Which of the following organisations is a non-governmental organisation working on human rights?

International Atomic Energy Agency

The World Trade Organization was set up in 1995 to replace:

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

The International Monetary Fund

The UN Conference on Trade and Development

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

Assertion (A): The richest countries have the largest say in decisions of the International Monetary Fund. Reason (R): Voting in the IMF is weighted according to each member’s financial contribution.

Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

Which of the following was created as part of the UN reforms of 2005–06?

The International Court of Justice

The Economic and Social Council

Which group of countries has pressed its claims for permanent membership of the Security Council together as the G4?

India, China, Brazil and South Africa

India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Egypt

Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada

The United Nations and Its Organisations — Structure, Reform and the Agencies

International organisations exist because states, however powerful, cannot solve some problems alone — war, disease, trade disputes, the spread of nuclear weapons. The most important of them is the United Nations (UN), founded in 1945 as the successor to the League of Nations, which had failed to prevent the Second World War. This chapter covers how the UN is built, why its Security Council is the most debated part of it, what reform has been proposed and where India stands, and the other organisations the book studies — the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, the IAEA, and two non-governmental bodies, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

How the UN Is Built

The UN was set up on 24 October 1945, which is celebrated as UN Day, with 51 founding member states, India among them. Its membership has grown to 193 states. Its main aim is to prevent international conflict and to facilitate cooperation among states, and it also works on social and economic development. It has six principal organs.

The six principal organs
Organ	What it does
General Assembly	All members, one vote each; debates any issue and makes recommendations
Security Council	Primary responsibility for international peace and security; 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members
Economic and Social Council	Coordinates economic and social work and the specialised agencies
International Court of Justice	Settles legal disputes between states; sits at The Hague
Secretariat	Runs the organisation; headed by the Secretary-General
Trusteeship Council	Supervised trust territories on their way to independence; suspended its work in 1994 after the last one became independent

The Security Council has five permanent members — the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China — the main victors of the Second World War, each of which has the veto: a negative vote by any of them blocks a decision. The other ten are non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, without the veto. The Secretaries-General so far have been Trygve Lie (Norway), Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden), U Thant (Burma, now Myanmar) — the first from Asia — Kurt Waldheim (Austria), Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Peru), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt), Kofi Annan (Ghana), Ban Ki-moon (South Korea) and António Guterres (Portugal).

Reform of the UN, and India’s Claim

Two kinds of reform are debated: reform of the organisation’s structures and processes, and a review of the issues within its jurisdiction. On structure, the main argument is that the Security Council reflects the world of 1945, not today’s. In 1992 the General Assembly adopted a resolution reflecting complaints that the Council no longer represented contemporary political realities, that its decisions reflected Western values and interests, and that it lacked equitable representation. Proposed criteria for a new permanent member include being a major economic power, a major military power, a substantial contributor to the UN budget, a big nation by population, a nation that respects democracy and human rights, and one that would make the Council more representative of the world’s geography, economic systems and cultures.

On issues, the reforms associated with Kofi Annan in 2005–06 included the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights Council (2006) in place of the earlier commission, agreement on the responsibility to protect people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, a Democracy Fund, and an ethics office. India supports a stronger and more democratic UN and seeks a permanent seat in the Security Council, citing its large population, its record as one of the largest contributors of troops to UN peacekeeping, its growing economy, and its record as a democracy. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have pressed their claims together as the G4. Others question the claim — the book mentions concerns about India’s relations with Pakistan, its nuclear weapons, and whether any expansion should give new members the veto — so the outcome remains open.

⚠️ Fifteen members, five vetoes

The Security Council has 15 members: 5 permanent with a veto and 10 non-permanent, elected for two years, without a veto. A non-permanent member such as India, when elected, votes but cannot block. Options that give "10 permanent members" or "five-year terms" are testing exactly these two numbers.

The Other Organisations

What each organisation does
Organisation	Key facts
IMF (International Monetary Fund)	Oversees the international financial system and gives financial and technical help when asked; came into being in 1945; voting is weighted by financial contribution, so the richest countries have the largest share
World Bank	Created after the Second World War in 1944; works for human development, agriculture and rural development, environmental protection, infrastructure and governance, through loans and grants to member countries
WTO (World Trade Organization)	Set up in 1995 as the successor to GATT (1948); sets the rules for global trade; decisions are taken by consensus, though the major economic powers have the most influence
IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)	Established in 1957; promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy and seeks to prevent its use for military purposes; its inspectors visit nuclear facilities
Amnesty International	A non-governmental organisation that campaigns for human rights across the world and publishes reports on them
Human Rights Watch	An international non-governmental organisation that researches and advocates on human rights and draws media attention to abuses

🎯 Why the UN still matters in a one-superpower world

The book’s answer is that the UN is the one place where all states, large and small, can be heard together, and where the actions of even the most powerful can be discussed and sometimes moderated. It is imperfect, but without it the world would have no common forum for problems no state can solve alone.

Key takeaways

The UN was founded on 24 October 1945 with 51 members (India among them) and now has 193.
Six principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, ECOSOC, International Court of Justice (The Hague), Secretariat, Trusteeship Council (inactive since 1994).
Security Council: 5 permanent members with the veto (US, Russia, UK, France, China) and 10 non-permanent members elected for two years.
U Thant of Burma was the first Asian Secretary-General; Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt) and Kofi Annan (Ghana) came from Africa.
The 2005–06 reforms: Peacebuilding Commission, Human Rights Council, responsibility to protect, Democracy Fund.
India seeks a permanent seat, with Brazil, Germany and Japan as the G4; the claim is supported and questioned, and remains open.
IMF (weighted voting), World Bank (1944, development loans), WTO (1995, successor to GATT), IAEA (1957, peaceful nuclear energy); Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are NGOs.

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

How many non-permanent members does the UN Security Council have, and for how long is each elected?
1. Five members, for five years
2. Ten members, for two years
3. Ten members, for four years
4. Fifteen members, for two years
Show answer
Answer: B — Ten members, for two years
There are ten non-permanent members, elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Fifteen is the total size of the Council — five permanent plus ten non-permanent — which is why it is a tempting but wrong answer to a question about the non-permanent seats alone.
The first Secretary-General of the UN to come from Asia was:
1. Ban Ki-moon
2. Kofi Annan
3. U Thant
4. Dag Hammarskjöld
Show answer
Answer: C — U Thant
U Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) was the third Secretary-General and the first from Asia. Ban Ki-moon of South Korea was also Asian but came decades later, which is the trap; Kofi Annan was from Ghana and Hammarskjöld from Sweden.
Which of the following organisations is a non-governmental organisation working on human rights?
1. Amnesty International
2. International Atomic Energy Agency
3. UN Human Rights Council
4. International Monetary Fund
Show answer
Answer: A — Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an NGO — independent of governments — that campaigns for human rights worldwide. The Human Rights Council also works on human rights, which makes it tempting, but it is an intergovernmental UN body made up of member states.
The World Trade Organization was set up in 1995 to replace:
1. The International Monetary Fund
2. The League of Nations
3. The UN Conference on Trade and Development
4. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
Show answer
Answer: D — The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
The WTO succeeded GATT, the trade agreement in place since 1948. The League of Nations is the trap from earlier in the chapter: the UN, not the WTO, was its successor, in 1945.
Assertion (A): The richest countries have the largest say in decisions of the International Monetary Fund.
Reason (R): Voting in the IMF is weighted according to each member’s financial contribution.
1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
3. A is true, but R is false
4. A is false, but R is true
Show answer
Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
Unlike the General Assembly’s one-member-one-vote, IMF votes are weighted by financial contribution, so the largest contributors hold the largest voting shares — R is precisely why A is true. Treating them as unrelated facts is the mistake the second option invites.
Which of the following was created as part of the UN reforms of 2005–06?
1. The International Court of Justice
2. The Trusteeship Council
3. The Economic and Social Council
4. The Peacebuilding Commission
Show answer
Answer: D — The Peacebuilding Commission
The Peacebuilding Commission was set up in the reforms of 2005–06, along with the Human Rights Council and the Democracy Fund. The other three are principal organs that have existed since the UN was founded in 1945 — the Trusteeship Council has in fact been inactive since 1994.
Which group of countries has pressed its claims for permanent membership of the Security Council together as the G4?
1. India, China, Brazil and South Africa
2. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan
3. India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Egypt
4. Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada
Show answer
Answer: B — India, Brazil, Germany and Japan
India, Brazil, Germany and Japan form the G4. China cannot be part of such a claim because it is already a permanent member with the veto — that is what rules out the first option, which echoes the BRICS grouping instead.
Consider the following statements:
1. The International Atomic Energy Agency seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
2. The International Court of Justice sits at Geneva.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: A — Only 1
Statement 1 is correct: the IAEA, set up in 1957, promotes peaceful nuclear energy and works against its military use. Statement 2 is wrong — the International Court of Justice sits at The Hague in the Netherlands; Geneva hosts many other UN offices, which is why it is tempting.