INTERNANTIONAL ORGANISATION

AND PEACE RESOLUTION

• International organisation has various meanings. Ordinarily, it could
be referred to as an organisation that embodies the world
community, with its members drawn from independent sovereign
states. It could be in form of religious organisations that cut across
national boundaries.
• Similarly, international organisations could spring from economic and
cultural collaborations, and many other spheres between states.
• One of the major characteristics an international organisation should
possess is that it must be trans-border in outlook and must involve
two or more sovereign states. Akinboye and Ottoh (2005) opine that
an international organisation is composed of sovereign independent
states, voluntarily joining in a common pursuit of certain goals.
• In the opinion of Palmer and Perkins 1969), an international
organisation is “any co-operative arrangement instituted among
states usually by a basic agreement, to perform some mutually
advantageous functions implemented through periodic meetings and
staff activities.”
• Equally worthy of mention is the definition given by Plano and Olton
(1988) that “an international organisation is a formal arrangement
transcending national boundaries that provides for the establishment
of an institutional machinery to facilitate co-operation among
members in security, economic, social, or related fields.”
• Succinctly put, it is perceived as a formal institution established by
sovereign states through a consensus, and a solid structure, with a
view to pursuing the common interest of its members. With this, it
could be adduced that an international organisation could be seen as
a forum for the collaboration and propagation of the foreign policies
of its sovereign member states, in the pursuit of international peace
and security.
• You need to bear in mind that international organisations do not have
the status of a state and by implication, do not operate branches
similar to that of a government anywhere but they could establish
institutions that have legal or quasi legal powers to perform certain
special functions.
• This status will be further discussed in subsequent lectures. Further, it
is customary that the headquarters of an international organisation
must be such that it accommodates divergent nationalities - indigenes
of the member states.
• General Assembly
• The General Assembly meets once in a year usually in September,
and each member state is represented in the meeting. Each member
state has five representatives but has only one vote. Besides the
normal once a year meeting, an extra ordinary meeting could be
called by the Secretary General if directed by the Security Council or if
the majority of member nations wish it, to discuss matters of world
peace.
• Decisions are normally reached by a two third majority of the
members present, or by a simple majority. Other functions the
General Assembly performs include discussing and voting on matters
forwarded to it by the Security Council, electing six non-permanent
members of the Security Council, as well as the 18 members of the
Social and Economic Council. Similarly, it is the responsibility of the
Assembly to elect judges of the International Court of Justice in
conjunction with the Security Council.
• Equally, the General Assembly performs the function of promotion of
international co-operation in economic, social, cultural, educational
and medical fields. The assembly is also responsible for the vetting
and passing of the financial obligations of the organisation as well as
serving as a check on the administrative arm of the United Nations
made up of the Secretary General and his international civil servants.
• Security Council
• The Security Council is the permanent decision-making organ of the
UN and all the members are bound to carry out its resolutions. At its
inception in 1945, it had 11 members – five permanent (United States
of America, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France and China) and six
elected for a term of two years.
• By 1963, the number of the Council increased to 15 due to the
increase in the number of membership of the UN. Any of the
permanent members could veto any bill found detrimental to its
welfare.
• The Security Council performs a number of functions. It is charged
with the responsibility of maintaining peace and security among the
nations of the world. It can also investigate any situation that may
bring about danger and recommend measures for restoring peace.
• An example was the 12 resolutions the Security Council passed to
ensure that Iraq pulled out of Kuwait in 1991. When persuasion to
settle any dispute fails, the Council, through Article 7, may order
military action to which every member nation is expected to send
troops.
• Maintain International Peace and Security
• The United Nations was created in 1945, following the devastation of the
Second World War, with one central mission: the maintenance of
international peace and security. The UN accomplishes this by working to
prevent conflict, helping parties in conflict make peace, deploying
peacekeepers, and creating the conditions to allow peace to hold and
flourish. These activities often overlap and should reinforce one another, to
be effective.

• The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for international

peace and security. The General Assembly and the Secretary-General play
major, important, and complementary roles, along with other UN offices
and bodies.

•
• How does the UN maintain international peace and security?
• Preventive Diplomacy and Mediation
• The most effective way to diminish human suffering and the massive
economic costs of conflicts and their aftermath is to prevent conflicts
in the first place. The United Nations plays an important role in
conflict prevention, using diplomacy, good offices and mediation.
Among the tools the Organization uses to bring peace are special
envoys and political missions in the field.
• Special and Personal Representatives, Envoys and Advisers of the
Secretary-General.

• The Secretary-General of the United Nations has Special and Personal

Representatives, Envoys and Advisers in many areas of the world.
• Peacekeeping
• Peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most effective tools
available to the UN to assist countries to navigate the difficult path
from conflict to peace. Today's multidimensional peacekeeping
operations are called upon not only to maintain peace and security,
but also to facilitate political processes, protect civilians, assist in the
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former
combatants; support constitutional processes and the organization of
elections, protect and promote human rights and assist in restoring
the rule of law and extending legitimate state authority.
• Peacekeeping operations get their mandates from the UN Security
Council; their troops and police are contributed by Members States;
and they are managed by the Department of Peace Operations and
supported by the Department of Operational Support at UN
Headquarters in New York.

• There are 11 UN peacekeeping operations currently deployed and

there have been a total of 71 deployed since 1948. In 2019, the
Secretary-General launched the Action for Peacekeeping Initiative
(A4P) to renew mutual political commitment to peacekeeping
operations.
• UN Peacekeeping operations by region
• Africa

• United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara

(MINURSO)
• United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in
the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)
• United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo
(MONUSCO)
• United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA)
• United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)
• Peacebuilding
• United Nations peacebuilding activities are aimed at assisting
countries emerging from conflict, reducing the risk of relapsing into
conflict and laying the foundation for sustainable peace and
development.
• The UN peacebuilding architecture comprises the Peacebuilding
Commission, the Peacebuilding Fund and the Peacebuilding Support
Office.
• The Peacebuilding Support Office assists and supports the
Peacebuilding Commission with strategic advice and policy guidance,
administers the Peacebuilding Fund and serves the Secretary-General
in coordinating United Nations agencies in their peacebuilding efforts.
• Countering Terrorism
• The United Nations is being increasingly called upon to coordinate the
global fight against terrorism. Eighteen universal instruments against
international terrorism have been elaborated within the framework of
the United Nations system relating to specific terrorist activities.
• In September 2006, UN Member States adopted the United Nations
Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. This was the first time that
Member States agreed to a common strategic and operational
framework against terrorism.
• Disarmament
• The General Assembly and other bodies of the United Nations,
supported by the Office for Disarmament Affairs, work to advance
international peace and security through the pursuit of the
elimination of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
destruction and the regulation of conventional arms.
• The United Nations Department of Political Affairs (UNDPA)
• is the lead UN operational actor for conflict prevention, peacemaking
and peacebuilding. As part of its core mandate, DPA monitors and
assesses global political developments with an eye to detecting
potential crises before they escalate and devising effective responses.
• DPA is the operational arm of the Secretary-General’s good offices,
providing close support to UN envoys as well as to political missions
deployed to areas of tension around the world with mandates to help
defuse crises and promote lasting solutions to conflict. With the
support of Member States, DPA has become a more mobile, agile and
field-oriented platform for
• preventive diplomacy and crisis response, including mediation,
capable of rapidly deploying mediators and other peacemaking
expertise to the field and co-operating more closely with international
and regional organizations at the frontline of conflicts.
• The Mediation Support Unit in the Policy and Mediation Division of
DPA is the hub for mediation support in the UN system and a service
provider to a wide range of actors, including the UN, regional
organisations, Member States and relevant peacemaking entities.