International organizations to which Zambia belongs

An international organization is an organization that has members from different parts of the world.

International organizations to which Zambia belongs to include the two largest and most important ones:

1. Commonwealth
2. United Nations Organization (UN)

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is an international organization consisting of Britain and her former colonies.
• Commonwealth promotes diversity, development and democracy, and addresses global concerns such as education, health and climate change.
• The Commonwealth is group of 53 countries that work together for their common good.
• The countries are bound by their colonial history, which has left them with similar legal, parliamentary and education systems, as well as the English language.
• Some countries have now ties that have no historical ties to Britain have now joined the Commonwealth, for example Mozambique and Rwanda.
• In 1961, South Africa left the Commonwealth because of its racist’s policies of apartheid. She returned in 1994, as a multi-racial democracy under the leadership of Nelson Mandela.

Structure of the Commonwealth

Head of the Commonwealth

• Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth.
• There is no maximum term for the head of the Commonwealth, the next Head of the Commonwealth will be chosen by Commonwealth leaders.

Commonwealth Secretariat

• Commonwealth headquarters is in London, although the people who work there come from all parts of the Commonwealth.
• It puts the decisions and plans of Commonwealth leaders in action.
• It organizes all the major Commonwealth meetings, gives advice and support to member states, and runs programmes to help Commonwealth Countries.

Commonwealth Secretary General

• The Secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth
• It is nominated by Commonwealth leaders

Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG)

• It deals with serious abuses of Commonwealth political values and recommends action against member countries that are guilty of this abuse.
• It can recommend the expulsion of a country to Commonwealth leaders

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)

• At a (CHOGM) leaders meet every two years, to discuss issues that affect the Commonwealth.
• All decisions are reached by Consensus, and all member states have the opportunity to
speak.

Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP)

• It’s a development agency that works with young people between the ages of 15 and 29.
• Its vision is to empower young people to reach their full potential and to fully take part in the well-being and sustainable development of their own society and the world as a whole.

Functions and objectives of the Commonwealth

1. Supporting member countries to prevent or resolve conflicts
2. Building stronger democratic processes in member countries
3. Alleviating poverty
4. Promoting gender equality and empower women
5. Encouraging a basic education for all
6. Opposition of racism
7. Free trade
8. Addressing the impacts of climate change and promote sustainable management of the natural environment
9. Helping governments improve their ability to run public services.

How Zambia benefits from Commonwealth membership

1. Exchange of technical experts and advice, through the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation.
2. The larger Commonwealth nations help the smaller less-developed members (Zambia included) to become part of the global economy.
3. The Commonwealth’s efforts to promote democracy have encouraged Zamia to observe democratic funds.
4. Participation in the Commonwealth games.

UNITED NATIONS (UN)

The United Nation (UN) is an international organization of countries created to promote world peace and cooperation. It was founded after World War II, leaders of Britain, the United States, France, the Soviet Union and China (the Big Five) in San Francisco, USA to draw up a charter for the United Nations Organizations.

• The United Nations came into being on 24th October 1945.
• It brings together all countries of the world, regardless of their economic, social and political status.
• Zambia became a member on 1 December 1964
• Today, there are 192 members of the United Nations.

Functions of the UN

• Maintaining international peace and security
• Save future generations from the horror of war
• Ensure that men and women have equal right
• Economic and social advancement of all peoples
• Promotion of human rights and the dignity and worth of all people

Structure of the UN

General Assembly:

• The General Assembly is the Parliament of the UN. The 192 member states meet in the General Assembly and vote on important issues such as international peace.
• Each member country has a single vote
• It also controls the finances of the organization

Security Council:

• It is responsible for maintaining peace and tries to settle conflicts that threaten international security.
• The council has just 15 members, there are permanent five members: China, France, Russian Federation, UK and United States.
• It is based at the United Nations Headquarters

Secretariat:

• This is the Civil Service of the UN. The head of the Secretariat is the Secretary General, who is appointed by the General Assembly for a term of five years.
• It carries out the decisions of the UN and advises the Secretary General on world problems.
• The Secretary General may bring any matter to the security that seems likely to threaten international peace.

International Court of Justice:

• This is the main judicial organ of the UN. It is made up of 15 judges elected by the General Assembly and Security Council for a term of nine years.
• The court sits at The Hague in Holland. It has two jobs to settle disputes and to give advice to other UN organs and agencies.

Trusteeship Council:

• The main function of this Council was to promote the development of self-government of territories. These territories were mainly former colonies of European nations, all of which are now independent.

Economic and Social Council:

• The General Assembly elects members of this council. It is made up of 54 member nations that serve three-year terms (18 members are elected per year.
• The council deals with issues of economic and social concern.

Secretary Generals of the United Nations

No	Name	Country of origin	Took office	Left office
2	Trygve	Norway	2 Feb 1946	10 Nov 1952
3	Dag Hammarskjold	Sweden	10 April 1953	18 Sept 1961
4	Myint-U Thant	Myanmar	30 Nov 1961	31 Dec 1971
5	Kurt Waldheim	Austria	1 January 1972	31 Dec 1981
6	Javier Perez de Cuellar	Peru	1 January 1982	31 Dec 1991
7	Boutros Boutras- Gali	Egypt	1 January 1992	31 Dec 1996
8	Kofi Annan	Ghana	1 January 1997	31 Dec 2006
9	Ban Ki-moon	South Korea	1 January 2007	31 Dec 2016
10	António Guterres	Portugal	1 January 2017	Incumbent

ACTIVITIES OF THE UN

1. Peacekeeping: The UN tries to maintain peace by preventing ear or separating warring parties.
2. Humanitarian work: The UN has looked after refugees from war-torn countries such as the DRC, Angola, Sudan etc. it also provide emergency relief in form of food, water, shelter and medicine to disaster victims.
3. Education: the UN has undertaken programmes to improve the provision of education especially for Children in poor children.
4. Health: UN health agencies work to promote and protect good health worldwide
5. Agriculture: the UN funds programmes to ensure food security by increasing food production through improve farming methods and irrigation.

Specialized agencies of the UN

The World Health Organisation (WHO)

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

• Works towards the highest level of health care for the greatest number of people.
• Coordinates research in fields such as drug and alcohol abuse, primary health care, and nutrition.
• Improves sanitation and hygiene in developing countries.

Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

Headquarters: Rome, Italy

• Inform, advises and promotes scientific research
• Assists agricultural development in developing countries.
• Controls the flow of food aid to Asian and African countries.
• Raises nutritional levels and standards of living.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

• Raises world standards of working conditions
• Creates greater employment opportunities for women and men
• Aims to get rid of social injustices for all working people.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

• Assists developing nations with things such as vaccination programmes and relief services.
• Aims to decrease infant mortality by two thirds, and reduce the frequency of respiratory illnesses and dysentery
• Runs campaigns to prevent child prostitution, trafficking in children, and illegal child labour

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Headquarters: Paris, France

• Aims to bring peace and security to the world
• Promotes peace and tolerance between different nations
• Strives to achieve access to quality education for all children
• Encouraging scientific cooperation between nations

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Headquarters: Washington DC

• Promotes international monetary cooperation and exchange rate stability
• Works to assist the growth of international trade, and to reduce poverty
• Lends money to members that have balance of payment difficulties