Introduction
Today, there are several problems or points to be improved. Thus, multiple international associations exist to deal with or improve situations worldwide, regardless of their size. Those associations should exist to find fair solutions for all member countries and to maintain their economic development in the globalized world, which not only involves economic discussion but also serves to tackle various matters of interest, including security, health, education, terrorism, and so on. Moreover, some of them have the authority to establish international law against the member countries. Therefore, their activity has a huge impact on the world. The entire UN, the WTO, the World Bank, and the WHO, as representative international associations with their corresponding objectives, are discussed below.
The United Nations (UN)
To reflect the failure of the former League of Nations codification, the brand-new association is formed by 51 states. Currently, 193 sovereign states out of 195 total countries affiliate with the association. The United Nations is working on several activities. The world’s largest international association has a lot of objectives and states four different pillars. Those are:
- Peace and security
Due to the world’s experience with World Wars I and II, which occurred in the early 19th century, the United Nations has been working to prevent another world war from happening again. Maintaining better relations within the nations is necessary for this pillar.
- Human Rights
Basic human rights should be protected at all times. All cultural, social, and economic human rights should be protected. The United Nations helps to extend human rights work at the country level. If this pillar is invaded, the other pillars, especially peace and security, will be impacted.
- Rule of law
To maintain the security of the countries, laws should be established, however, some poor countries, especially in Africa, are required to assist in establishing them, and thus the United Nations aids them.
- Development
Development is required in order to provide education and medical care. Because the gap between rich and poor countries has grown recently, the United Nations is assisting in the abolition of poverty.
These cannot be achieved if one of them is not met (United Nations, n.d.).
World Trade Organization (WTO)
The World Trade Organization, known as the WTO, was officially organized in 1995 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland, as a replacement for the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). The United Nations intended to establish the ITO (International Trade Organization). However, it failed to ratify the agreement. Hence, 23 countries negotiated and created the GATT in 1948, though the GATT collapsed due to its focus on industrial countries but not developing countries (Kiehn, 2022). Therefore, the cardinal objective of both GATT and the WTO is similar, as they aim to reduce the tariffs among the member nations and create liberalizing conditions by eliminating trade barriers. As the original objectives of the WTO, there are six objectives, which are:
- Establishing and strengtheniung the international trade rules;
- Liberalizing trading by monitoring and negotiating at the conference;
- Developing a solution for trade disputes;
- Achieving high transparency in decision-making;
- Uniting with other international associations;
- Aiding developing countries to gain benefits from global trading (Anderson, 2018).
To accomplish those objectives, it has worked as the only association dealing with the trading rules between more than 160 nations.
World Bank
The World Bank is an international institution that was established during the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. It has been working as a global bank, especially for middle-class countries, by loaning money at low-interest rates. As such activity shows, the main objectives of this institution are mainly focused on the equality of international trading. The World Bank is comprised of two different institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and IDA (the International Development Association). The basic roles of these two institutions are the same, but the clients are different, as follows:
IBRD: a country with a capital income between $1,025 and $6,055
IDA: a country with a capital income of less than $1,025
From these constituent institutions, the objectives of the World Bank are discernible as follows:
- providing capital to the member countries;
- lending money to countries at the bottom of the economic pyramid in order to balance development; and
- stimulating investment in member countries.
So, the World Bank, which is an affiliated association of the World Bank Group, is acting as an ‘angel helper’ for all developing or recovering countries.
World Health Organization (WHO)
The World Health Organization (WHO) is established within the United Nations as a specialized organization to deal with health threats all over the world. It contributes to the strengthening of health systems in order to reduce inequality, as some parts of the world do not have access to such medical treatment. The objectives of the WHO consist of various kinds of universal health coverage. Among them are:
- improving primary medical care;
- maintaining sustainable finance and protection;
- providing essential medical treatment and products;
- training the health workforce; and
- updating data and information.
For the other kinds, such as health emergencies, health and well-being, and others, it is stated that we must protect more than six billion people in this world today and for the next generation.
Conclusion
Not only are the four associations mentioned above, but there are thousands of large associations whose goals are divided into many branches, and they are all working hard to achieve their goals. Their authorities are usually strong so that they can keep monitoring each member country. So, such international associations are particularly important to maintain development and peace for the next generation.
References
Anderson, K. (2018). World Trade Organization (WTO) | History & Facts. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/World-Trade-Organization [Accessed 3 November 2022].
Kiehn, K. (2022). Why GATT is replaced by WTO? [online] TimesMojo. Available at: https://www.timesmojo.com/why-gatt-is-replaced-by-wto/ [Accessed 10 November 2022].
Singh, K. (2022). What are the Functions & Objectives of the World Bank. [online] safalta. Available at: https://www.safalta.com/blog/what-are-the-functions-objectives-of-the-world-bank#Main%20Objectives%20of%20World%20Bank: [Accessed 9 November 2022].
Srivastav, A.K. (2020). Full Form of WTO. [online] WallStreetMojo. Available at: https://www.wallstreetmojo.com/full-form-of-wto/ [Accessed 7 November 2022].
United Nations (n.d.). The 4 pillars of the United Nations. [online] United Nations. Available at: https://www.un.org/en/model-united-nations/4-pillars-united-nations#:~:text=The%20fourth%20declared%20aim%20of%20the%20United%20Nations [Accessed 9 November 2022].
