International Cooperation: UN Agencies, Trade and Monetary Systems

International Cooperation: Key Institutions and Economic Frameworks

UN agency forum to coordinate cooperation, negotiations, and policies that promote world development. Cooperation policy aims mainly at the objectives of the agencies, and some of them depend on the organization.

Main Bodies of the United Nations

The UN has the following organs:

• General Assembly: consisting of one representative from each of the 192 member states, meeting once a year for three months.
• Security Council: the executive organ, made up of 15 members, 5 of which are permanent and hold veto power.
• Secretariat: the administrative organ. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the representative of the institution worldwide.

Specialized Agencies

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization): headquartered in Rome, responsible for studies and field development in international cooperation in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and related areas. Its objective is to improve nutrition and the production and distribution of agricultural resources.

UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development): a body for economic and commercial cooperation focused on developing countries. Its objective is to achieve a rhythm of growth in the global economy.

IMF (International Monetary Fund): an economic cooperation institution whose objective is to reform the international monetary system by promoting changes in international policies toward sustainability. Its functions include:

• Advising member countries on economic policy aspects to promote economic growth.
• Supporting countries with problems in their balance of payments, providing economic adjustment programs to resolve them.
• Sanctioning breaches of the conditions established by the institution.

Trade and Economic Agreements

GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade): an organization created for economic cooperation. Its objective is to gradually reduce trade barriers and tariffs that limit international trade. It is based on three principles:

• Non-discrimination: the main example is equal treatment among countries, which helps increase the global distribution of resources and efficiency.
• Non-use of non-tariff measures: countries should use tariffs rather than other non-tariff measures.
• Reciprocity: a reference to the institutional framework for negotiations on trade liberalization. The framework has different rounds of important negotiations on tariff reductions.

OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development): an organization whose objective is to promote economic development and expansion among its member countries, of which there are 18. It represents and defends the interests of developed and developing countries.

CLAPC: a UN agency created to coordinate economic and social development in the area, fostering and strengthening relations with other countries.

International Commodity Agreements

International commodity agreements are another form of cooperation among countries. These are associations of producers whose purpose is to share the market, distribute shares of effect, and fix member prices.

Exchange Rate Systems

Exchange rate systems regulate payments between countries in the world economy and determine the types of exchange rate used in different existing systems:

• Fixed exchange rate system: all currencies are fixed in price relative to one another.
• Flexible exchange rate system: consists of setting the price of a currency according to demand, with preference given to its supply and the foreign exchange market.

SMI (International Monetary System): the type of exchange and international payment system existing among all countries of the world. It has two types: the first (characterized by a fixed exchange rate and gold as a reference) and the second (flexible exchange rate, loss of the dollar, and new currencies).