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Below are some examples of international organizations. How do you think they might affect your day-to-day life?
Have you ever sent a letter to someone in another country?
The Universal Postal Union helps organize mail between 192 countries! It works with the United States Postal Service when sending mail to the U.S.
Do you know anyone who drinks coffee?
The International Coffee Organization helps coffee-producing countries sell their products to more people.
Have you ever seen a whale?
The International Whaling Commission tries to protect the number of whales in the world by discouraging people from hunting them.
There are more than 194 countries in the world today! Sometimes countries join international organizations where they can work together to find solutions to their challenges.
International organizations: cooperating in space!
Sometimes countries join international organizations to solve problems and help each other make discoveries! For example, scientists from Canada, Japan, Russia, the U.S., and European countries cooperate to run the International Space Station.
The International Space Station is a spacecraft and science lab that orbits Earth. Astronauts from different countries work in the International Space Station.
Why do you think countries cooperate on this project?
Today, one of the largest international organizations is the United Nations, which is sometimes called the UN. Countries that join the UN send special people to meetings to represent their country. The UN outlines its purposes in its charter, a document which describes its goals. Read part of the United Nations Charter.
The purposes of the United Nations are:
To maintain international peace and security
To develop friendly relations among nations . . . and to . . . strengthen universal peace
To achieve international cooperation in solving international problems . . . promoting and encouraging respect for human rights
The UN is made up of many groups. Each group works to address specific challenges. For example, one powerful group focused on international peace is called the Security Council.
The Security Council has five countries that are permanent members and ten countries that change every two years. These are the permanent members:
China
France
The United States (U.S.)
The United Kingdom (U.K.)
Russia (formerly part of the USSR)
Is peace possible?
Keeping peace can be a difficult job! Although the Security Council can make decisions, it cannot easily enforce those decisions if other countries choose not to obey.
Sometimes countries argue they should not have to obey the Security Council if the council's decisions go against what the country wants to do. What do you think? Should UN countries always have to listen to the Security Council?
The WHO's water work
One problem the World Health Organization is trying to solve is access to clean drinking water. In 2015, about 2.1 billion people did not have access to clean water at home. Dirty water can carry diseases and poisonous chemicals. Young children are especially affected by dirty water. Around 800 young children die each day from diseases caused by dirty drinking water.
But the WHO has been working hard to improve access to clean water. For example, the WHO made March 22nd World Water Day. World Water Day is meant to bring global attention to this important issue.
If you worked for the WHO, how would you try to solve the problem?
Some countries join international organizations when they have shared economic concerns. Economics describes the way that communities create, share, and sell goods. Some economic concerns include the way that countries trade goods with each other. One international organization that brings together countries with similar economic concerns is OPEC.
OPEC is an international organization that brings countries together that make and export petroleum.
OPEC countries work together to affect the price of petroleum. They can charge higher prices for petroleum and become wealthier if they all export only a little of it.
petroleum: an oily liquid found in earth which can be used to make gasoline
What's the big deal with the cost of petroleum?
By controlling production of petroleum, OPEC can make petroleum products more expensive. High prices can sometimes lead to problems because products made from petroleum are used for many different things:
powering cars
heating homes
generating electricity
fertilizing crops
creating plastic
fueling airplanes
Which everyday items do you use that are made from petroleum?
Rubber car tires are made using petroleum.
Nylon guitar strings are made using petroleum.
Crayons are made of a wax that can be made from petroleum.
Another way countries can organize trade is by creating trade agreements. Trade agreements make rules about the way countries will trade with each other.
What does NAFTA look like for companies?
Imagine you own a business in the United States that produces fabric for making clothes. Because of NAFTA, you can sell your fabric to a company in Mexico without having to pay taxes to the Mexican government.
Then in Mexico, another company can turn the fabric into clothing. That company can then sell the clothes back to the United States without having to pay taxes to the U.S.
Sometimes free trade agreements create low prices and low payment for workers. Low prices and low worker pay can have both positive and negative effects.
This statement describes a negative effect of NAFTA:
Partly because of NAFTA, people in Mexico who work for U.S. factories are often not paid enough money to support their families. NAFTA encouraged some U.S. companies to move to Mexico. Many of these companies don't pay their workers a lot of money. This allows these companies to sell products at a cheap price. But when workers are not paid enough, they often cannot support their families.
Many workers in the U.S. lose their jobs when companies move their factories to Mexico. NAFTA encourages companies to move to Mexico because they can pay workers there less money. When companies move their factories from the U.S. to Mexico, U.S. workers lose jobs.
This statement describes a positive effect of NAFTA:
Canadian companies can sell their goods in the U.S. and Mexico without having to pay many taxes. As a result, buyers there don't have to pay as much for these goods. This allows people to save money or spend the leftover money on other things.
What do you think about free trade?
Many international organizations promote "free trade." Free trade is about moving goods cheaply and easily between countries.
However, some people disagree with the idea of free trade, because it can have negative effects. They argue that powerful countries get more benefits from free trade than countries with less money and power.
Some international organizations have members from only one region of the world, but they focus on more than just economic concerns. One regional international organization that focuses on both trade and security is the European Union, also called the EU.
The EU is made up of some countries in Europe, and it makes decisions on different topics:
The EU makes many economic decisions for Europe. Some decisions are about trade, money, and natural resources.
The EU makes rules about people's safety in the EU and the protection of human rights.
European money
Many countries have their own kind of money. However, most members of the EU use the same money. Their money is called the Euro (YUR-oh). Using the same kind of money makes trade and travel easier between European countries. Most countries in Europe now use the Euro. Some Euro coins have backs that represent specific countries in Europe.
Other regional international organizations that focus on trade and security are ASEAN and OAS:
ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and includes countries in Southeast Asia.
OAS stands for the Organization of American States and includes countries in North and South America.
The table includes summaries of parts of the ASEAN and OAS charters.
Who belongs to the OAS and ASEAN?
Both the OAS and ASEAN support cooperation between their member countries.
The OAS includes all the countries in the Americas, including the United States!
ASEAN is made up of ten major countries in Southeast Asia.
Another regional international organization that focuses on security and trade is called the AU. Look at the logo for the AU.
Who is in the AU?
The African Union includes all the countries in Africa. That's more than 50 countries! The African continent also is home to more than 1,500 different languages. So, when the African Union meets, sessions can be held in many languages, including Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese!
The United States is part of an international organization focused on security, called NATO. NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is made up of countries in Europe and North America. NATO was created by a treaty, or agreement.
Here are the opening lines of the NATO treaty and their meanings:
"The countries signing this Treaty support the purposes…of the…United Nations and their desire to live in peace." This means NATO countries support the goals of the UN, or the United Nations.
"[NATO countries] are determined to safeguard the freedom…of their peoples." To safeguard something means to protect it. So, NATO wants to protect the freedom of the people in their countries.
"[NATO countries] seek to [develop security and health] in the North Atlantic area." The word security means safety. So, this means NATO wants to keep its countries safe, healthy, and successful.
"They are resolved to unite their efforts [to protect each other from attacks] and…preserve peace and security." To resolve means to make a promise to do something. This means that NATO countries promise to defend each other from harm and keep each member peaceful and safe.
International organizations: sharing opinions in public
Many people have different opinions about international organizations and agreements:
People who disagree with international organizations or agreements sometimes protest them. A protest is an organized public meeting where people communicate what they disagree with.
People who agree with international organizations sometimes donate to them. To donate is to give something to a group. Sometimes people donate money, supplies, or time.
What other ways could you share your opinions about an international organization? Would you ever protest or support one?
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