in the Americas. Programs encompass technical collaboration with member governments in the field of public health. In a consultative capacity, it serves the national health authorities of the American Republics. South Pacific Commission Secretariat, B.P. D-5 Noumea, New Caledonia Secretary General: Jon Jonassen, Acting United States Liaison: Office for Pacific Island Affairs, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520. Phone, 202-647-3546 The Department of State provides guidance and support for United States participation in the South Pacific Commission (SPC), such participation being authorized by the agreement establishing the SPC on February 6, 1947 (2 UST 1787; TIAS 2317), known as the Canberra Agreement, and the act approved January 28, 1948 (22 U.S.C. 280). SPC is composed of the following governments and territorial administrations: American Samoa, Australia, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Island, the Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and Western Samoa. The United States is represented at SPC meetings by a Presidentially appointed representative and by the appropriate experts from U.S. Government agencies. The purpose of SPC is to serve the participating governments and administrations as a consultative and advisory body on matters affecting the economic and social development of the territories within SPC's area and the welfare and advancement of their peoples. United Nations United Nations, New York, NY 10017. Phone, 212-963-1234 Secretary-General: Javier Perez de Cuellar United Nations Office at Geneva: Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland Director-General: Jan Martenson United Nations Office at Vienna: Vienna Director: Margaret Amstee Washington, DC, Office: U.N. Information The United Nations is an international organization that was set up in accordance with the Charter 1 drafted by governments represented at the Conference on International Organization meeting at San Francisco. The Charter was signed on June 26, 1945, and came into force on October 24, 1945, when the required number of ratifications and accessions had been made by the signatories. Amendments increasing membership of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council came into effect on August 31, 1965. The United Nations now consists of 159 member states of which 51 are founding members. Purpose The purposes of the United Nations set out in the Charter are: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends. Organization The principal organs of the United General Assembly All states that are members of the United Nations are 1 Charter of the United Nations, together with the Statute of the International Court of Justice (Department of State Publication No. 2353, International Organization and Conference Series III, 21), June 26, 1945. Available for sale from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (87 pages). members of the General Assembly. Its functions are to consider and discuss any matter within the scope of the Charter of the United Nations and to make recommendations to the members of the United Nations and other organs. It approves the budget of the organization, the expenses of which are borne by the members as apportioned by the General Assembly. The General Assembly may call the attention of the Security Council to situations likely to endanger international peace and security, may initiate studies, and may receive and consider reports from other organs of the United Nations. Under the "Uniting for Peace" resolution adopted by the General Assembly in November 1950, if the Security Council fails to act on an apparent threat to or breach of the peace or act of aggression because of lack of unanimity of its five permanent members, the Assembly itself may take up the matter within 24 hours in emergency special session— and recommend collective measures, including, in case of a breach of the peace or act of aggression, use of armed force when necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. The General Assembly has held to date 40 regular sessions, 12 special sessions, and 9 emergency special sessions. It normally meets in regular annual session in September. Security Council The Security Council consists of 15 members of which 5-the People's Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America—are permanent members and are elected each year. The 10 nonpermanent members are elected for 2-year terms by the General Assembly. The primary responsibility of the Security Council is to act on behalf of the members of the United Nations in maintenance of international peace and security. Measures that may be employed by the Security Council are outlined in the Charter. The Security Council, together with the General Assembly, also elects the judges of the International Court of Justice and makes a recommendation to the General Assembly on the appointment of the The Security Council first met in London on January 17, 1946, and is so organized as to be able to function continuously. Economic and Social Council This organ is responsible, under the authority of the General Assembly, for the economic and social programs of the United Nations. Its functions include making or initiating studies, reports, and recommendations on international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related matters; promoting respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all; calling international conferences and preparing draft conventions for submission to the General Assembly on matters within its competence; negotiating agreements with the specialized agencies and defining their relationship with the United Nations; coordinating the activities of the specialized agencies; and consulting with nongovernmental organizations concerned with matters within its competence. The Council consists of 54 members of the United Nations elected by the General Assembly for 3-year terms; 18 are elected each year. The Council usually holds two regular sessions a year. It has also held a number of special sessions. Trusteeship Council The Trusteeship Council was initially established to consist of any member states that administer trust territories, permanent members of the Security Council that do not administer trust territories, and enough other nonadministering countries elected by the General Assembly for 3year terms to ensure that membership would be equally divided between administering and nonadministering members. At present, the participating members of the Council are the United Kingdom, China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States. Of the original 11 trust territories, all except the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which is administered by the United States, have attained the goals of the trusteeship system, either as independent states or as parts of such states. The Council functions under authority of the General Assembly. It considers reports from the member administering the Trust Territory, examines petitions from inhabitants of the Trust Territory, and provides for periodic inspection visits to the Trust Territory. The Council has held 52 regular sessions and a number of special sessions; it now holds one regular session a year. International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It has its seat at The Hague, the Netherlands. All members of the United Nations are ipso facto parties to the Statute of the Court. Nonmembers of the United Nations may become parties to the Statute of the Court on conditions prescribed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council. The jurisdiction of the Court comprises all cases that the parties refer to it and all matters specially provided for in the Charter of the United Nations or in treaties and conventions in force. The Court consists of 15 judges known as "members" of the Court. They are elected for 9-year terms by the General Assembly and the Security Council, voting independently; they may be reelected. Secretariat The Secretariat consists of a Secretary-General and "such staff as the Organization may require." The Secretary-General, who is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations. He acts in that capacity for the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, and the Trusteeship Council. Under the Charter, the Secretary-General "may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter that in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security." Universal Postal Union International Bureau, Weltpostrasse 4, 3000 Bern 15, Switzerland Director General, International Bureau: Adwaldo Cardoso Botto de Barros The Universal Postal Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its 169 members comprise practically every country of the world, including various territories and possessions. The Union was created by a postal convention signed at Bern in 1874, the latest revision of this convention having been made at Hamburg, Federal Republic of Germany, in 1984. The purpose of the Universal Postal Union has been to establish "a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of correspondence" among the peoples of the various countries of the world, to ensure the organization and improvement of the various postal services, and to encourage the development of international cooperation in this field. For further information, contact the Assistant Postmaster General, International Postal Affairs Department, U.S. Postal Service, Washington, DC 20260-6500, or the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520-0001. This organization has no office in Washington, DC. World Health Organization Headquarters: Avenue Appia, Geneva, Director General: Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima The International Health Conference, convened by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in New York in 1946, drafted the Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) and also established an 18-member Interim Commission that functioned until WHO officially came into being on April 7, 1948. The United States became a member on June 21, 1948, by a joint resolution of Congress. There are now 166 member states, 2 nonmember states, and 1 associate member. The objective of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health-physical, mental, and social. The Organization recognizes health as fundamental to the attainment of peace and security, dependent upon the fullest cooperation of individuals and states. World Meteorological Secretariat: Case postale No. 5, CH-1211, Secretary General: G.O.P. Obasi The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has a membership of 161 countries and territories. Its predecessor, the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), was organized in 1878. In April 1951, the functions and assets of IMO were transferred to WMO in accordance with a Convention adopted in Washington in 1947. The Organization helps to facilitate worldwide cooperation in the establishment of networks of stations for making meteorological, hydrological, and other geophysical observations, and promotes the establishment and maintenance of meteorological centers charged with the provision of meteorological services. It also promotes the establishment and maintenance of systems for the rapid exchange of weather information and supports the standardization of meteorological observations in order to ensure the uniform publication of observations and statistics. The Organization continually searches for new ways to further the application of meteorology to aviation, shipping, water problems, agriculture, and other human activities, and encourages research and training in meteorology, while assisting in the coordination of international aspects of such research and training. Recently, WMO has undertaken two highly significant global programs in collaboration with two other agencies. Since the Chernobyl nuclear powerplant accident in 1986, WMO has worked with the International Agency for Atomic Energy to provide information relating to the transport of hazardous materials in the atmosphere. The Organization, jointly with the United Nations Environment Program, established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988 to assess available scientific information on climate warming, to assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of climate warming, and to formulate international response strategies. For further information, contact the Bureau of Selected Bilateral Organizations International Boundary Commission, United States and Canada Room 150, 425 I Street NW., Washington, DC 20001. Phone, 202-632-8058 United States Section: Commissioner: David C. Fischer Commissioner: A.C. McEwen Engineer to the Commission: Noel Paquette The International Boundary Commission, United States and Canada, created under provisions of the treaties between the United States and Great Britain of April 21, 1906, April 11, 1908, and February 24, 1925, consists of a United States Commissioner, a Canadian Commissioner, and their assistants. The purpose of the Commission is to define, mark, and maintain the demarcation of the international boundary line between the United States and Canada. International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico United States Section: Suite C-310, 4171 N. Mesa Street, El Paso, TX 79902. Phone, 915534-6700 Commissioner: Narendra N. Gunaji Mexican Section: El Chamizal, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico Commissioner: Carlos Santibanez Mata The International Boundary Commission was created pursuant to the Treaty of March 1, 1889, and its jurisdiction was extended by subsequent treaties. It was reconstituted as the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, by the Water Treaty of 1944 with expanded responsibilities and functions under the policy direction of the Department of State and the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Relations. The United States Section, a Federal agency, also operates under various congressional acts. The Commission, consisting of the United States Section and the Mexican Section, is charged with implementing the provisions of existing treaties dealing with boundary and water matters affecting the two countries, to include preservation of the international boundary; distribution between the two countries of the waters of the boundary rivers, control of floods on the boundary rivers, and their regulation by joint storage works to enable utilization of the waters in the two countries; improvement of the quality of waters of the boundary rivers; sanitation measures; and the use of waters in the boundary section of the Rio Grande to jointly develop hydroelectric power. International Joint CommissionUnited States and Canada United States Section: 2001 S Street NW., Washington, DC 20440. Phone, 202-6736222 |