UN and Other Important World Organisations
About 6 min · General Awareness · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 382 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
International organisations are part of RRB NTPC General Awareness, appearing as direct factual questions about headquarters, establishment years, current heads, and member countries. Questions may ask: "Which organisation's headquarters is in Geneva?" or "IMF is associated with which function?"
Key ideas
- United Nations (UN): Established 24 October 1945 with 51 founding members (now 193 member states); headquarters in New York; maintains international peace, develops friendly relations among nations, promotes human rights and social progress. India is a founding member.
- Six Principal UN Organs: General Assembly (main deliberative body, all members), Security Council (15 members, 5 permanent with veto power—USA, UK, France, Russia, China), Economic and Social Council (54 members), Trusteeship Council (suspended operations 1994), International Court of Justice (The Hague, Netherlands), and UN Secretariat (headed by Secretary-General).
- Specialised UN Agencies: Autonomous organisations linked to UN through special agreements—WHO (health), UNESCO (education/culture), ILO (labour), FAO (food/agriculture); UNICEF (children) and UNDP (development) are UN funds and programmes, not specialised agencies. Each has separate membership, budget, and headquarters.
- Bretton Woods Institutions: IMF and World Bank Group created in 1944 Bretton Woods Conference to rebuild post-WWII economy. IMF focuses on monetary cooperation and exchange rate stability; World Bank provides long-term development loans. Both headquartered in Washington DC.
- World Trade Organization (WTO): Established 1 January 1995 replacing GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade); headquarters Geneva, Switzerland; 166 members; regulates international trade, resolves trade disputes, negotiates trade agreements. India is a founding member of WTO.
Quick reference
- UN Founded: 24 October 1945, San Francisco Conference; 193 members; current SG António Guterres
- P5 with Veto: USA, UK, France, Russia, China—permanent Security Council members
- Geneva Cluster: WHO, WTO, ILO, UNHCR, UN Human Rights Council—all in Geneva, Switzerland
- Bretton Woods Twins: IMF (monetary/currency crisis) + World Bank (long-term development)—both Washington DC, 1944
- WTO: 1995, Geneva; 166 members; successor to GATT; handles trade disputes
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. The headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) is located in which city?
2. Which international organization provides Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to its member countries as a supplementary foreign exchange reserve asset?
3. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is located in which city?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 18 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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