An international organization , also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution , is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own legal personality, such as the United Nations , the World Health Organization , International Union for Conservation of Nature , and BRICS . International organizations are composed of primarily member states , but may also include other entities, such as other international organizations, firms, and nongovernmental organizations. Additionally, entities (including states) may hold observer status.
47-493: The International Hydrographic Organization ( IHO ) (French: Organisation Hydrographique Internationale ) is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography . As of May 2024, the IHO comprised 100 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ensure that the world's seas, oceans and navigable waters are properly surveyed and charted. It does this through the setting of international standards for hydrographic surveys,
94-493: A treaty that acts as a charter creating the group. Treaties are formed when lawful representatives (governments) of several states go through a ratification process, providing the IGO with an international legal personality. Intergovernmental organizations are an important aspect of public international law . Intergovernmental organizations in a legal sense should be distinguished from simple groupings or coalitions of states, such as
141-632: A Postgraduate Certificate in Ocean Bathymetry (PCOB), has been held at the University of New Hampshire , USA, since 2004. 60 GEBCO scholars from 31 different countries have completed the course and are supporting GEBCO programs. The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to motivate a number of collaborators to create a full map of the ocean floor, was launched in 2016. There are four Seabed 2030 centres, which coordinate mapping activities in different regions, gather and compile
188-735: A capitalist economy. The oldest regional organization is the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna . There are several different reasons a state may choose membership in an intergovernmental organization. But there are also reasons membership may be rejected. Reasons for participation: Reasons for rejecting membership: Intergovernmental organizations are provided with privileges and immunities that are intended to ensure their independent and effective functioning. They are specified in
235-640: A fair trial . Otherwise, the organizations' immunities may be put in question in national and international courts. Some organizations hold proceedings before tribunals relating to their organization to be confidential, and in some instances have threatened disciplinary action should an employee disclose any of the relevant information. Such confidentiality has been criticized as a lack of transparency . The immunities also extend to employment law . In this regard, immunity from national jurisdiction necessitates that reasonable alternative means are available to effectively protect employees' rights; in this context,
282-854: A first instance Dutch court considered an estimated duration of proceedings before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization of 15 years to be too long. An international organization does not pay taxes, is difficult to prosecute in court and is not obliged to provide information to any parliament. The United Nations focuses on five main areas: "maintaining peace and security , protecting human rights , delivering humanitarian aid , supporting sustainable development , and upholding international law ". UN agencies , such as UN Relief and Works Agency , are generally regarded as international organizations in their own right. Additionally,
329-534: A good resource for developmental projects in developing countries. The UN has to protect against any kind of human rights violation, and in the UN system, some specialized agencies, like ILO and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ), work in the human rights' protection fields. The UN agency, ILO, is trying to end any kind of discrimination in the work field and child labor; after that, this agency promotes fundamental labor rights and to get safe and secure for
376-581: A permanent organization was formed and statutes for its operations were prepared. The IHB, now the IHO, began its activities in 1921 with 18 nations as members. The Principality of Monaco was selected as the seat of the Organization as a result of the offer of Albert I of Monaco to provide suitable accommodation for the Bureau in the Principality. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
423-595: A variety of issues—was the League of Nations , founded on 10 January 1920 with a principal mission of maintaining world peace after World War I. The United Nations followed this model after World War II . This was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945. Currently, the UN
470-484: Is intended to be ensured by legal mechanisms that are internal to the intergovernmental organization itself and access to administrative tribunals. In the course of many court cases where private parties tried to pursue claims against international organizations, there has been a gradual realization that alternative means of dispute settlement are required as states have fundamental human rights obligations to provide plaintiffs with access to court in view of their right to
517-817: Is the main IGO with its arms such as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the General Assembly (UNGA), the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Secretariat (UNSA), the Trusteeship Council (UNTC) and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). When defined as "organizations with at least three state parties, a permanent headquarters or secretariat, as well as regular meetings and budgets",
SECTION 10
#1732765899897564-782: The G7 or the Quartet . Such groups or associations have not been founded by a constituent document and exist only as task groups . Intergovernmental organizations must also be distinguished from treaties. Many treaties (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement , or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade before the establishment of the World Trade Organization ) do not establish an independent secretariat and instead rely on
611-733: The Hydrographic Dictionary and the Year Book are available to the general public free of charge from the IHO website. The IHO publishes the international standards related to charting and hydrography, including S-57, IHO Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data , the encoding standard that is used primarily for electronic navigational charts . In 2010, the IHO introduced a new, contemporary hydrographic geospatial standard for modelling marine data and information, known as S-100. S-100 and any dependent product specifications are underpinned by an on-line registry accessible via
658-672: The International Telecommunication Union and other standards organizations ). Common types include: In regional organizations like the European Union , African Union , NATO , ASEAN and Mercosur , there are restrictions on membership due to factors such as geography or political regimes. To enter the European Union (EU), the states require different criteria; member states need to be European, liberal-democratic political system, and be
705-411: The 19th century, many maritime nations established hydrographic offices to provide means for improving the navigation of naval and merchant vessels by providing nautical publications, nautical charts, and other navigational services. There were substantial differences in hydrographic procedures charts, and publications. In 1889, an International Maritime Conference was held at Washington, D.C. , and it
752-527: The Convention on the IHO, the secretariat is headed by a Secretary-General, supported by two Directors. As before, all three senior members of the secretariat continue to be elected to their positions by the Member States at the regular Assembly of the IHO (formerly, IHO Conferences). The secretariat staff comprise a number of technical specialists, administrators, and support personnel. The bulk of
799-657: The French Emperor Napoleon. States then became the main decision makers who preferred to maintain their sovereignty as of 1648 at the Westphalian treaty that closed the 30 Years' War in Europe. The first and oldest international organization—being established employing a treaty, and creating a permanent secretariat, with a global membership—was the International Telecommunication Union (founded in 1865). The first general international organization—addressing
846-476: The IHO website. S-100 is aligned with the ISO 19100 series of geographic standards, thereby making it fully compatible with contemporary geospatial data standards. Because S-100 is based on ISO 19100, it can be used by other data providers for their maritime-related (non-hydrographic) data and information. Various data and information providers from both the government and private sector are now using S-100 as part of
893-478: The IHO's technical and specialist expertise comes from Member States' personnel, often assisted by invited industry experts, who all provide technical contributions through participation in various IHO committees and working groups. A Council, comprising a sub-set of all the IHO Member States, meets annually and oversees the work of the IHO. A full description, together with details of the workings of all
940-716: The UN such as the World Health Organization (which was made up of regional organizations such as PAHO that predated the UN). A few UN special agencies are very centralized in policy and decision-making, but some are decentralized; for example, the country-based projects or missions' directors and managers can decide what they want to do in the fields. The UN agencies have a variety of tasks based on their specialization and their interests. The UN agencies provide different kinds of assistance to low-income countries and middle-income countries, and this assistance would be
987-704: The United Nations has Specialized Agencies , which are organizations within the United Nations System that have their member states (often nearly identical to the UN Member States ) and are governed independently by them; examples include international organizations that predate the UN, such as the International Telecommunication Union , and the Universal Postal Union , as well as organizations that were created after
SECTION 20
#17327658998971034-418: The bathymetric information, and partner with existing mapping activities within their regions. The Seabed 2030 Global Center is responsible for "producing and delivering global GEBCO products". GEBCO is the only intergovernmental body with a mandate to map the whole ocean floor. At the beginning of the project, only 6 per cent of the world's ocean bottom had been surveyed to today's standards; as of June 2022 ,
1081-512: The co-ordination of the endeavors of the world's national hydrographic offices, and through its capacity building program. The IHO enjoys observer status at the United Nations , where it is the recognized competent authority on hydrographic surveying and nautical charting . When referring to hydrography and nautical charting in conventions and similar instruments, it is the IHO standards and specifications that are normally used. During
1128-672: The digital age and collects digital depths of the ocean from wherever they are available. GEBCO provides a range of bathymetric data sets and data products, including: The grids are available to download from the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) in the form of netCDF files, along with free software for displaying and accessing data in ASCII and netCDF. The grids can be used with the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) system. The GEBCO chart series
1175-640: The distinction from international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), which are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that operate internationally. These include international nonprofit organizations such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement , International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières , as well as lobby groups that represent the interests of multinational corporations. IGOs are established by
1222-484: The field of standardization since the IHO was founded. The IHO has encouraged the formation of Regional Hydrographic Commissions (RHCs). Each RHC coordinates the national surveying and charting activities of countries within each region and acts as a forum to address other matters of common hydrographic interest. The 15 RHCs plus the IHO Hydrographic Commission on Antarctica effectively cover
1269-575: The implementation of the e-Navigation concept that has been endorsed by the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO). Another in the series of publications of interest is S-23, Limits of Oceans and Seas . The 3rd edition dates back to 1953 while the potential 4th edition, started in 1986, has remained a draft since 2002. It was distributed to IHO members, but its official publication has been suspended pending agreement between South Korea and Japan regarding
1316-551: The increased interest in the oceans for scientific research and for the exploitation and conservation of resources. Since 1903, five separate editions of paper, bathymetric contour charts covering the whole world have been produced. GEBCO is now maintained in digital form as the GEBCO Digital Atlas. The Nippon Foundation of Japan has provided funding for GEBCO to train a new generation of scientists and hydrographers in ocean bathymetry. The 12-month course, leading to
1363-612: The international standard name of the sea called " Japan Sea " in the 1953 edition. Intergovernmental organization Examples for international organizations include: UN General Assembly , World Trade Organization , African Development Bank , UN Economic and Social Council , UN Security Council , Asian Development Bank , International Bank for Reconstruction and Development , International Monetary Fund , International Finance Corporation , Inter-American Development Bank , United Nations Environment Programme. Scottish law professor James Lorimer has been credited with coining
1410-529: The jurisdiction of national courts. Certain privileges and immunities are also specified in the Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organizations of a Universal Character of 1975,. which however has so far not been signed by 35 states and is thus not yet in force (status: 2022). Rather than by national jurisdiction, legal accountability
1457-467: The laborers. United Nations Environment Program(UNEP) is one of the UN's (United Nations) agencies and is an international organization that coordinates U.N. activities on the environment. An early prominent example of an international organization is the Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815, which was an international diplomatic conference to reconstitute the European political order after the downfall of
International Hydrographic Organization - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-403: The most convenient form to enable them to be readily used; of instituting a prompt system of mutual exchange of hydrographic information between all countries; and of providing an opportunity to consultations and discussions to be carried out on hydrographic subjects generally by the hydrographic experts of the world." This is still the major purpose of the IHO. As a result of the 1919 Conference,
1551-565: The number of IGOs in the world increased from about 60 in 1940 to about 350 in 1980, after which it has remained roughly constant. General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans The General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans ( GEBCO ) is a publicly available bathymetric chart of the world's oceans . The project was conceived with the aim of preparing a global series of charts showing the general shape of
1598-517: The organs of the IHO is available on the IHO website: www.iho.int The IHO develops hydrographic and nautical charting standards. These standards are subsequently adopted and used by its member countries and others in their surveys, nautical charts, and publications. The almost universal use of the IHO standards means that the products and services provided by the world's national hydrographic and oceanographic offices are consistent and recognizable by all seafarers and for other users. Much has been done in
1645-511: The parties for their administration, for example by setting up a joint committee . Other treaties have established an administrative apparatus which was not deemed to have been granted binding legal authority. The broader concept wherein relations among three or more states are organized according to certain principles they hold in common is multilateralism . Intergovernmental organizations differ in function, membership, and membership criteria. They have various goals and scopes, often outlined in
1692-569: The project had recorded 23.4 per cent mapped. About 14,500,000 square kilometres (5,600,000 sq mi) of new bathymetric data was included in the GEBCO grid in 2019, and an additional area equivalent to the size of Europe between 2020 and 2022. Seabed 2030 initially aimed at using a global 100m grid, but this has been updated to use a variable resolution grid, with larger squares over deep ocean floor and smaller ones in shallow waters. Governments, institutions and companies have been contributing to
1739-619: The purpose of realizing a common end". He distinguished between bilateral and multilateral organizations on one end and customary or conventional organizations on the other end. In his 1922 book An Introduction to the Study of International Organization , Potter argued that international organization was distinct from " international intercourse " (all relations between states), "international law" (which lacks enforcement) and world government . International Organizations are sometimes referred to as intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), to clarify
1786-717: The seafloor. Over the years it has become a reference map of the bathymetry of the world's oceans for scientists and others. GEBCO operates under the joint auspices of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO . Its work is done by an international group of experts in seafloor mapping who develop a range of bathymetric data sets and data products. Although originally GEBCO published paper contour charts , today it has moved into
1833-516: The secretariat was renamed the "IHO Secretariat," which consists of an elected Secretary-General, two supporting Directors, and a small permanent staff (18 in 2020) at the Organization’s headquarters in Monaco. Until 2016 the IHO was administered by a secretariat headed by a Directing Committee comprising a President and two Directors. Since 8 November 2016, upon the entry in to force of revisions to
1880-635: The term "international organization" in a 1871 article in the Revue de Droit International et de Legislation Compare . Lorimer use the term frequently in his two-volume Institutes of the Law of Nations (1883, 1884). Other early uses of the term were by law professor Walther Schucking in works published in 1907, 1908 and 1909, and by political science professor Paul S. Reinsch in 1911. In 1935, Pitman B. Potter defined international organization as "an association or union of nations established or recognized by them for
1927-859: The treaties that give rise to the organization (such as the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court ), which are normally supplemented by further multinational agreements and national regulations (for example the International Organizations Immunities Act in the United States). The organizations are thereby immune from
International Hydrographic Organization - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-634: The treaty or charter . Some IGOs developed to fulfill a need for a neutral forum for debate or negotiation to resolve disputes. Others developed to carry out mutual interests with unified aims to preserve peace through conflict resolution and better international relations , promote international cooperation on matters such as environmental protection , to promote human rights , to promote social development (education, health care ), to render humanitarian aid , and to economic development . Some are more general in scope (the United Nations ) while others may have subject-specific missions (such as INTERPOL or
2021-756: The world. The IHO, in partnership with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, directs the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans program. Establishment of the Chart Specifications Committee and International Charts: Most IHO publications, including the standards, guidelines and associated documents such as the International Hydrographic Review , International Hydrographic Bulletin ,
2068-554: Was established in June 1921 as the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB). In 1970, the organization adopted its current name as part of a new International Convention on the IHO, which was agreed upon by its member nations. The term "International Hydrographic Bureau" continued to describe the IHO's secretariat until 8 November 2016, when a major revision to the Convention took effect. Following this change,
2115-509: Was initiated in 1903 by an international group of geographers and oceanographers, under the leadership of Prince Albert I of Monaco . At that time there was an explosion of interest in the study of the natural world and this group recognized the importance of a set of maps describing the shape of the ocean floor. The first hundred years of the project were described in the book The History of GEBCO 1903-2003 published by GITC in 2003. Nowadays GEBCO's role has become increasingly important, due to
2162-603: Was proposed to establish a "permanent international commission." Similar proposals were made at the sessions of the International Congress of Navigation held at Saint Petersburg in 1908 and the International Maritime Conference held at Saint Petersburg in 1912. In 1919, the national Hydrographers of Great Britain and France cooperated in taking the necessary steps to convene an international conference of Hydrographers. London
2209-553: Was selected as the most suitable place for this conference, and on 24 July 1919, the First International Conference opened, attended by the Hydrographers of 24 nations. The object of the conference was "To consider the advisability of all maritime nations adopting similar methods in preparation, construction, and production of their charts and all hydrographic publications; of rendering the results in
#896103