Paper Example. International Organizations and Law

International organizations; an international organization is a multinational intergovernmental body established through a signed agreement between member countries. These intergovernmental bodies exist as separate legal entities. It can also be defined as an intergovernmental institution comprising member states who have willingly signed treaties to join it in order to benefit from it. International organizations conduct all their activities in the member states where they have their offices and personnel. There are many intergovernmental organizations including but not limited to the following; World Health Organization (WHO), The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) The World Trade Organization (WTO), Red Cross Society of Kenya, the International Criminal Court (ICC), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and The African Union (AU), European Union (EU). The international organizations have offices located in the member states but with their headquarters located in one selected country which is a member state also. Basically, the organizations draw members from the entire world but some of them have established geographical limitations in order to regulate membership (Harrington, 2018). Those with regulated membership include The African Union (AU) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union (EU).

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The oldest international organizations are the League of Nations (LON) founded in the year 1920 and The International Telecommunication Union (founded in January 10, 1865). While the former was founded in the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War 1 to maintain world peace, the latter was founded to address Information Communication and Technology challenges globally. International organizations have many activities including dealing with political issues in member states through mediation, facilitating coalition formations, promoting cooperation, harmony and good will in all the member nations. The organizations provide humanitarian services such as aids and donations (food, shelter, water, medical services among others), some international organizations are involved in trade bargaining for example the European Union, others are involved in dispute resolution and fighting terrorism (Harrington,2018). To a large extent, some international organisations have engaged in matters of environmental conservation, peace keeping and diplomacy affairs. International organizations advocate for sustainability in service delivery to people, responsiveness to the needs of the people in communities and groups and providing solutions to the challenges and problems people are going through. They foster partnership and cooperation among countries while at the same time ensuring transparency and responsibility.

International organizations have various goals such as the defense of its member nations, addressing issues of trade among nations, promoting peace, fighting diseases, improving health care, setting up a common monetary unit, fostering education and technology, protecting human rights, fighting poverty and supporting human progress, fighting diseases, promoting free trade among nations. Defending member nations; some international organizations’ main goal is to secure the peace and stability of the member nations in times of war and by establishing and deploying a one military unit in areas where there is war or crisis due to terrorism or radicalization (International Law Association,1978). In some cases, these international bodies have worked with non-member states to help them when they are in serious peace crisis. An example of such international organizations is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which has 28 member nations in Northern America and Europe and African Union is another international organization with a defence mission for African countries.

Addressing issues of trade among nations; specific international organizations' mandate has been to promote free trade and remove trade barriers among nations as well as solve trade disputes among the member Nations. The main international organization with this mandate is the World Trade Organization (WTO). This body has faced criticism in its operations as it has been seen to be favoring developed nations and seeking profit while ignoring environmental issues. Promoting peace; most International organizations have organs called security council. The council has the responsibility of dealing with threats to peace and security of the member nations. The representative states in the Security Council draft peace and security policies. The council mediates between the warring nations and advocates for signing of peace treaties among the member nations (Laroche, 2004). An example of security organs within the international organizations is the United Nations Security Council.

Fighting diseases; international organizations establish health and safety standards to guard and protect lives of the people in the member countries. They provide education and public awareness about certain diseases by use of technological and electronic media as well as print media. They also conduct in-depth research and analysis on various issues that affect the general health of the public. An example is the World Health Organization (WHO) which has actively been cooperating with member nations to give information about coronavirus and how to eradicate the spread of the virus. Improving health care; certain international bodies have shown great concern and have expended their efforts in improving the health of the public and the health care systems in the country. Such organizations have donated medical equipment, built hospitals and dispensaries and donated human labor in the health care efforts (Sen, 2009). The Red Cross Society of Kenya and the World Health Organization are the great examples.

Setting up a common monetary unit; The European Union (EU) consisting of its member states has developed and sustained a common medium of exchange which is the Euros. This has made it easier for nations to conduct trade and have a progressive economic partnership. Such countries have had a more effective trade relation among themselves. Protecting human rights; some international organizations have been in the forefront in fighting for human rights such as gender equality and fighting vices such as child abuse, gender violence, sex abuse, female genital mutilation (FGM), environmental pollution, rape and slavery. The efforts of the international organizations have been seen to be working in conjunction with the NGOs and the Human Rights Activists. The international organizations in this category include the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) (International Law Association,1978). Providing humanitarian services and aids; the Red Cross Society has been in the forefront in providing help to people affected by natural disasters such as floods and fires. The organization provides material aid and help in kind.

The achievements brought so far by the international organizations have not been without numerous challenges as discussed below: Lack of adequate funds; the organizations lack adequate finances to properly execute their mandate and help those who need their help. There are cases of delays in staff salaries, rent arrears, delays in project implementation which have led to low or no service delivery to the member nations when they need the services, and inadequate compensation of victims of international organization’s activities among other instances of financial crises (Harrington, 2018). Insecurity of their staff in war zone areas; the staff members working in international organizations have on some occasions felt insecure about working in some regions that are prone to terror or have other security issues. This has made the staff demand to have bodyguards and escorts to the workplace.

Reduced cooperation among the member countries; declining cooperation among the member countries is the root cause in the delay in the disbandment of funds to the international organization and failure to attend general assemblies to deliberate certain issues. Indefinite withdrawal of member states; Certain countries have deliberately withdrawn from international organizations. This is probably because they feel they are contributing so much to the organization while not benefiting enough from the same (Mingst, McKibben & Arreguín-Toft, 2019). In conclusion, international organizations have made the member countries and the citizens to benefit so much from them economically and socially. The challenges faced by international organizations are worth being solved and alleviated in order to ensure maximum benefits to the public. There should also be a policy framework and master plan in order to improve the effectiveness of the organizations.

References

Mingst, K. A., McKibben, H. E., & Arreguín-Toft, I. (2019). Essentials of international relations. Sen, A. (2009). Inequality reexamined. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

International Law Association. (1978). The international status of human rights nongovernmental organizations: With particular reference to intergovernmental organizations and international law. Sydney: Butterworths for International Law Association, Australian Branch.

Laroche, M. B. (2004). Haiti and Rwanda: The role of intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations in post-conflict reconstruction.

Harrington, A. (2018). International organizations and the law.