the non-aligned countries have shown their ability to
overcome their differences and found a common ground for action that leads to mutual cooperation
and the upholding of their shared values.

The current requirements are that the candidate country has displayed practices in accordance with the
ten “Bandung principles” of 1955:[33]

• Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations.
• Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
• Recognition of the movements for national independence.
• Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations, large and small.
• Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country.
• Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself singly or collectively, in conformity
with the Charter of the United Nations.
• Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial
integrity or political independence of any country.
• Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, in conformity with the
Charter of the United Nations.
• Promotion of mutual interests and co-operation.
• Respect for justice and international obligations.

The ten principles of Bandung

• Respect of fundamental human rights and of the objectives and principles of the Charter
of the United Nations.
• Respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
 • Recognition of the equality among all races and of the equality among all nations, both
large and small.
• Non-intervention or non-interference into the internal affairs of another -country.
• Respect of the right of every nation to defend itself, either individually or collectively, in
conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
• Non-use of collective defense pacts to benefit the specific interests of any of the great
powers.
• Non-use of pressures by any country against other countries.
• Refraining from carrying out or threatening to carry out aggression, or from using force
against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country.
• Peaceful solution of all international conflicts in conformity with the Charter of the
United Nations.
• Promotion of mutual interests and of cooperation.
• Respect of justice and of international obligations.

Evolution

The creation and strengthening of the socialist block after the defeat of fascism in World War II, the
collapse of colonial empires, the emergence of a bipolar world and the formation of two military blocks
(NATO and the Warsaw Pact) brought about a new international context that led to the necessity of
multilateral coordination for a between the countries of the South .

In this context, the underdeveloped countries, most of them in Asia and Africa, felt the need to join
efforts for the common defense of their interests, the strengthening of their independence and
sovereignty and the cultural and economic revival or salvation of their peoples, and also to express a
strong commitment with peace by declaring themselves as “non-aligned” from either of the two nascent
military blocks.

In order to fulfill the aims of debating on and advancing a strategy designed to achieve such objectives,
the Bandung Asian-African Conference was held in Indonesia in April 1955. It was attended by 29 Heads
of State and Government of the first postcolonial generation of leaders and its expressed goal was to
identify and assess world issues at the time and coordinate policies to deal with them.

Although the Asian and African leaders who gathered in Bandung might have had differing political and
ideological views or different approaches toward the societies they aspired to build or rebuild, there was
a common project that united them and gave sense to a closer coordination of positions. Their shared
program included the political decolonization of Asia and Africa. Moreover, they all agreed that the
recently attained political independence was just a means to attain the goal of economic, social and
cultural independence.

The Bandung meeting has been considered as the most immediate antecedent of the founding of the
Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, which finally came into being six years later on a wider
geographical basis when the First Summit Conference was held in Belgrade on September 1-6, 1961.
This gathering was attended by the Heads of State and Government of 25 countries and observers from
another three nations.
This First Summit of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries was convened by the leaders of India,
Indonesia, Egypt, Syria and Yugoslavia. On April 26, 1961, the Presidents of the Arab Republic of Egypt
(Nasser) and Yugoslavia (Tito) addressed the Heads of State and Government of 21 “non-Aligned”
countries and suggested that, taking recent world events and the rise of international tensions into
account, a Conference should be held to promote an improvement in international relations, a
resistance to policies of force and a constructive settlement of conflicts and other issues of concern in
the world.

The Movement played an important role in the support of nations which were struggling then for their
independence in the Third World and showed great solidarity with the most just aspirations of
humanity. It contributed indisputably to the triumph in the struggle for national independence and
decolonization, thus gaining considerable diplomatic prestige.

As one Summit after another was held in the 1960s and 1970s, “non alignment”, turned already into the
“Movement of Non-Aligned Countries” that included nearly all Asian and African countries, was
becoming a forum of coordination to struggle for the respect of the economic and political rights of the
developing world. After the attainment of independence, the Conferences expressed a growing concern
over economic and social issues as well as over strictly political matters.

Something that attested to that was the launching at the Algiers Conference in 1973 of the concept of a
“new international economic order.”

By the end of the 1980s, the Movement was facing the great challenge brought about by the collapse of
the socialist block. The end of the clash between the two antagonistic blocks that was the reason for its
existence, name and essence was seen by some as the beginning of the end for the Movement of Non-
Aligned Countries.

The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries could not spare itself difficulties to act effectively in an adverse
international political situation marked by hegemonic positions and unipolarity as well as by internal
difficulties and conflicts given the heterogeneity of its membership and, thus, its diverse interests.

Nevertheless, and in spite of such setbacks,the principles and objectives of non-alignment retain their
full validity and force at the present international juncture. The primary condition that led to the
emergence of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, that is, non-alignment from antagonistic blocks,
has not lost its validity with the end of the Cold War. The demise of one of the blocks has not done away
with the pressing problems of the world. On the contrary, renewed strategic interests bent on
domination grow stronger and, even, acquire new and more dangerous dimensions for underdeveloped
countries.

During the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba in September 2006, the Heads of
States and Governments of the member countries reaffirmed their commitment to the ideals, principles
and purposes upon which the movement was founded and with the principles and purposes enshrined
in the United Nations Charter.

The Heads of States and Governments stated their firm belief that the absence of two conflicting blocs
in no way reduces the need to strengthen the movement as a mechanism for the political coordination
of developing countries. In this regard they acknowledged that it remains imperative to strengthen and
revitalize the movement. To do so, they agreed to strengthen concrete action, unity and solidarity
between all its members, based on respect for diversity, factors which are essential for the reaffirmation
of the identity and capacity of the movement to influence International relations.

They also stressed the need to promote actively a leading role for the movement in the coordination of
efforts among member states in tackling global threats.

Inspired by the principles and purposes which were brought to the Non-Aligned Movement by the
Bandung principles and during the First NAM Summit in Belgrade in 1961, the Heads of States and
Governments of the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement adopted in their 14 th Summit in
Havana the following purposes and principles of the movement in the present International juncture:

I. Purposes:
 To promote and reinforce multilateralism and, in this regard, strengthen the central role that
the United Nations must play.

 To serve as a forum of political coordination of the developing countries to promote and defend
their common interests in the system of international relations

 To promote unity, solidarity and cooperation between developing countries based on shared
values and priorities agreed upon by consensus.

 To defend international peace and security and settle all international disputes by peaceful
means in accordance with the principles and the purposes of the UN Charter and International
Law.

 To encourage relations of friendship and cooperation between all nations based on the
principles of International Law, particularly those enshrined in the Charter of the United
Nations.

 To promote and encourage sustainable development through international cooperation and, to
that end, jointly coordinate the implementation of political strategies which strengthen and
ensure the full participation of all countries, rich and poor, in the international economic
relations, under equal conditions and opportunities but with differentiated responsibilities.

 To encourage the respect, enjoyment and protection of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms for all, on the basis of the principles of universality, objectivity, impartiality and non-
selectivity, avoiding politicization of human rights issues, thus ensuring that all human rights of
individuals and peoples, including the right to development, are promoted and protected in a
balanced manner.

 To promote peaceful coexistence between nations, regardless of their political, social or
economic systems

 To condemn all manifestations of unilateralism and attempts to exercise hegemonic domination
in international relations.
 
 To coordinate actions and strategies in order to confront jointly the threats to international
peace and security, including the threats of use of force and the acts of aggression, colonialism
and foreign occupation, and other breaches of peace caused by any country or group of
countries.

 To promote the strengthening and democratization of the UN, giving the General Assembly the
role granted to it in accordance with the functions and powers outlined in the Charter and to
promote the comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council so that it may fulfill
the role granted to it by the Charter, in a transparent and equitable manner, as the body
primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security.

L. To continue pursuing universal and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament, as well as a general and
complete disarmament under strict and effective international control and in this context, to work
towards the objective of arriving at an agreement on a phased program for the complete elimination of
nuclear weapons within a specified framework of time to eliminate nuclear weapons, to prohibit their
development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer, use or threat of use and to provide
for their destruction.

M. . To oppose and condemn the categorization of countries as good or evil based on unilateral and
unjustified criteria, and the adoption of a doctrine of pre-emptive attack, including attack by nuclear
weapons, which is inconsistent with international law, in particular, the international legally-binding
instruments concerning nuclear disarmament and to further condemn and oppose unilateral military
actions, or use of force or threat of use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity and
independence of Non-Aligned countries.

n. To encourage States to conclude agreements freely arrived at, among the States of the regions
concerned, to establish new Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones in regions where these do not exist, in
accordance with the provisions of the Final Document of the First Special Session of the General
Assembly devoted to disarmament (SSOD.1) and the principles adopted by the 1999 UN Disarmament
Commission, including the establishment of a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in the Middle East. The
establishment of Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones is a positive step and important measure towards
strengthening global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

o. To promote international cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to facilitate access
to nuclear technology, equipment and material for peaceful purposes required by developing countries.

p. To promote concrete initiatives of South-South cooperation and strengthen the role of NAM, in
coordination with G.77, in the re-launching of North-South cooperation, ensuring the fulfillment of the
right to development of our peoples, through the enhancement of international solidarity.

q. To respond to the challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities arising from globalization
and interdependence with creativity and a sense of identity in order to ensure its benefits to all
countries, particularly those most affected by underdevelopment and poverty, with a view to gradually
reducing the abysmal gap between the developed and developing countries.

R. To enhance the role that civil society, including NGO´s, can play at the regional and international
levels in order to promote the purposes, principles and objectives of the Movement.

II. Principles:
a. Respect for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and
International Law.
b. Respect for sovereignty, sovereign equality and territorial integrity of all States.
c. Recognition of the equality of all races, religions, cultures and all nations, both big and
small.
d. Promotion of a dialogue among peoples, civilizations, cultures and religions based on
the respect of religions, their symbols and values, the promotion and the consolidation
of tolerance and freedom of belief.
e. Respect for and promotion of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all,
including the effective implementation of the right of peoples to peace and
development.
f. Respect for the equality of rights of States, including the inalienable right of each State
to determine freely its political, social, economic and cultural system, without any kind
of interference whatsoever from any other State.
g. Reaffirmation of the validity and relevance of the Movement’s principled positions
concerning the right to self-determination of peoples under foreign occupation and
colonial or alien domination.
h. Non-interference in the internal affairs of States. No State or group of States has the
right to intervene either directly or indirectly, whatever the motive, in the internal
affairs of any other State.
i. Rejection of unconstitutional change of Governments.
j. Rejection of attempts at regime change
k. Condemnation of the use of mercenaries in all situations, especially in conflict
situations.
l. Refraining by all countries from exerting pressure or coercion on other countries,
including resorting to aggression or other acts involving the use of direct or indirect
force, and the application and/or promotion of any coercive unilateral measure that
goes against International Law or is in any way incompatible with it, for the purpose of
coercing any other State to subordinate its sovereign rights, or to gain any benefit
whatsoever.
m. Total rejection of aggression as a dangerous and serious breach of International Law,
which entails international responsibility for the aggressor.
n. Respect for the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense, in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations
o. Condemnation of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and systematic and
gross violations of human rights, in accordance with the UN Charter and International
Law.
 p. Rejection of and opposition to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed
by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the most
serious threats to international peace and security. In this context, terrorism should not
be equated with the legitimate struggle of peoples under colonial or alien domination
and foreign occupation for self-determination and national liberation.
q. Promotion of pacific settlement of disputes and abjuring, under any circumstances, from
taking part in coalitions, agreements or any other kind of unilateral coercive initiative in
violation of the principles of International Law and the Charter of the United Nations.
r. Defense and consolidation of democracy, reaffirming that democracy is a universal value
based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic,
social, and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their life.
s. Promotion and defense of multilateralism and multilateral organizations as the
appropriate frameworks to resolve, through dialogue and cooperation, the problems
affecting humankind.
t. Support to efforts by countries suffering internal conflicts to achieve peace, justice,
equality and development.
u. The duty of each State to fully and in good faith comply with the international treaties to
which it is a party, as well as to honor the commitments made in the framework of
international organizations, and to live in peace with other States. V. Peaceful
settlement of all international conflicts in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations.
v. Defense and promotion of shared interests, justice and cooperation, regardless of the
differences existing in the political, economic and social systems of the States, on the
basis of mutual respect and the equality of rights.
w. Solidarity as a fundamental component of relations among nations in all circumstances.
x. Respect for the political, economic, social and cultural diversity of countries and
peoples.

The movement has succeeded to create a strong front on the International level, representing countries
of the third world in the International organizations on top of which the United Nations.

Current Challenges facing the NAM include the necessity of protecting the principles of International
law, eliminating weapons of mass destruction , combating terrorism, defending human rights, working
toward making the United Nations more effective in meeting the needs of all its member states in order
to preserve International Peace , Security and Stability, as well as realizing justice in the international
economic system.

On the other hand, the long-standing goals of the Movement remain to be realized. Peace,
development, economic cooperation and the democratization of international relations, to mention just
a few, are old goals of the non-aligned countries.

In conclusion, The Non-Aligned Movement, faced with the goals yet to be reached and the many new
challenges that are arising, is called upon to maintain a prominent and leading role in the current
International relations in defense of the interests and priorities of its member states and for
achievement of peace and security for mankind.
UNEP
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading environmental authority in the
United Nations system. UNEP uses its expertise to strengthen environmental standards and practices
while helping implement environmental obligations at the country, regional and global levels.

The UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is a Unit within the UN Environment Programme’s
Resources & Market Branch, based in Geneva, Switzerland, itself a Branch of one of the UN Environment
Programme’s eight core divisions, the Economy Division.

Governance

The Governance of UNEP FI is reflective of the nature of the Initiative as a partnership between UNEP
and a global network of financial institutions spanning the banking, insurance and investment industries.

UNEP FI’s governance bodies are: the Annual General Meeting, the Global Steering Committee, the
three Industry Committees (Banking, Insurance and Investment), the Thematic Advisory Groups and the
Regional Advisory Groups.

The Annual General Meeting is the ultimate decision-making forum for UNEP FI. The Global Steering
Committee oversees the strategic orientation of the overall Initiative and is composed of representatives
from the memberships’ core constituencies, across sectors and geographies, as well as from the United
Nations system. The Industry Committees, in accordance with the overall strategy developed by the
Global Steering Committee, set industry-level strategies as well as developing and operationalizing the
full UNEP FI work programme.

UNEP Objectives

The UNEP’s stated mission is to offer leadership and promote partnership in caring for the environment
through informing, inspiring and enabling countries and peoples to enhance their quality of life without
compromising that of future generations.

The UNEP has a few focus areas, in which they priorities work. They are:

• Climate change
• Ecosystem management
• Disasters and conflictt
• Environmental governance
• Resource efficiency
• Chemicals and waste
• Environment under review

UNEP Functions

The major functions of the UNEP are discussed below:

• The UNEP engages in developing global conventions on the environment and related issues. It
hosts the secretariats of various conventions such as:
Minamata Convention

United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

Basel Convention

Stockholm Convention

Rotterdam Convention

Montreal Protocol

Vienna Convention

Convention on Migratory Species

Tehran Convention

Bamako Convention

Carpathian Convention

Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC)

• It promotes environmental science and related information.

• It finances and implements developmental projects related to the environment.
• It engages with national governments, NGOs, etc. in relation to environmental policy and
implementation.
• The UNEP also formulates treaties and guidelines in the domain of international trade in harmful
chemicals, international waterways pollution and transboundary pollution of air.

• It also awards and honours individuals as well as institutions that do stellar work in this field.

Major Programmes of the UNEP

Earth Hour

Clean up the World

Billion Tree Campaign

Seal the Deal

Pain for the Planet

Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local Level (APELL)

TUNZA

Faith for Earth

United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)

The UNEP’s governing body is called the United Nations Environment Assembly, which is said to be the
world’s highest decision making body on the environment.

• It meets once in two years to establish priorities for international environmental policies and
develop international environmental law
• Formed in 2012, it is headed by a Bureau and its President.
• The Bureau comprises ten environment ministers of various countries who all hold two-year
terms, based on geographical rotation.
• Currently, it has 193 member states (all UN member countries).

UNEP and India

India has had a close relationship with the UNEP since the programme’s inception. There are many
projects completed, as well as ongoing projects, of the UNEP in India.

• The UNEP’s presence in India started in 2016 with an office at New Delhi.
• The nodal agency for India’s interactions with the UNEP is the GOI’s Ministry for Environment,
Forests and Climate Change.
• The Permanent Representative of India to UNEP is India’s High Commissioner for Kenya.
• India’s annual financial contribution to the UNEP is to the tune of USD 100,000.
• The UNEP has recognised India’s initiatives in the environment sector.
• The UNEP awarded PM Narendra Modi with the ‘Champions of the Earth’ award along with
French President Emmanuel Macron in the category ‘policy leadership’.
• This was in recognition of the, among others, the International Solar Alliance, initiated by India.
• In 2019, India joined the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), whose Secretariat is hosted by
the UNEP.
• India plans to work with CCAC nations on best practices and experiences for the effective
implementation of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
Frequently Asked Questions Related to the UNEP
• What is the main purpose of UNEP?
• UNEP’s mission is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment
by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without
compromising that of future generations.

IMF
International Monetary Fund (IMF)

What is the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an institution of the United Nations that sets standards for the
global economy with the aim of strengthening its member countries economically. The organization
currently lists 189 member countries that are represented on the IMF Executive Board.

The ratio of board members from each member country depends on the country’s economic muscle,
with the economic giants getting the highest representation. The same applies to the voting powers of
member countries, where big economies like the United States, Japan, China, Britain, Germany, France,
and Italy hold superior voting power when making decisions.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Although the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank perform related functions, they are two
independent institutions. The IMF focuses on providing short-term loans to member countries to help
turn their economies around and reinstate their financial structure. The World Bank, on the other hand,
is focused on providing long-term economic solutions to member countries and is funded by member
contributions and bonds.

Joining the International Monetary Fund

Any country can apply to join the International Monetary Fund and be accepted by the majority of
existing countries. In the early years of the IMF formation, the rules for membership were relatively
relaxed, making it easy for countries to join.

Members needed to abide by the Code of Conduct, refrain from currency restrictions, provide their
national economic information, and make periodic payments to a quota. However, the IMF imposed
onerous regulations for countries that joined the organization to get funding.

Upon joining the IMF, a member gets an initial quota that corresponds to the quotas of existing member
countries of comparable economic size. The quotas are larger for more powerful countries with strong
economies, and their contributions form a pool from which other member countries in need can borrow
loans.

Apart from getting funds from the International Monetary Fund, member countries also have access to
the economic records of all member countries. They also get technical assistance on fiscal affairs,
increased trade and investment opportunities, as well as the opportunity to influence other member
country’s economic policies.

Voting Power

The voting power of each member country is based on a quota system, with each member having a
specific number of basic votes that represent 5.502% of the total votes. Further, there is one additional
vote for each Special Drawing Right (SDR) of 100,000 out of a member’s quota. The SDR represents a
claim of currency, and it is the unit of account of the International Monetary Fund. Any changes to the
voting power of member countries require approval by over 85% of the voting power.

There are suggestions to reform the representation of developing and emerging economies within the
International Monetary Fund. Although such countries represent a larger portion of the world economic
activity, they have a minimal voice in the IMF decision-making process.

Wealthier economies that contribute more money to the IMF have more influence in decision-making,
revision, and the making of rules, and it may not reflect the wishes of the developing nations. For
example, the top 10 member countries in terms of quota allocations hold more than 50% of the voting
power while the other 178 countries share the other 50% of the voting power.

IMF Leadership
The leadership of the International Monetary Fund comprises the Managing Director, Board of
Governors, the Executive Board, and the Ministerial Committees. The Managing Director is the head of
staff and chairman of the Executive Board, while the Board of Governors is the topmost decision-making
body in the IMF.

Board of Governors

The Board of Governors is the highest decision-making body of the IMF and comprises one governor and
one alternate governor from each member country. The Board is responsible for electing or appointing
directors of the Executive Board, and the voting takes place by mail-in ballot.

Although the board delegates some of its functions to the Executive Board, it retains some functions
such as the admission of new members, SDR allocations, approval of quota increases, compulsory
withdrawal of members, and the amendments to the Articles of Agreement. The board also serves as
the ultimate arbitrator on the interpretation of the IMF’s Articles of Agreements.

The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank hold an annual meeting
during the IMF-World Bank Spring and Annual Meetings. The meetings are chaired by the governors of
both institutions, where they make decisions on the management of current international monetary
issues and pass resolutions.

Executive Board

The Executive Board comprises 24 Executive Directors, representing all the 189 member countries. The
eight large economies appoint one Executive Director each, while the other 16 Directors represent the
remaining countries, grouped into constituents of 4 to 24 countries. The large economies that have the
power to appoint their own Directors include the United States, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China,
Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.

The Executive Board conducts meetings several times a week. The board discusses matters ranging from
economic policy issues to annual health checks of its member’s economies. The board members make
decisions through consensus or formal voting.

Ministerial Committees

The IMF comprises two ministerial committees, i.e., the International Monetary and Finance Committee
(IMFC) and the Development Committee. The IMFC comprises 24 members drawn from the list of
governors of member countries, with large economies appointing a representative just as is the case in
the Executive Board. The committee monitors the development of the global economy and also advises
the Board of Governors on important issues.

The Development Committee comprises 24 members, and it is tasked with advising the Board of
Governors of IMF and World Bank on matters related to economic development in developing and
emerging economies. The committee also advises both institutions on trade and financial resources
required to promote development in developing countries.

Managing Director
The Managing Director leads the International Monetary Fund and is also the head of staff and Chairman
of the Executive Board. The Managing Director appoints the First Deputy Managing Director and three
other Deputy Managing Directors who assist him or her in undertaking their responsibilities.

The Managing Director performs the ordinary business of the IMF under the direction of the Executive
Board. The Executive Board appoints the Managing Director for a renewable term of five years

Some of the main functions of International Monetary Fund are as follows:

1. Exchange Stability:

The first important function of IMF is to maintain exchange stability and thereby to discourage any
fluctuations in the rate of exchange. The Found ensures such stability by making necessary
arrangements like—enforcing declaration of par value of currency of all members in terms of gold or US
dollar, enforcing devaluation criteria, up to 10 per cent or more by more information or by taking
permission from IMF respectively, forbidding members to go in for multiple exchange rates and also to
buy or sell gold at prices other than declared par value.

2. Eliminating BOP Disequilibrium:

The Fund is helping the member countries in eliminating or minimizing the short-period equilibrium of
balance of payments either by selling or lending foreign currencies to the members. The Fund also helps
its members towards removing the long period disequilibrium in their balance of payments. In case of
fundamental changes in the economies of its members, the Fund can advise its members to change the
par values of its currencies.

3. Determination of Par Value:

IMF enforces the system of determination of par values of the currencies of the members countries. As
per the Original Articles of Agreement of the IMF every member country must declare the par value of
its currency in terms of gold or US dollars. Under the revised Articles, the members are given autonomy
to float or change exchange rates as per demand supply conditions in the exchange market and also at
par with internal price levels.

As per this article, IMF is exercising surveillance to ensure proper working and balance in the
international monetary system, i.e., by avoiding manipulation in the exchange rates and by adopting
intervention policy to counter short-term movements in the exchange value of the currency.

4. Stabilize Economies:

The IMF has an important function to advise the member countries on various economic and monetary
matters and thereby to help stabilize their economies.

5. Credit Facilities:

IMF is maintaining various borrowing and credit facilities so as to help the member countries in
correcting disequilibrium in their balance of payments. These credit facilities include-basic credit facility,
extended fund facility for a period of 3 years, compensatory financing facility, lociffer stock facility for
helping the primary producing countries, supplementary financing facility, special oil facility, trust fund,
structural adjustment facility etc. The Fund also charges interest from the borrowing countries on their
credit.

6. Maintaining Balance Between Demand and Supply of Currencies:

IMF is also entrusted with important function to maintain balance between demand and supply of
various currencies. Accordingly the fund can declare a currency as scarce currency which is in great
demand and can increase its supply by borrowing it from the country concerned or by purchasing the
same currency in exchange of gold.

7. Maintenance of Liquidity:

To maintain liquidity of its resources is another important function of IMF. Accordingly, there is
provision for the member countries to borrow from IMF by surrendering their own currencies in
exchange. Again for according accumulation of less demand currencies with the Fund, the borrowing
countries are directed to repurchase their own currencies by repaying its loans in convertible currencies.

8. Technical Assistance:

The IMF is also performing an useful function to provide technical assistance to the member countries.
Such technical assistance in given in two ways, i.e., firstly by granting the members countries the
services of its specialists and experts and secondly by sending the outside experts.

Moreover the Fund has also set up two specialized new departments:

(a) Central Banking Services Department and

(b) Fiscal Affairs Department for sending specialists to member countries so as to manage its central
banks and also on fiscal Management
9. Reducing Tariffs:

The Fund also aims at reducing tariffs and other restrictions imposed on international trade by the
member countries so as to cease restrictions of remittance of funds or to avoid discriminating practices.

10. General Watch:

The IMF is also keeping a general watch on the monetary and fiscal policies followed by the member
countries to ensure no flouting of the provisions of the charter.

Read this article to learn about the remarkable achievements of the IMF in most of its goals!

(1) It provided excellent machinery for consultation in international monetary affairs. It

serves as an excellent forum for discussions, practically on a day-to-day basis, of the
economic, fiscal and financial policies of member countries with particular reference to
their balance of payments impact. The Fund has created a feeling among the member
countries that their economic problems are not their exclusive concern but of the whole
international society.
(2) The Fund has contributed in certain ways to the expansion of world trade. By providing
credit facilities to member countries, the IMF has reduced the need for their imposing
import and exchange controls. It assists the deficit countries to meet their temporary
 disequilibrium in payments. It also works for facilitating multi-lateral payments and
trade, promoting thereby international trade as a whole.

(3) Another fundamental object of the IMF is to promote exchange stability. The measure
of exchange stability that the world has witnessed in the IMF era is remarkably superior
to what was seen during the inter-war period of gold standard regime.

Under the IMF arrangements, stable exchange rates do not imply rigid exchange rates. IMF’s object is to
combine the merit of stability with flexibility in exchange management. It aims at avoiding competitive
exchange depreciations by wanting the members to declare the par values of their currencies fixed in
terms of gold or the U.S. dollar.

However, it allows for an orderly adjustment of the exchange rates when this is needed for correcting a
fundamental disequilibrium in a country’s balance of payments. The recent devaluation of the Indian
rupee (in 1966) and that of pound sterling was justified by the IMF.

(4) Moreover, the Fund has been particularly interested in the newly developing countries
of the world and has been liberally assisting them to have a healthy balance of
payments and to maintain monetary stability at home.

In recent years, however, underdeveloped countries have started looking to the Fund to assist them in
their economic development programmes also. Furthermore, most of the new members who have
acquired independence recently are facing difficult problems in organising their monetary, fiscal and
exchange systems, so they need a solid basis for their economic growth.

The Fund has been already providing technical assistance to its members in this respect, but now its
activity is substantially widened to meet this challenge. In many of these countries, the Fund’s experts
have assisted in the formulation of appropriate monetary, fiscal and exchange policies in the
implementation of stabilisation programmes.

International Monetary Fund (IMF): General Objectives and Major Functions!

A landmark in the history of world economic cooperation is the creation of the International Monetary
Fund, briefly called IMF. The IMF was organised in 1946 and commenced operations in March, 1947.

The fundamental object of the IMF was the avoidance of competitive devaluation and exchange control
that had characterised the era of 1930s. It was set up to administer a “code of fair practice”, in the field
of foreign exchange and to make short-term loans to member nations experiencing temporary deficits in
their balance of payments, to enable them to meet these payments without resorting to devaluation or
exchange control, while at the same time following’ international policies to maintain domestic income
and employment at high levels.

Thus, basically there are three general objectives of the IMF:

(i) The elimination or reduction of existing exchange controls,

(ii) The establishment and maintenance of currency convertibility with stable exchange rates.
(iii) The widest extension of multi-lateral trade and payments.
In essence the Fund is an attempt to achieve the external or international advantages of gold standard
system without subjecting nations to its internal disadvantages, and at the same time maintaining the
internal advantages of paper standard while bypassing its external disadvantages.

The following are the major functions of the IMF:

1. It functions as a short-term credit institution.

2. It provides machinery for the orderly adjustments of exchange rates.
3. It is a reservoir of the currencies of all the member countries from which a borrower nation can
borrow the currency of other nations.
4. It is a sort of lending institution in foreign exchange. However, it grants loans for financing
current transactions only and not capital transactions.
5. It also provides machinery for altering sometimes the par value of the currency of a member
country. In this way, it tries to provide for an orderly adjustment of exchange rates, which will
improve the long-term balance of payments position of member countries.
6. It also provides machinery for international consultations.

In fine, the Fund contributes to the promotion and maintenance of high levels of employment and real
income and to the development of the productive resources of all member nations.

The Fund is an autonomous organization affiliated to the UNO. IMF’s constitution represents a
departure in the formation of an international organization. It is financed by the participating countries,
with each country’s contribution fixed in terms of quotas according to the relative importance of its
prevailing national income and international trade.

Thus, the quota assigned to a country is determined by its contribution to the capital of the Fund. The
quotas of all the countries taken together constitute the total financial resources of the Fund. Moreover,
the contributed quota of a country determines its borrowing rights and voting strength.

India being one of the largest quota-holders (600 million dollars) has the honour of having a permanent
seat on the Board of Executive Directors. Each member nation of the IMF is required to subscribe its
quota partly in gold and partly in its own currency.

Specifically, a member nation must contribute gold equal to 25 per cent of its quota or 10 per cent of its
gold stock and U.S. dollar holdings, whichever is less. The portion of subscription paid in a nation’s own
currency is generally paid in the form of deposit balance in favour of the IMF held in the nation’s central
bank. Thus, the Fund gets a pool of foreign currencies to lend, together with gold enables it to acquire
additional amounts of currencies whenever its initial supply of some currencies becomes depleted.

The lending operations of the Fund technically take the form of sale of currency. Any member nation
running short of foreign currency may buy the required currency from the Fund, paying for it in its own
currency.

Since each member contributes gold to the extent of 25 per cent of its quota, the Fund freely permits a
member to draw up to the amount of its gold contribution. Additional drawings are permitted only after
certain careful and strict scrutinizes. Since the purpose of the Fund is to make temporary and long-term
loans, it expects repayment of loans within 3 to 5 years.
The Fund has also laid down provisions relating to exchange stability. At the same time, the Fund started
functioning; members were required to declare the par values of their currencies in terms of gold as a
common denominator or in terms of U.S. dollar.

Thus, under IMF arrangements, gold retains its role in determining the relative values of currencies of
different nations. And once the par values of different currencies are fixed, it is quite easy to determine
the exchange rate between any two member nations.

However, if at any time a member country feels there is a fundamental disequilibrium in its balance of
payments position, it may propose a change in the par value of its currency, i.e., its devaluation.

But devaluation is allowed or even advised by the IMF for the purpose of correcting a fundamental
disequilibrium and not for undue competition or for other advantages. Thus, the decision to devalue
should not be taken unilaterally by the member concerned, but only after consultation with the Fund.

The Fund has also laid down that member countries should not adopt a system of multiple exchange
rates. That is to say, there should not be two or more rates between the currency of one member
country and that of any other member country. This was necessary to prevent countries deviating from
the principle of fixed exchange rates. Secondly, it was laid down that a member country should not
purchase or sell gold internationally at prices other than those indicated by the par values.

In essence, these provisions were laid down in order to secure the chief advantage of the gold standard
system, viz., exchange stability. At the same time, the exchange rates are not rigidly fixed as in the case
of gold standard and exchange depreciation or devaluation is permissible only for correcting a
fundamental disequilibrium in the balance of payments of a country. Similarly, the Fund may ask a
member enjoying a persistent surplus position to revalue its currency and set things right.

With a view to eliminate or minimise exchange control tactics, the Fund laid down that there should be
no restrictions in ordinary trade and other current transactions. Although the Fund laid down that
exchange controls and other restrictions should not be used for normal current transactions, it allows
their use at all times to control international capital movements, especially capital flights.

Moreover, exchange controls are expressly permitted in the case of currencies which may be declared
“scarce” by the Fund. It is also permitted during the “transition period.” Thus, the elements of exchange
control have been incorporated in the provision of the Fund.

In short, the IMF may be described as a bank of central banks of different countries, because it collects
the resource of the various central banks in the same way in which a country’s central bank collects cash
reserves of all the commercial banks, assists them in times of emergency.

However, while a central bank can control the credit policy of its member banks, the Fund cannot
control the domestic economic and monetary policies of member nations. It only seeks to maintain a
multiple payments system through an orderly adjustment of the exchange rates.
Responsibilities of the International Monetary Fund:

 Promoting international monetary cooperation

 Facilitating the expansion and balanced growth of international trade
 Promoting exchange stability
 LAssisting in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments.
 Making its resources available, under adequate safeguards to members experiencing balance of
payments difficulties

The Fund seeks to promote economic stability and prevent crises; to help resolve crises when they do
occur, and to promote growth and alleviate poverty. To meet these objectives, it employs three main
functions, as discussed here.

Functions of the International Monetary Fund:

Surveillance:

A core responsibility of the IMF is to encourage a dialogue among its member countries about the
national and international consequences of their economic and financial policies, to promote external
stabilities

This process of monitoring and consultation, normally referred to as ‘surveillance’, has evolved rapidly
as the world economy has changed. IMF surveillance has also become increasingly open and transparent
in recent years.

The initiatives used to inform bilateral surveillance and aimed at promoting global economic stability
are as follows:

 The IMF works to improve its ability to assess the member countries’ vulnerabilities to crisis,
identifying and promoting effective responses to risks to economic stability, including risks
from payments imbalances, currency misalignment, and financial market disturbances.
 In collaboration with the World Bank, the IMF conducts in-depth assessments of countries’
financial sectors under the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP). The Fund is
further deepening financial and capital market surveillance, particularly in its analysis of
emerging market members.
 The IMF has developed and actively promotes standards and codes of good practice in
economic policy making. It is also involved in international efforts to combat money
laundering and the financing of terrorism., and to improve transparency and accountability.
 Technical Assistances

The objective of IMF technical assistance is to contribute to the development of the productive
resources of member countries by enhancing the effectiveness of economic policy and financial
management. The IMF helps countries strengthen their capacity to design and implement sound
economic policies.

The IMF helps its member countries build their human and institutional capacity to design and
implement effective macroeconomic and structural policies, put in place reforms that strengthen
their financial sectors, and reduce vulnerability to crises.
 The IMF generally provides technical assistance free of charge to any requesting member country
within the IMF resource constraints. About three-quarters of the Fund’s technical assistance go to
low- and lower-middle income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, and post-
conflict countries.

The IMF provides technical assistance in its areas of expertise: namely macroeconomic policy, tax
policy and revenue administration, expenditure management, monetary policy, the exchange rate
system, financial sector sustainability, and macro- economic and financial statistics.

Since the demand for technical assistance far exceeds supply, the IMF gives priority in providing
assistance where it complements and enhances the IMF’s other key forms of assistance, i.e.,
surveillance and lending.

Lending:

Even the best economic policies cannot eradicate instability or avert crises. In the event that a
member country does experience financing difficulties, the IMF can provide financial assistance to
support policy programmes that will correct underlying macroeconomic problems, limit disruptions
to the domestic and global economies, and help restore confidence, stability, and growth.

IMF financing instruments can also support crisis prevention.

The IMF is accountable to the governments of its member countries. At the apex of its organizational
structure is its board of governors, which consists of one governor from each of the IMF’s 185 member
countries. All governors meet once a year at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.

The IMF’s resources are provided by its member countries, primarily through payment of quotas, which
broadly reflect each country’s economic size. The annual expenses of running the Fund are met mainly
by the difference between interest receipts on outstanding loans and interest payments on quota
‘deposits’.

Special drawing right:

The special drawing right (SDR) is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF to supplement the
existing official reserves of member countries. SDKs, sometimes known as ‘paper gold’, although they
have no physical form, have been allocated to member countries (as book-keeping entries) as a
percentage of their IMF quotas. Its value is based on a basket of international currencies.

The SDR was introduced by the IMF in 1969 as an international reserve asset to support the Bretton
Woods fixed exchange rate system. A country participating in this system needed official reserves,
government or central bank holdings of gold, and widely accepted foreign currencies that could be used
to purchase the domestic currency in world foreign exchange markets, as required to maintain its
exchange rate.

Since the supply of the two key reserve assets, i.e., gold and the US dollar proved inadequate for
supporting the expansion of world trade, the international community decided to create a new
international reserve asset under the auspices of the IMF.
However, the Bretton Woods System collapsed barely two years later and the major currencies shifted
to a floating exchange rate regime. Moreover, the growth in international capital markets facilitated
borrowing by creditworthy governments. These developments lessened the need for SDKs.

Presently, the SDR has only limited use as a reserve asset and its main function is to serve as the unit of
account of IMF and some international organizations. Readers should note that the SDR is neither a
currency, nor a claim on the IMF Rather it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF
members.

The value of the SDR was initially defined as equivalent to 0.888671 grams of fine gold which at the time
was also equivalent to one US dollar. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods System in 1973, the SDR
was redefined as a basket of currencies.

Presently, it comprises the Euro, Japanese Yen, Pound Sterling, and the US dollar. The basket
composition is reviewed every five years to ensure that it reflects the relative importance of currencies
in the world’s trading and financial systems.

The weights of currencies in the SDR basket were revised in the most recent review in November 2005,
based on value of goods and services and the amount of reserves denominated in respective currencies,
which were held by other members of the IMF These changes became effective from 1 January 2006,
and the next review is likely to take place in late 2010.

COLD WAR
(Causes of the Cold War
Allied leaders at the Potsdam Conference in July of l945. Winston Churchill (Britain), Harry S. Truman
(USA) and Joseph Stalin (USSR).

NUCLEAR ARMS RACE

The next major cause of the Cold War was the emergence of nuclear weapons at the end of World War
II. As stated previously, World War II ended in Europe by May of 1945 with the defeat of Nazi Germany
by the Allied Powers, but the war did not officially end in the Pacific Theater until the atomic bombing of
Japan in August of 1945. The United States had developed its atomic weaponry during the final years of
the war through its secretive program called the Manhattan project. With the atomic bombing of Japan,
the United States had begun the era of nuclear weapons and the nuclear arms race.

At the outset of the Cold War, the United States was the only nation in the world to contain atomic
weapons, such as those used against Japan in 1945. As such, the Soviet Union was not able to
militaristically challenge the United States and worked to develop their own atomic weapons. However,
on August 29th, 1949, the Soviet Union performed a test of their first atomic bomb codenamed ‘First
Lighting’. These early years were important to the growing tensions and anger between the two
superpowers. Because of the development of nuclear weapons, the two nations did not trust each other.
As a result, they each spent the first few decades of the Cold War developing large arsenals of nuclear
weapons. By the 1950’s each country had developed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the other. This
development was an important aspect of the Cold War, as the stockpiles of nuclear weapons acted as a
means of defense. Essentially, each nation was deterred from going to war with other, or from
escalation tensions, due to the fear of a nuclear war. Historians refer to this idea as Mutual Assured
Destruction (M.A.D.) since any escalation to war could result in the total destruction of both countries.
Regardless, this nuclear arms race between the two nations showed the growing divide between the two
nations. As such, the initial development of nuclear weapons in the 1940s and 1950s is considered to be
a cause of the Cold War because it increased the tensions between the United States and the Soviet
Union and caused them to enter into a dangerous nuclear arms race.

American atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945.

IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICT (CAPITALISM VS. COMMUNISM)

The third main cause of the Cold War was the ideological conflict that existed between the United States
and Soviet Union. At the time, the Soviet Union was a communist nation that was based on the
principles of collectivism or socialism, while the United States was a modern liberal democracy nation
based primarily on the principles of individualism. This means that the Soviet Union was positioned on
the far-left side of the economic spectrum, while the United States was position on the right side. This
difference in ideology was a major source of the conflict between the two nations because throughout
the Cold War, the Soviet Union sought to expand communism to other regions and the United States
sought to stop it with its policy of containment. As such, many people now view the Cold War as a
conflict of the left and right sides of the spectrum, among other things.

To better understand the ideological conflict of the Cold War it is first important to understand the main
principles of capitalism, communism, democracy and dictatorship. During the Cold War, the United
States was based upon capitalism and democracy while the Soviet Union was based upon communism
and dictatorship.

At its heart, capitalism is an economic system based upon the values of individualism and promotes
individual liberty over government regulation and control. For example, laissez-faire capitalism is a form
of the ideology that translates to “leave us alone” meaning that the government should remain out of
the economy and instead allow individuals to freely carry out their own economic affairs. The
development of capitalism as an economic system, sought to reject the idea of government control of
the economy and instead put the focus on individuals. On the economic spectrum, capitalism is a right-
wing ideology that is fundamentally based on: private ownership, competition, free trade, self-reliance,
self-interest, and the principles of supply and demand. Capitalist societies are often based on free-
market economies. This system differs from communism wherein the government usually controls the
means of production and makes all important economic decisions.

Democracy is a political system that is associated with the idea that power or authority in a society rests
with the people. In general, the people exercise their authority through elections in which they choose
others to represent their interests in a formal legislative structure. This system differs from dictatorships
wherein many of the decisions are made by the government which is often a single person and single
political party.

Communism is an economic system that is based on the principles of socialism, especially the earlier
development of Marxism and the ideas of Karl Marx as expressed in the Communist Manifesto. Similar
to Marxism, communism is centered on the idea of establishing a society based upon public ownership of
the means of production and the removal of any form of social classes. For example, communism
generally focuses on the conditions of the working-class, and the wide income gap that existed in laissez-
faire capitalist societies. Communist countries such as the Soviet Union are also often dictatorships.
Communism differs from capitalism because it focuses on the government having much more control
over the economy, and is often referred to as a command economy.

A dictatorship is a form of government in which most or all authority of the country Is in the hands of a
single individual; the leader. While the term has been used several times throughout history, most
common usage of the term is in relation to different types of dictatorships that existed in the 20th and
21st centuries. For example, famous dictators include: Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, Joseph Stalin in the
Soviet Union, Benito Mussolini in Italy, Kim Jung-un in North Korea and Fidel Castro in Cuba. In general,
a dictatorship is the opposite of democracy, which is a system of government in which the people hold
the power and the ability to choose who represents their government. Essentially, in a democracy the
people have the power over the major aspects of government and have the responsibility to elect their
leaders. In contrast, a dictatorship is ruled by a single person who generally acts to protect his own
position and power over the welfare of the citizens.

This ideological conflict caused the Cold War because it displayed the difference in worldview between
the two nations. As such, the United States and the Soviet Union differed greatly in their views of how
the world should be organized following the major events of World War II. For their part, the United
States feared Soviet expansionism into regions in Europe and around the world. As a result, the United
States President at the start of the Cold War, Harry S. Truman, developed a policy in which the country
would work to contain the spread of communism. Historians refer to this as the Truman Doctrine.

SPREAD OF COMMUNISM

As such, the final cause of the Cold War was the American fear of the spread of communism around the
world. As stated above, there was a major ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet
Union at the outset of the Cold War. The United States, led by Harry S. Truman feared that communism
as an ideology would spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world. For example, after World War
II both Greece and Turkey were facing financial crisis. Due to their proximity to Soviet territory and the
rise of communism in recent decades it was feared that the two countries might fall into the Soviet
sphere of influence and become communist.

In a speech in 1947 on the crisis facing both countries Harry S. Truman stated: “I believe that it must be
the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by
armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their
own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and
financial aid, which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.” In this passage,
Truman is promoting the idea that the United States should financially support the two nation to avoid
them turning to communism. This approach by Truman formed the basis of American foreign policy
throughout the remainder of the Cold War in the form of containment, which historians refer to as the
Truman Doctrine. Essentially, the Truman Doctrine was the idea that the United States should attempt
to contain the Soviet sphere of influence and the spread of communism. This foreign policy caused the
United States to enter into conflict with the Soviet Union as it attempted to thwart Soviet expansionism
in events such as: Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Vietnam War, etc. As such, many historians view this as
a cause of the Cold War because it increased tensions between the two superpowers and led to several
conflicts between the two superpowers.)

Causes of the Cold War

Differences in ideologies

The United States and the Soviet Union represented two opposing systems of government. The major
differences were that the Soviet Union was a communist country, which was ruled by a dictator who put
the needs of the state ahead of personal human rights, whereas the USA was a capitalist democracy,
which valued personal freedom and feared communism. This signalled the start of the Cold War.

The American way of life was, and is, based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free
institutions, representative government, free elections, and guarantees of individual freedom, freedom
of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression.

The communist Soviet way of life, however, was based upon the will of a minority, the state, forcibly
imposed upon the majority. It relied upon terrorising and oppressing citizens, which was made possible
through a controlled press and rigged elections.

These differences in ideologies, plus the countries involved resenting each other historically, resulted in
a series of events that led to the collapse of the alliance and turned the allies of the war into enemies.

Post-war Economic Reconstruction

Poor relations between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated even further when the Land-
Lease was abruptly terminated by the United States and Russia’s request for American economic aid for
the purposes of post-war reconstruction fell on deaf ears.

During the Second World War, the US supplied much-needed war material to Allied nations through the
Lend and Lease programme and this abrupt refusal did not go down well with the Russians.

Differences between Truman and Stalin

President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) simply disliked Stalin and the Soviets. This is quite evident from
the signing of a US foreign policy known as the Truman Doctrine, which vowed to help countries under
threat from the Soviets.

It is worth noting that the Soviet Union later issued the Brezhnev Doctrine, which decreed that the
Soviet Union would intervene with force in order to protect Communism in its satellite states. One of
the main issues that strained relations between the Soviet Union and the West was the threat of nuclear
war.

TRUMAN DOCTRINE. As Britain faced economic problems after the war, it played a minimal role in the
reconstruction process in the Mediterranean, specifically Greece and Turkey. In March 1946, in a
broadcasted speech from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill stated that an
‘Iron Curtain’ had descended across the European continent. Joseph Stalin interpreted this as a war cry,
but Truman countered it through US policies.

Thus, the US responded with the Truman Doctrine in which the US would give financial aid to countries
threatened by Communist expansion. This was also in line with the potential civil war in Greece, which
could be used by the Soviets to influence the country.

MARSHALL PLAN. In June 1947, the Marshall Plan was proclaimed. It was a European Economy
Programme in which 13 billion USD was made available for the rehabilitation of European countries
damaged by the war. US President Truman believed that Communism could only be stopped if Europe
became wealthier through economic reconstruction. The massive economic aid programme was led by
US Secretary of State George C. Marshall.

The Soviets saw this as an imperialistic attempt by the US to influence smaller European countries.

In addition to money, the US shipped food, supplies, and equipment to Europe until 1951. The US
wanted to isolate the USSR to keep it from expanding its sphere of influence.

Support of Proxy-wars

Proxy wars didn’t necessarily cause the Cold War but worsened it. The two superpowers often wrestled
for superiority when it came to third world countries, and supporting proxy wars in which they typically
supplied and advised opposing factions in civil wars, including the Vietnam War, to the US backing the
Ethiopian government and the Soviets going with next-door rival Somalia in the 1970s. This goes to
show that their alignments were often arbitrary.

US Atomic Bomb

The Soviet Union was extremely concerned about its security after being invaded twice in the twentieth
century. In 1945, America created and used the atomic bomb against Japan and the USSR was
determined to create one of its own. Both the USSR and the US built up huge arsenals of Inter-
Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The United States tested a hydrogen bomb in 1952 and in
November 1955, the USSR developed one too.

After that, the US moved its bombers into Europe. In 1955, West Germany was allowed to re-arm and
join NATO. Russia responded by forming the Warsaw Mutual Defense Pact with its buffer zone
neighbours.

As security was being strengthened, it led to the formation of military alliances. In April 1949, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was formed. In response, the Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact.

In September 1947, the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) was formed. It was comprised of
countries under the Soviet Bloc (Eastern European countries), which promoted international Communist
solidarity. It was dissolved in 1956.

USSR’s expansion west into Eastern Europe

Even before the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union had gradually extended its influence in
Europe. As the war was drawing to a close in May 1945, the Soviet Union quickly solidified its control of
Eastern Europe.

The Red Army began by influencing the post-war elections. Although the non-communists could still gain
some votes, most of the votes went to the Communists as the elections were neither free nor fair. Many
politicians in the United States had high hopes of America working with the Soviet Union after the war
and did not advocate strong resistance against Russian expansion, but this soon changed. The US
government now favoured a policy of strong resistance against Russia.

From May 1945 onwards, the situation changed. The United States became alarmed with the growth of
Communism in Europe and put in place a plan known as the Marshall Plan in order to counteract the
spread of communism.

It was an economic support programme funded by the United States. They gave relief money to war-
torn democratic countries to rebuild their economies. They did not give money to the Soviet Union and
any of its satellite states.

The United States’ motivation for doing this was to provide themselves with trading partners and to
economically isolate the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union also formed an exclusive economic federation
between all the states in the Soviet Union called COMECON. This restricted trade to within the Soviet
Union. These measures to isolate the enemy and set up economic barriers helped to provoke the Cold
War.

The Berlin Crisis

After the Second World War, Germany was divided into four zones of occupation. As per the Yalta and
Potsdam Conferences, the zones were placed under the control of the United States, the United
Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union.

In the 1950s, the Communist government of East Germany controlled and prevented its citizens from
fleeing to the West. Stalin ordered the building of fences and walls to stop East Berliners migrating.

By February 1948, the British, French, and American governments began to merge their zones
economically to unify them and form a national government. In response, the Soviet Union imposed a
blockade of Berlin to halt the process of unifying West Germany and to secure the Soviet-controlled
territory in the eastern zone.

The Berlin Blockade lasted for almost 20 days and became one of the major crises during the Cold War.
The Soviet Union blocked Allied access to West Berlin, which resulted in shortages of commodities
including food, medicine and fuel.

The US responded with the Berlin Airlift in which hundreds of tons of supplies were dropped from
airplanes.

AU in a Nutshell
Introduction
The advent of the African Union (AU) can be described as an event of great magnitude in the
institutional evolution of the continent. On 9.9.1999, the Heads of State and Government of the
Organisation of African Unity issued a Declaration (the Sirte Declaration) calling for the establishment
of an African Union, with a view, inter alia, to accelerating the process of integration in the continent
to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy while addressing multifaceted social, economic
and political problems compounded as they are by certain negative aspects of globalisation.

The main objectives of the OAU were

, inter alia,;

 to rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonization and apartheid;

 to promote unity and solidarity among African States; to coordinate and intensify cooperation
for development
 ; to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and to promote
international cooperation within the framework of the United Nations.

Indeed, as a continental organization the OAU provided an effective forum that enabled all Member
States to adopt coordinated positions on matters of common concern to the continent in international
for a and defend the interests of Africa effectively.

Through the OAU Coordinating Committee for the Liberation of Africa, the Continent worked and spoke
as one with undivided determination in forging an international consensus in support of the liberation
struggle and the fight against apartheid.

Quest for Unity

African countries, in their quest for unity, economic and social development under the banner of the
OAU, have taken various initiatives and made substantial progress in many areas which paved the way
for the establishment of the AU. Noteworthy among these are:

 Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) and the Final Act of Lagos (1980); incorporating programmes and
strategies for self reliant development and cooperation among African countries.
 The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Nairobi 1981) and the Grand Bay
Declaration and Plan of Action on Human rights: two instruments adopted by the OAU to
promote Human and People’s Rights in the Continent. The Human Rights Charter led to the
establishment of the African Human Rights Commission located in Banjul, The Gambia.
 Africa’s Priority Programme for Economic recovery (APPER) – 1985: an emergency programme
designed to address the development crisis of the 1980s, in the wake of protracted drought and
famine that had engulfed the continent and the crippling effect of Africa’s external indebtedness.
 OAU Declaration on the Political and Socio-Economic Situation in Africa and the Fundamental
Changes taking place in the World (1990): which underscored Africa’s resolve to seize the
 imitative, to determine its destiny and to address the challenges to peace, democracy and
security.
 The Charter on Popular Participation adopted in 1990: a testimony to the renewed
determination of the OAU to endeavour to place the African citizen at the center of development
and decision-making.
 The Treaty establishing the African Economic Community (AEC) – 1991: commonly known as the
Abuja Treaty, it seeks to create the AEC through six stages culminating in an African Common
Market using the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) as building blocks. The Treaty has been
in operation since 1994.
 The Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (1993): a practical
expression of the determination of the African leadership to find solutions to conflicts, promote
peace, security and stability in Africa.
 Cairo Agenda for Action (1995): a programme for relaunching Africa’s political, economic and
social development.
 African Common Position on Africa’s External Debt Crisis (1997): a strategy for addressing the
Continent’s External Debt Crisis.
 The Algiers decision on Unconstitutional Changes of Government (1999) and the Lome
Declaration on the framework for an OAU Response to Unconstitutional Changes (2000).
 The 2000 Solemn Declaration on the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and
Cooperation: establishes the fundamental principles for the promotion of Democracy and Good
Governance in the Continent.
 Responses to other challenges: Africa has initiated collective action through the OAU in the
protection of environment, in fighting international terrorism, in combating the scourge of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria and tuberculosis or dealing with humanitarian issues such as
refugees and displaced persons, landmines, small and light weapons among others.
 The Constitutive Act of the African Union: adopted in 2000 at the Lome Summit (Togo), entered
into force in 2001.
 The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) : adopted as a Programme of the AU at
the Lusaka Summit (2001).

Advent of the AU

The OAU initiatives paved the way for the birth of AU. In July 1999, the Assembly decided to convene
an extraordinary session to expedite the process of economic and political integration in the
continent. Since then, four Summits have been held leading to the official launching of the African
Union:

 The Sirte Extraordinary Session (1999) decided to establish an African Union

 The Lome Summit (2000) adopted the Constitutive Act of the Union.
 The Lusaka Summit (2001) drew the road map for the implementation of the AU
 The Durban Summit (2002) launched the AU and convened the 1st Assembly of the Heads of
States of the African Union.

Vision of the African Union

The vision of the African Union is that of: “An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its
own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena.”

This vision of a new, forwardlooking, dynamic and integrated Africa will be fully realized through
relentless struggle on several fronts and as a long-term endeavour. The African Union has shifted focus
from supporting liberation movements in the erstwhile African territories under colonialism and
apartheid, as envisaged by the OAU since 1963 and the Constitutive Act, to an organization spear-
heading Africa’s development and integration.

The Objectives of the AU

 To achieve greater unity and solidarity between the African countries and the peoples of Africa;
 To defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States;
 To accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent;
 To promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its
peoples;
 To encourage international cooperation, taking due account of the Charter of the United Nations
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
 To promote peace, security, and stability on the continent;
 To promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance;
 To promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments;
 To establish the necessary conditions which enable the continent to play its rightful role in the
global economy and in international negotiations;
 To promote sustainable development at the economic, social and cultural levels as well as the
integration of African economies;
 To promote co-operation in all fields of human activity to raise the living standards of African
peoples;
 To coordinate and harmonize the policies between the existing and future Regional Economic
Communities for the gradual attainment of the objectives of the Union;
 To advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in
science and technology;
 To work with relevant international partners in the eradication of preventable diseases and
the promotion of good health on the continent.

The Organs of the AU

The Assembly

Composed of Heads of State and Government or their duly accredited representatives. The Assembly of
Heads of State and Government is the supreme organ of the Union.

The Executive Council

Composed of Ministers or Authorities designated by the Governments of Members States. The
Executive Council is responsible to the Assembly.

The Commission

Composed of the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson, eight Commissioners and Staff members; Each
Commissioner shall be responsible for a portfolio.

The Permanent Representatives’ Committee

Composed of Permanent Representatives of Member States accredited to the Union. The Permanent
Representatives Committee is charged with the responsibility of preparing the work of the Executive
Council.

Peace and Security Council (PSC)

By decision AHG/Dec 160 (xxxvii) of the Summit of Lusaka, July 2001, a decision was made for the
creation within the African Union of the Peace and Security Council. The Protocol establishing the PSC is
in the process of ratification.

Pan-African Parliament

A Pan-African Parliament, and organ to ensure the full participation of African peoples in governance,
development and economic integration of the Continent. The protocol relating to the composition,
powers, functions and organization of the Pan-African Parliament has been signed by Member States
and is in the process of ratification.

ECOSOCC

The Economic, Social and Cultural Council, an advisory organ composed of different social and
professional groups of the Member States of the Union. The statutes determining the functions,
powers, composition and organization of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council have been prepared
and will be submitted to Maputo Summit.

The Court of Justice

A Court of Justice of the Union shall be established. The statutes defining the composition and functions
of the Court of Justice have been prepared and will be submitted to the Assembly in Maputo.

The Specialized Technical Committees

The following Specialized Technical Committees are meant to address sectoral issues and are at
Ministerial Level:

 The Committee on Rural Economy and Agricultural Matters;

 The Committee on Monetary and Financial Affairs;
 The Committee on Trade, Customs and Immigration Matters;
 The Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, Energy, Natural Resources and
Environment;
 The Committee on Transport, Communications and Tourism;
 The Committee on Health, Labour and Social Affairs; and
  The Committee on Education, Culture and Human Resources.
 The Financial Institutions
 The African Central bank
 The African Monetary Fund
 The African Investment Bank

The AU Commission
The Commission is the key organ playing a central role in the day-to-day management of the African
Union. Among others, it represents the Union and defends its interests; elaborates draft common
positions of the Union; prepares strategic plans and studies for the consideration of the Executive
Council; elaborates, promotes, coordinates and harmonizes the programmes and policies of the Union
with those of the RECs; ensures the mainstreaming of gender in all programmes and activities of the
Union.

Members of the Commission

Chairperson;

Deputy Chairperson;

Eight (8) Commissioners.

Staff members

Portfolios of the Commission

1. PEACE AND SECURITY (Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, and Combating
Terrorism…)

2. POLITICAL AFFAIRS (Human Rights, Democracy, Good Governance, Electoral Institutions, Civil Society
Organizations, Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons)

3. INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY (Energy, Transport, Communications, Infrastructure and Tourism…)

4. SOCIAL AFFAIRS (Health, Children, Drug Control, Population, Migration, Labour and Employment,
Sports and Culture…)

5. HUMAN RESOURCES, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Education, Information Technology

Communication, Youth, Human Resources, Science and Technology…)

6. TRADE AND INDUSTRY (Trade, Industry, Customs and Immigration Matters…)

7. RURAL ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE (Rural Economy, Agriculture and Food Security, Livestock,
Environment, Water and Natural Resources and Desertification…)

8. ECONOMIC AFFAIRS (Economic Integration, Monetary Affairs, Private Sector Development,

Investment and ResourceMobilizations
.shed in 2002 to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) founded in 1963 (www.africa-
union.org). The AU is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The chair of the OAU is currently held by
Mauritania. Current President of the Commission Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma is striving to shift the Union’s
earlier focus on peace and security more towards activities in other political areas, but the various crises
in Africa (Mali, Central Republic of the Congo, Somalia and South Sudan) still require the full attention of
the organisation. At an extraordinary summit meeting in Addis Ababa on 25 May, the double anniversary
of 50 years foundation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and ten years of AU was celebrated
under the topic “Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance”. In the framework of this summit, the AU
adopted its third, more outcome-oriented strategic plan for the years 2014 – 2017 and launched its
Agenda 2063, an initiative of the AU Commission to work out a long-term strategic plan for the
development of Africa over the course of the next fifty years.

IGAD

The work of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) revolved around finding solutions
to the crises in Somalia and South Sudan in 2013. The organisation currently chaired by Ethiopia made a
significant contribution to reaching an agreement between the Somali federal government and
Jubaland. The Reconciliation Agreement signed after eight months of negotiations in Addis Ababa in
August 2013 covers issues of the country’s decentralisation as well as control of significant infrastructure
such as the port of Kismayo. Following the outbreak of hostilities in South Sudan, IGAD immediately
intervened as a mediating body in December 2013. Austrian Development Cooperation supports the
Rapid Response Fund of IGAD’s CEWARN, the regional Conflict Early Warning and Response Mechanism,
and will continue to do so until the end of 2015 so that it can detect and quickly respond to cross-border
conflicts over grazing land and water in the IGAD member states (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia,
Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea (currently suspended).

East African Community (EAC)

Despite efforts to reach its ambitious goals – monetary union, common visa, etc. – and even though a
protocol on the monetary union has been signed and major infrastructure projects, e.g. in the railway
sector, have been agreed, EAC has hardly made any concrete progress. Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda –
the self-declared “Coalition of the Willing” – are particularly keen on reforms while Tanzania is sceptical
about some of the projects.

Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Malawi took over the chair of SADC at the SADC summit in August 2013 in Lilongwe/Malawi from
Mozambique. Malawi is planning to keep the focus of the organisation’s work on the economy and
infrastructure. Namibia followed Tanzania in the chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security of
SADC. The SADC mission in Zimbabwe to implement the political agreement reached between
government and opposition in 2009 was declared concluded at the SADC summit in August 2013 after
elections in Zimbabwe had been held. The efforts to restore order under constitutional law after the
coup in Madagascar in 2009 were also concluded in 2013 after the successful presidential and
parliamentary elections. In summit meetings with the International Conference on the Great Lakes
Region (ICGLR), SADC is also trying to stabilise the conflicts around the Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)

The ECCAS was successful in its mediation in the crisis in the Central African Republic and held several
summit meetings to find a way to end the violence.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

Its intervention in the crises in Mali and Guinea-Bissau yielded some success. Little progress has,
however, been made in the urgently required internal reform process to improve the institutional
implementation capacity of ECOWAS.

The EU and ECOWAS are negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on the basis of the
Cotonou Agreement of the year 2000.

EAC

The East African Community (EAC) is the regional intergovernmental organisation of the Republics of
Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Burundi and Republic of Rwanda with its
headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

The EAC aims at widening and deepening co-operation among the partner states and other regional
economic communities in, among others, political, economic and social fields for their mutual benefit.

The East African Community (EAC) is the regional intergovernmental organization of the Republics of
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania with its Headquarters in Arusha,
Tanzania. The Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community was signed on 30th November
1999 and entered into force on 7th July 2000 following its ratification by the Original 3 Partner States –
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi acceded to the EAC
Treaty on 18th June 2007 and became full Members of the Community with effect from 1 st July 2007.

Aims and Objectives

The EAC aims at widening and deepening co-operation among the Partner States in, among others,
political, economic and social fields for their mutual benefit. To this extent the EAC countries
established a Customs Union in 2005 and are working towards the establishment of a Common Market
by 2010, subsequently a Monetary Union by 2012 and ultimately a Political Federation of the East
African States.

Enlargement of the Community

The realization of a large regional economic bloc encompassing Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and
Uganda with a combined population of 120 million people, land area of 1.85 million sq kilometres and a
combined gross domestic product of $ 41 billion, bears great strategic and geopolitical significance and
prospects of a renewed and reinvigorated East African Community.
Current status

The regional integration process is at a high pitch at the moment. The encouraging progress of the East
African Customs Union, the enlargement of the Community with admission of Rwanda and Burundi,
the ongoing negotiations of the East African Common Market as well as the consultations on fast
tracking the process towards East African Federation all underscore the serious determination of the
East African leadership and citizens to construct a powerful and sustainable East African economic and
political bloc.

EAC Organs
Posted in About EAC

The main Organs of the EAC are the Summit, the Council of Ministers, the Co-ordinating Committee, the
Sectoral Committees, the East African Court of Justice, the East African Legislative Assembly and the
Secretariat.

The Summit

The Summit comprising of Heads of Government of Partner States gives strategic direction towards the
realisation of the goal and objectives of the Community.

The Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers (or simply, the Council) is the central decision-making and governing Organ of
the EAC. Its membership constitutes Ministers or Cabinet Secretaries from the Partner States whose
dockets are responsible for regional co-operation.

Every year, the Council meets twice, one meeting of which is held immediately preceding a meeting of
the Summit. The Council meetings assist in maintaining a link between the political decisions taken at
the Summits and the day-to-day functioning of the Community. Regulations, directives and decisions
taken or given by the Council are binding to the Partner States and to all other Organs and Institutions of
the Community other than the Summit, the Court and the Assembly.

The Council, each year, elects a Chairperson by rotation to serve a one-year term to the office of
Chairperson of the Council of Ministers.

The Coordinating Committee

Under the Council, the Coordinating Committee has the primary responsibility for regional co-operation
and co-ordinates the activities of the Sectoral Committees. It also recommends to the Council about the
establishment, composition and functions of such Sectoral Committees. It draws its membership from
Permanent / Principal Secretaries responsible for regional co-operation from the Partner States.Subject
to any directions given by the Council, the Coordinating Committee meets twice a year preceding the
meetings of the Council. Moreover, it may hold extraordinary meetings at the request of the
Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee

Sectoral Committees
Sectoral Committees conceptualise programmes and monitor their implementation. The Council
establishes such Sectoral Committees on recommendation of the Coordinating Committee.The Sectoral
Committees meet as often as necessary for the proper discharge of their functions.

The East African Court of Justice

The East African Court of Justice (or simply, the Court) is the principal judicial Organ of the Community
and ensures adherence to the law in the interpretation and application of compliance with the EAC
Treaty. It was established under Article 9 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African
Community.

Arusha, Tanzania is the temporary seat of the Court until the Summit determines its permanent seat.
The Court established its Sub-registries in the Partner States, which are located in the premises of the
National Courts.

The Court is currently composed of ten judges, appointed by the Summit from among sitting judges of
any Partner State court of judicature or from jurists of recognised competence, and the Registrar who is
appointed by the Council of Ministers.

The Court has two divisions: an Appellate division and a First Instance division.

The East African Legislative Assembly

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is the Legislative Organ of the Community and has a
cardinal function to further EAC objectives, through its Legislative, Representative and Oversight
mandate. It was established under Article 9 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African
Community.

The Assembly has a membership comprising of 54 elected Members (nine from each Partner State), and
7 ex-officio Members consisting of the Minister or Cabinet Secretary responsible for EAC Affairs from
each Partner State, the Secretary-General and the Counsel to the Community totalling 62 Members.

The Assembly draws the authority to establish its Standing Committees from its Rules of Procedure. It is
currently has 6 Standing Committees to execute its mandate:

The Accounts Committee;

• The Committee on Legal, Rules, and Privileges;

• The Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources;
• The Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution;
• The Committee on Communication, Trade and Investment, and
• The Committee on General Purpose.
• The EALA Commission which oversees the management of the Assembly is established following
the enactment of the Administration of the EALA Act 2012.
• For more information, please visit the EALA website.

The Secretariat
The Secretariat is the executive Organ of the Community. As the guardian of the Treaty, it ensures that
regulations and directives adopted by the Council are properly implemented.

In service of the Community, the Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General, 4 Deputy Secretaries-
General, the Counsel to the Community and hundreds of EAC staff members who carry out the day-to-
day work of the EAC as mandated by the Council.

The Secretary-General is the principal executive and accounting officer of the Community, the head of
the Secretariat and the Secretary of the Summit; he/she is appointed by the Summit for a fixed five-year,
non-renewable term.

The Deputy Secretaries-General are appointed by the Summit on recommendations of the Council and
on a rotational basis. They deputise the Secretary-General and each serves a three-year term, renewable
once.

The Counsel to the Community is the principal legal adviser to the Community.

Achievements of the new East African Community:

Harmonization of Monetary and Fiscal Policies-

This has included convertibility of the partner states’ currencies, harmonization of banking rules and
regulations, harmonization of finance ministries’ pre- and post-budget consultations, regular sharing of
information on budgets, and reading of budget statements on the same day.

Transport and Communications-

The main objectives of the agreement are to facilitate interstate road transport through reduced
documentation for crews and vehicles at border crossings including harmonized requirements for
operation licensing and customs and immigration regulations. This has made it easier and quicker for
traders from one member country to trade with traders from other member countries.

Education and skilled Labour-

East Africa community aims at creating centres of excellence in the community to provide top quality
training and education aimed at meeting current and future skill needs and technical innovation in the
regional bloc. Free visas are provided for students from member states to study at any university within
this community.

Joint Tourism Promotion Initiatives-

The East African Community partner states signed important protocols that will help in promoting East
Africa as a single tourist destination and will result in attracting more tourists and increase the
contribution of the tourism industry to the East African economy. A single East African Tourist Visa for
the EAC countries of Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda has been available since 2014.
Failures/Shortcomings of the East African Community

Industrialization-

There is a lack of substantial evidence with regard to industrialization in the East African Community
regional bloc. It can logically be concluded that this is due to the sheer size of the economies of these
countries, which are too small to attract commercially viable inward investment due, for example, to the
poor infrastructural development.

Imbalanced Benefits-

There are different priorities within the East African Community. This has led to the failure of ensuring
that all countries benefit equally from the regional integration. For example, as Kenya’s currency
appreciated while the currencies of other countries’ depreciated. The countries in this economic bloc
have different growth accelerations.

Custom union-

The East African community failed to advance the custom union. EAC protocol required that Kenya
eliminates its tariffs on imports originating in Tanzania and Uganda respectively with immediate effect
on the first day of the protocol implementation. However, charges of gradually declining taxes remain
for 859 products originating from Kenya that are exported to Tanzania and 426 products originating
from Kenya that are exported to Uganda, based on the asymmetry principle.

Monetary union-

The east African community (EAC) has not met its 2012 target of agreeing on the formation of a
monetary union. Following two years of negotiations, it was expected that a protocol would be
approved at EAC heads of state summit at the end of November; which would have started the process
of monetary integration. However, the east Africa community was unable to come to an agreement and
the monetary union was removed from the summit agenda.

ECOWAS
The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries,
founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration in “all fields of economic activity,
particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce,
monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters …..”

The Institutions of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) are as follows:

 The Commission
 The Community Parliament
 The Community Court OF Justice
  ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)

The ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, more often called
The Fund are its two main institutions designed to implement policies, pursue a number of programmes
and carry out development projects in Member States. Such projects include intra-community road
construction and telecommunications; and agricultural, energy and water resources development.

Achievement of ecowas

Consolidation of Peace and Security in Member States

The ECOWAS Peace Fund through its programs and projects has achieved the consolidation of peace and
security in conflict-affected Countries in the ECOWAS Region. The Countries includes Liberia, Sierra
Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali where preventive diplomacy and mediation
missions were deployed, electoral processes were supported, and various assistance modules have been
operationalized. The offices of the Special Representatives of the President of ECOWAS Commission in
the relevant countries were also supported.

Humaniterian assistance and Socio Economic Recovery and Reintegration

The ECOWAS Peace Fund successfully provided humanitarian assistance to, and powered the socio
economic recovery and reintegration of vulnerable groups (refugees, returnees, internally displaced
persons) in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, etc. Housing, equipment for agriculture, water
and sanitation, education and health facilities, income generating activities were also provided to more
than 41,000 people. Also, capacity building projects were undertaken in which Government agencies,
civil society organization and local stakeholders benefitted in order to facilitate the delivery of support
and assistance to the targeted groups.

Rehabilitation and Equipping of Prosthetics/Handicap Center in Guinea Bussau.

The ECOWAS Peace Fund successfully rehabilitated and equipped the prosthetics/handicap center in
Guinea Bissau. The facility is currently providing artificial limbs to maimed people from across the
country and beyond, thus restoring their dignity and healing process.

Development of Training Curricular with an e-Learning Perspective

The ECOWAS Peace Fund developed a training curricula on the culture of peace for primary and
secondary education sectors, with an E-Learning perspective

The ECOWAS Volunteers Programme

The ECOWAS Peace Fund successfully set up an ECOWAS Volunteers Programme, with volunteers
deployed in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Support to ECOWAS Commission Capacity Building

The ECOWAS Peace Fund provided support to ECOWAS Commission Capacity Building, the consolidation
of ECOWAS and African Union Peace and security Architecture in West Africa, as well as assistance to
Training Institutions, Training Centers of Excellence on peace and security, and Early Warning schemes
within the ECOWAS Region.

Support to ECOWAS Developments on Peace Support Operations.

The ECOWAS Peace Fund provided support to ECOWAS Deployment in Mali and Guinea Bissau for peace
Support operations (AFISMA, ECOMIB).

Challenges facing the region and the organization and current responses from ECOWAS.

1) Wide proliferation of small arms and light weapons: He mentioned the estimated 10 million arms that
are easily and currently available throughout the community as one of the causes of extended conflicts.
ECOWAS has a small arms program that was originally joined with the UNDP. ECOWAS now has more
direct ownership with national committees in all member states except Cote d’Ivoire.

2) Respect for Human Rights and Civil Liberties: Human rights and civil liberties abuses stem from bad
governments. ECOWAS is building a network of National Human Rights committees with international
partners to address respect for human rights.

3) Ensuring credible, transparent, free and fair elections: This is difficult because there are so many
crises in this area. There are positive recent examples this year from Sierra Leone and Togo, both
countries where ECOWAS was present for the pre-electoral preparations and during the elections,
ensuring security and providing observation and monitoring. In the case of Nigeria, everyone, including
the President of Nigeria, admits to a disappointing election in terms of credibility at international
standards. The Nigerian President promised and has created a committee of credible persons to
investigate what went wrong, a promising sign even if the actual elections were not what people had
hoped.

4) Migration: Migration is very important because West African youth do not see any future within the
region and therefore are risking their lives to reach the EU or U.S. Economic opportunities must be
created for the youth to stay and help develop the region.

5) Drug trafficking: West Africa is seen as a soft spot for drug trafficking where organized groups use the
region as a transport point. ECOWAS is working with the UN Drug Control regional office in Dakar to
address this issue.

6) Tuareg situation: The question of the Tuaregs in northern Mali and Niger is delicate because these are
people with a very different culture to bring under the central control of states. Yet one cannot ignore
the criminal elements who engage in trafficking of humans, cigars, arms and drugs. ECOWAS intends to
work on this issue within the African Union (AU) framework because it is important to bring in non-
ECOWAS states including Algeria, Sudan, etc.

7) Global warming: Global warming presents yet another challenge to the region, exemplified by this
year’s severe flooding across West Africa. Work in this sector must focus on the management of
common resources such as river basins, lagoons and other fragile ecosystems
COMESA

COMESA’s priorities and objectives

The history of COMESA began in December 1994 when it was formed to replace the former
Preferential Trade Area (PTA) which had existed from the earlier days of 1981. COMESA (as
defined by its Treaty) was established ‘as an organisation of free independent sovereign states
which have agreed to co-operate in developing their natural and human resources for the good
of all their people’ and as such it has a wide-ranging series of objectives which necessarily
include in its priorities the promotion of peace and security in the region
However, due to COMESA’s economic history and background its main focus is on the formation
of a large economic and trading unit that is capable of overcoming some of the barriers that are
faced by individual states..

COMESA’s current strategy can thus be summed up in the phrase ‘economic prosperity through
regional integration’. With its 19 (now 21 since 18 July 2018) Member States, population of over
520 million and global trade in goods worth US$ 235 billion COMESA forms a major market place
for both internal and external trading. Its area is impressive on the map of the African Continent
covering a geographical area of 12 Million (sq km). Its achievements to date have been
significant. (Newest Member States: Tunisia and Somalia not included)

A Free Trade Area

The FTA was achieved on 31st October, 2000 when nine of the member States namely Djibouti,
Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe eliminated their tariffs on
COMESA originating products, in accordance with the tariff reduction schedule adopted in
1992.This followed a trade liberalisation programme that commenced in 1984 on reduction and
eventual elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to intra- regional trade. Burundi and
Rwanda joined the FTA on 1st January 2004. These eleven FTA members have not only
eliminated customs tariffs but are working on the eventual elimination of quantitative
restrictions and other non-tariff barriers.

Customs union
A Customs Union maybe defined as a merger of two or more customs territories into a single
customs territory, in which customs duties and other measures that restrict trade are eliminated
for substantially all trade between the merged territories. The territories, in turn apply the same
duties and measures in their trade with third parties. In preparation for a Customs Union the
Eleventh Meeting of the Council of Ministers held in Cairo, Egypt adopted a Road Map that
outlined programmes and activities whose implementation was necessary before the launching
of the Union. It is expected that the launch will be achieved by the year 2008

Trade promotion
Other objectives which will be met to assist in the achievement of trade promotion include:
Trade liberalisation and Customs co-operation, including the introduction of a unified
computerised Customs network across the region.
 Improving the administration of transport and communications to ease the movement of goods
services and people between the countries.
Creating an enabling environment and legal framework which will encourage the growth of the
private sector, the establishment of a secure investment environment, and the adoption of
common sets of standards.
The harmonisation of macro-economic and monetary policies throughout the region.
What COMESA offers
COMESA offers its members and partners a wide range of benefits which include:

 A wider, harmonised and more competitive market

 Greater industrial productivity and competitiveness
 Increased agricultural production and food security
 A more rational exploitation of natural resources
 More harmonised monetary, banking and financial policies
 More reliable transport and communications infrastructure
 Use these web pages or write to us to find out more about all of these.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Structure of the ICC

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an international judicial body that was formed by a multilateral
treaty called the Rome Statute. The ICC, which is independent of the United Nations, is based in The
Hague, the Netherlands, although it may sit elsewhere.

The ICC is composed of four primary organs: the Presidency, the Judicial Divisions, the Office of the
Prosecutor, and the Registry.

The Assembly of States Parties serves as the Court’s management, oversight, and legislative body and is
not an organ of the Court. It establishes the budget, elects judges and prosecutors, amends law and
procedure, and conducts other activities consistent with the Rome Statute.

Also separate from the Court is the Trust Fund for Victims, which was created by the Assembly of States
Parties (as specified in Article 79 of the Rome Statute) to provide assistance and support to victims of
Rome Statute crimes and their families and to help implement Court-ordered reparations. The Trust
Fund for Victims seeks to promote restorative justice, reconciliation, and sustainable peace by
attempting to address the direct harms of atrocity crimes.

Presidency

 Represents the ICC externally

 Organizes the Judicial Chambers and assigns cases
  Perform a select number of judicial functions

The Presidency is responsible for the overall administration of the Court, with the exception of the Office
of the Prosecutor, and for specific functions assigned to the Presidency in accordance with the Statute.

Composition

The Presidency is one of the ICC’s four Organs. Its President and First and Second Vice-Presidents are all
elected by an absolute majority of the Judges of the Court for a three year renewable term and serve full
time.

Responsibility

The Presidency is responsible for judicial/legal functions, administration, and external relations of the
Court. The Presidency constitutes Chambers (assigning certain judges to each) and assigns cases,
conducts judicial review of certain decisions of the Registrar and concludes Court-wide cooperation
agreements with States. The Presidency ensures proper administration of the Court (except the Office of
the Prosecutor which is responsible for its own administration) and oversees the work of the Registry.
The Presidency also maintains relations with States and other entities and promotes public awareness
and understanding of the Court through external relations.

Chambers

 Issue Arrest Warrants

 Determine Jurisdiction and Admissibility
 Confirm or Reject Charges
 Adjudicate Cases
 Hear Appeals

The Chambers consist of eighteen judges organized into the Pre-Trial Division, the Trial Division, and the
Appeals Division. The judges of each Division are then divided into Chambers which are responsible for
conducting the proceedings of the Court on specific cases and situations at different stages of the
judicial procedure.

Composition

The judiciary of the Court is composed of three Divisions: The Appeals Division, the Trial Division and the
Pre-Trial Division. The Appeals Chamber consists of all five judges of the Appeals Division. The Pre-Trial
and Trial Chambers consist of three judges each from their respective Divisions. In addition, many of the
functions of the Pre-Trial Chamber may be carried out by a Single Judge sitting as his own Chamber. The
Presiding Judge of a Chamber is elected by the judges of the Chamber in question. The Appeals Chamber
decides on a Presiding Judge for each appeal.

Responsibility

The Pre-Trial Chamber plays an important role in the first phase of judicial proceedings and makes the
decision whether to confirm the charges against the potential accused. After charges are confirmed, the
Trial Chamber determines the innocence or guilt of the accused, imposes a sentence on a convicted
person, and may order a convicted person to pay money for compensation, restitution, or rehabilitation
for victims. If either the Prosecutor or the convicted person appeal the decision of the Trial Chamber,
the Appeals Chamber may decide to reverse or amend the decision or sentence or order a new trial
before a different Trial Chamber.

Office Of The Prosecutor

 Analyze Jurisdiction and Admissibility

 Work with Governments and other Actors to Facilitate Cooperation
 Investigate Crimes
 Prosecute Individuals

The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) is responsible for receiving referrals and any substantiated
information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court. OTP examines these referrals and
information, conducts investigations, and conducts prosecutions before the Court.

Composition

OTP is composed of three Divisions. The Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, makes the final decisions on the
commencement of investigations and prosecutions. The Deputy Prosecutor, James Stewart, is in charge
of all the Divisions; Phakiso Mochochoko is the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and
Cooperation Division; Fabricio Guariglia is the Head of the Prosecutions Division; and Michel de Smedt is
the Head of the Investigations Division.

Responsibility

First, OTP performs preliminary analysis on the referrals and information on crimes that it receives to
determine if they meet the jurisdictional requirements to merit an investigation. If OTP determines that
the situation meets jurisdictional requirements, then it conducts an investigation into the situation.
Should the investigation yield enough evidence to merit the issuing of arrest warrants, OTP applies to
the Pre-Trial Chamber for the issuance of a warrant or a summons to appear. After the accused has been
arrested or summoned to court voluntarily, OTP presents its charges and its evidence to the Pre-Trial
Chamber and the Pre-Trial Chamber determines whether to confirm the charges. After charges are
confirmed, OTP conducts the entirety of the prosecution at trial.

Registry

 Administer Court Services

 Assist External Defense and Victims Counsel
 Organize Witness & Victims Protection
 Facilitate Victim Participation and Reparations
 The Registry provides judicial and administrative support to all organs of the Court and carries
out its specific responsibilities in the areas of defense, victims and witnesses, outreach and
detention.

Composition

It is headed by the Registrar who is the principal administrative officer of the Court and oversees various
offices and sections that perform specific administrative and supportive tasks.
Responsibility

In addition to providing all administrative support for the Court’s activities both at the headquarters in
The Hague and in the field, the Registry has specific responsibilities in particular areas of the Court’s
mandate. In the area of defense, the Registry protects the rights of defendants by administering the
legal aid program for indigent defendants and providing various forms of assistance to defense counsel.
The Registry provides a similar counsel support function to victims as well as ensuring the safety and
support of witnesses and victims. The Registry also performs an essential outreach function by ensuring
that affected communities in situations subject to investigation or proceedings can understand and
follow the work of the Court through the different phases of its activities. The Registry is also responsible
for administering and coordinating the detention of all those detained under the ICC’s authority.

Assembly of State Parties

 Change ICC Law and Procedures

 Elect Judges and Prosecutors
 Determine ICC’s Budget
 Provide oversight on Court administration to Presidency, Registrar, and Prosecutor
 Consider questions of non-cooperation
 Consider reports and take other actions consistent with the Rome Statute

The Assembly of State Parties (ASP) is the management, oversight, and legislative body of the Court, and
its role is described in Article 112 of the Rome Statute. Each State Party has one vote in the ASP. Both
the ASP and its Bureau attempt to make decisions by consensus, and when consensus cannot be
reached make decisions by two-thirds majority (on matters of substance) and simple majority (on
procedure). In addition, the President of the Court, the Prosecutor and the Registrar or their
representatives may participate in meetings of both the ASP and the Bureau when appropriate.

Composition

The ASP is made up of representatives of the various states that have ratified and acceded to the Rome
Statute (States Parties). States that have signed the Rome Statute may also send observer delegations to
the ASP.

The ASP has a Bureau that supports its work. The Bureau includes a President, two Vice-Presidents and
18 elected (for three-year terms) members, and according to Rome Statute Art. 112 should “have a
representative character, taking into account, in particular, equitable geographical distribution and the
adequate representation of the principal legal systems of the world.”

Responsibility

The ASP sets the rules and regulations of the Court and makes various decisions related to management
and oversight, such as the adoption of normative texts and of the budget, the election of judges, the
Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutor(s), and any issues related to non-cooperation. The ASP also provides
oversight to the Presidency, Registrar, and Prosecutor and has the ability to establish subsidiary bodies,
such as independent oversight mechanisms.

Trust Fund for Victims

Support victims and their families through reparations and assistance.

The Trust Fund serves victims of crimes that fall within the Court’s jurisdiction through the provision of
1) general assistance including physical rehabilitation, psychological rehabilitation, and/or material
support and 2) implementation of reparations awards ordered by the Court against a convicted person.

Composition

The TFV is guided by a Board of Directors, the five members of which are elected by the Assembly of
Parties for three-year terms. Members of the Board of Directors serve pro bono.

The TFV uses fines and forfeitures of persons convicted through ICC proceedings, as well as through
voluntary donations from states and individual donors. The TFV works with national and international
partners to implement its programs through a grant-making process.

Responsibility

The two mandates of the TFV, general assistance and reparations, were established to provide support
to victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. While reparations are linked to
accountability, arising from individual criminal responsibility of a convicted person, the assistance
mandate is not and can address broader implications of the crimes and conflict at issue.

Through its assistance mandate, the TFV provides assistance to victims and their families independently
from the conviction of a particular person, or before a conviction happens. This allows for assistance to
reach victims and affected communities more quickly, and reaches victims of crimes committed in the
conflict at issue without the requirement that they be directly tied to charges and the case against a
particular defendant. Assistance activities are funded by voluntary contributions.

The TFV fulfills its reparations mandate by creating plans and programs to implement reparations orders
decided by the Court. Although reparations can be direct and aimed at individuals, including individual
compensation or material support and physical or psychological rehabilitation. They can also be
collective or symbolic, which might address broader societal or collective harm caused by atrocity
crimes. These possibilities allow for the Court to be responsive to the context of specific cases and the
wishes of victims, and for reparations measures to encourage restoration, reconciliation and address
community-wide needs.

Since 2008, the Trust Fund has implemented projects in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Kenya, and the Central African Republic, and is launching an assistance program in Côte d’Ivoire. The
Trust Fund is also working to implement reparations orders in several cases.

How the court works Organisation States Parties Cooperation Outreach Trust fund for victims

Trials are fair

ICC judges conduct judicial proceedings and ensure the fairness of proceedings.

The Prosecution is independent

The Office of the Prosecutor is an independent organ of the Court. The Prosecutor conducts preliminary
examinations, investigations and is the only one who can bring cases before the Court.
Defendants’ rights are upheld

Defendants are entitled to public, fair proceedings that they can follow in a language they fully
understand, and more.

Victims’ voices are heard

Victim’s voices are heard in the Courtroom, as the Rome Statute grants victims unprecedented rights to
participate in ICC proceedings. Watch now.

Participating victims and witnesses are protected

The ICC has a victim and witness protection programme that uses both operational and procedural
protective measures.

Outreach creates two-way dialogue

The Court engages in two-way dialogue directly with communities that have suffered from crimes under
its jurisdiction, so that they can communicate directly with the Court and gain a sense of ownership in
the judicial process

The court has jurisdiction over four categories of crimes under international law:

 Genocide, or the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial, or religious
group;
 War crimes, or grave breaches of the laws of war, which include the Geneva Conventions’
prohibitions on torture, the use of child soldiers, and attacks on civilian targets, such as hospitals
or schools;
 Crimes against humanity, or violations committed as part of large-scale attacks against civilian
populations, including murder, rape, imprisonment, slavery, and torture; and
 Crimes of aggression, or the use or threat of armed force by a state against the territorial
integrity, sovereignty, or political independence of another state, or violations of the UN
Charter.

Failures of ICC
 There is a growing concern that the International Criminal Court (ICC), established with the
adoption of the Rome Statute of 1998, is irreparably and institutionally flawed and politicized.
The ICC has failed to live up to the hopes and visions of its founding fathers.
 The ICC was established after a long process of negotiations inspired by a post-World War II
vision of the need to ensure that the perpetrators of the most egregious crimes known to
humanity would not enjoy impunity and immunity. They would be brought to trial before an
independent, apolitical, international juridical body.
 Regrettably, and despite the best intentions of its founders, the very independence and
impartiality of the Court – so central and obvious for any such vital and important juridical body
– was flawed from the outset by constitutionally linking the Court with the United Nations.
 Placing part of the ICC’s financing at the political mercy of the UN General Assembly undermines
and prejudices any pretention of independence of the Court. Funding of the ICC, like any other
action requiring approval in the UN General Assembly, is, of necessity, a process driven by the
 political and economic interests of its members and subject to political bargaining that is
unconnected to the needs of the Court.
 The acceptance of a “Palestinian state” as a fully-fledged member state by the Court is an
example of how the ICC is dependent upon political determinations of the UN’s General
Assembly. The Palestinians have adopted the ICC as their own “back-yard tribunal” for baiting
Israel. They regularly submit referrals against Israel’s leaders and settlement policy. In so doing,
they are politicizing the Court.

Criticisms and (Weaknesses) of the ICC

 Despite the ICC’S growing budget, the court has only successfully convicted four people.
 It has been argued that the qualification of judges the ICC possesses has to be higher, requiring
expertise in international law.
 It is unquestionably desirable that the judges be of the heights caliber possible and have much
experience.
 Many have argued that the ICC lacks transparency and that most of their meetings are held
in secret, but this may be due to the protection of the people convicted and the reasons best
known to them.
 Also, some critics have argued that the standards of due process are not up to the highest
standards of practice
 . The court does not have universal jurisdiction because it is a treaty-based court and it is not a
creation of the United Nations. Individual countries decide to join if they want to.
 Lack of police force The international criminal court does not have a standing army or
police force but they actively rely on the cooperation of the state to execute arrest warrants.
This is a limitation for the international criminal court because the state police force can’t do so
much and they have jurisdictions that they cannot surpass. Therefore, this limits the
international criminal court from investigating properly and with ease.
 Another limitation faced by the international criminal court is the fact that they can only
investigate countries that have ratified the Rome statute.

Because these countries have signed and permitted the court to investigate however they like. Unlike
countries that are not signed to the Rome state, the international criminal court has no power and no
right to investigate them and if they do, it could be considered as a crime.

Recommendations

 There should be an alternative way the ICC can use to investigate counties that are not a party
to the Rome statute.
 The ICC should consider adopting its police force that can investigate any country with ease.
 The ICC is a global court and should not be termed as weak when it comes to trying powerful
individuals. 1.9 Conclusion The ICC was created to bring justice to those who have been
oppressed by the powerful, who believe they are untouchable by any authority and