Unit 6 – Political Globalization

Lesson 16, 17

Introduction

Apart from having enhanced economic development and cultural exchange, globalization has also increased the political influence of different countries around the world.

International intergovernmental organisations ( 國際政府組織 )

They refers to organisations formed by governments of different countries.

Task 1 – Understand international intergovernmental organisations

United Nation, UN ( 聯合國 )

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations, UNESCO ( 聯合國教育、科學及文化組織 )

World Trade Organization, WTO ( 世界貿易組織 )

International Monetary Fund, IMF ( 國際貨幣基金組織 )

World Health Organization, WHO ( 世界衛生組織 )

World Bank ( 世界銀行 )

Task 1

Matching

United Nations, UN ( 聯合國 )

Founded in 1945, this organisation currently has 192 member states ( 成員國 ).

Its aims are to maintain international peace and security, promote international collaboration ( 協作 ) in solving international economic, social and cultural problems, promote respect for human rights and freedom, and enhance ( 提升 ) international relationship.

The UN was founded after World War II ( 第二次世界大戰 ) to replace ( 取代 ) the League of Nations ( 國際聯盟 ), to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple ( 多重的 ) subsidiary organizations ( 輔助機關 ) to carry out its missions.

There are currently 192 member states, including every internationally recognised sovereign state ( 主權國 ) in the world but the Vatican City ( 梵蒂岡 ).

From its offices around the world, the UN decide on issues in regular meetings held throughout the year.

The organization has six principal organs:

1) the General Assembly 聯合國大會

2) the Security Council 聯合國安全理事會

3) the Economic and Social Council 聯合國經濟及社會理事會

4) the Secretariat 聯合國秘書處

5) the International Court of Justice 國際法院

6) the United Nations Trusteeship Council 聯合國託管理事會 (inactive)

Other prominent UN System agencies include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The UN's most famous public figure is the Secretary-General ( 秘書長 ), currently Ban Ki-moon ( 潘基文 ) of South Korea, who attained the post in 2007.

The organization is financed from voluntary contributions from its member states, and has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO ( 聯合國教育、科學及文化組織 )

Founded in 1945, this organisation currently has 193 member states.

Its purpose is to attain world peace by promoting international collaboration ( 協作 ) through education, science and culture.

This is a specialized agency ( 專責機關 ) of the United Nations.

UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information.

Projects sponsored by UNESCO include:

teacher-training programmes;

international science programmes;

the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press;

regional and cultural history projects;

international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites 世界遺產 ).

World Health Organization, WHO ( 世界衛生組織 )

Established in 1948, this organisation currently has 193 member states.

It is a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) whose main responsibility is to coordinate ( 協調 ) global health issues.

Its objective is promote international public health.

With headquarters ( 總部 ) in Geneva ( 日內瓦 ), Switzerland ( 瑞士 )

Apart from coordinating international efforts to control outbreaks ( 爆發 ) of infectious disease ( 傳染性疾病 ), such as SARS ( 非典型肺炎 ), malaria ( 瘧疾 ), tuberculosis ( 肺結核 ), influenza ( 流感 ), and HIV/AIDS ( 愛滋病 ), the WHO also sponsors ( 贊助 ) programmes to prevent and treat such diseases.

The WHO supports the development and distribution of safe and effective vaccines ( 疫苗 ) and drugs ( 藥物 ).

Example: After over two decades of fighting smallpox ( 天

花 ), the WHO declared in 1980, that the disease had been eradicated ( 根絕 ) – the first disease in history to be eliminated ( 消滅 ) by human effort.

World Trade Organization, WTO ( 世界貿易組織 )

Founded in 1995, this organisation currently has 153 member states.

Its function is to ensure that all trade between nations is done fairly, freely and predictably ( 可預計的 ).

Member countries must follow all the WTO trade agreements ( 貿易協議 ).

The WTO has 153 members, representing more than 97% of total world trade and 30 observers, most seeking membership.

The WTO's headquarters is in Geneva, Switzerland

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise ( 監督 ) and liberalize ( 自由化 ) international trade.

It provides a framework for negotiating ( 談判 ) and formalizing ( 形成 ) trade agreements.

The organization is currently persisting ( 持續 ) with a trade negotiation called the Doha Development Agenda ( 多哈發展議程 )/ Doha Round, which was launched in 2001 to enhance equitable ( 公平的 ) participation of poorer countries.

Farmers in poor countries v.s. Farmers with subsidies from rich countries

The future of the Doha Round is uncertain.

International Monetary Fund, IMF ( 國際貨幣基金組織 )

Established in 1945, this organisation currently has 186 member states.

It aims at promoting international monetary ( 貨幣 ) cooperation, stabilising ( 穩定 ) international exchange rates ( 匯率 ), facilitating economic development and employment, and providing financial assistance ( 經濟援助 ) to countries to help ease ( 減輕 ) economic and financial crises ( 危機 ).

It also offers loans with varying levels of conditionality ( 有條件的 ), mainly to poorer countries.

Its headquarters are in Washington, D.C., United States.

Countries contributed to a pool ( 共用資金 ) which could be borrowed from, on a temporary basis, by countries with payment imbalances ( 不平衡 ).

The IMF works to improve the economies of its member countries.

World Bank ( 世界銀行 )

Established in 1944, this organisation currently has 186 member states.

Its mission is to reduce poverty by helping poor nations develop, for example, by building schools and hospitals, preventing diseases and protecting the environment.

Provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.

The World Bank proclaims ( 聲明 ) a goal of reducing poverty.

2. Since the 20th century, the number of international intergovernmental organisations has increased from 30 to 300. Briefly explain the reasons for the change.

This is because relationships among countries are closer than before.

With more frequent exchanges, things that happens in one country (e.g. financial crisis, natural disasters, wars and disputes, etc.) can easily affect other countries or regions.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish more international intergovernmental organisations to resolve ( 解決 ) these problems.