List of International Organizations and their Headquarters - Summary
Candidates preparing for competitive exams like CDS, NDA, AFCAT, and others can benefit from the comprehensive list of international organizations, their headquarters, abbreviations, and formation dates provided in this guide. Download the PDF for easy reference!
Importance of International Organizations
In today’s world, maintaining peace and promoting effective trade relations among nations is crucial. International organizations play a significant role in addressing various global issues that go beyond national borders and local regulations. They work to foster cooperation and understanding among countries, aiming to create a better world for everyone. 🌏
Notable International Organizations
Here are some important international organizations along with their respective headquarters:
- United Nations (UN)
Headquarters: New York City, USA
Founded: 1945 - World Health Organization (WHO)
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Founded: 1948 - World Trade Organization (WTO)
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Founded: 1995 - International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Headquarters: Washington D.C., USA
Founded: 1944 - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Headquarters: Paris, France
Founded: 1945
International Organizations and their Headquarters
| International Organizations | Headquarter | Founded | President/ General Secretary |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Nations Organization (UN) | New York, US | 1945 | AntĂłnio Guterres |
| United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) | New York, US | 1946 | Henrietta H. Fore |
| United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) | New York, US | 1969 | Dr. Natalia Kanem |
| United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1964 | Mukhisa Kituyi |
| World Health Organization (WHO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1948 | Tedros Adhanom |
| World Economic Forum (WEF) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1971 | Klaus Schwab |
| International LabourOrganisation (ILO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1919 | Guy Ryder |
| World Trade Organisation (WTO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1995 | Roberto Azevedo |
| World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1950 | Gerhard Adrian (President) |
| World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1967 | Francis Gurry |
| International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1863 | Peter Maurer |
| United Nations Education Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) | Paris, France | 1945 | Audrey Azoulay |
| Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) | Paris, France | 1961 | Jose Angel Gurria |
| United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) | Vienna, Austria | 1966 | Li Yong |
| International Atomic Agency | Vienna, Austria | 1957 | Yukiya Amano |
| Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) | Vienna, Austria | 1960 | HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo |
| Amnesty International | London, UK | 1961 | Kumi Naidoo (Secretary-General) |
| International Maritime Organisation | London, UK | 1948 | Kitack Lim |
| Commonwealth of Nations | London, UK | 1931 | Head – Queen Elizabeth IISecretary-General- The Baroness Scotland of Asthal |
| South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) | Kathmandu, Nepal | 1985 | Esala Weerakoon (Secretary-General) |
| Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) | Jakarta, Indonesia | 1967 | Lim Jock Hoi (Secretary General) |
| Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) | Singapore | 1989 | Dr. Alan Bollard |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | Brussels, Belgium | 1949 | Jens Stoltenberg(Secretary-General) |
| International Cricket Council (ICC) | Dubai, UAE | 1909 | Imran Khwaja (interim) |
| Food & Agricultural Organisation (FAO) | Rome, Italy | 1945 | Qu Dongyu |
| International Court of Justice (ICJ) | The Hague, The Netherland | 1945 | Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf |
| International Olympic Committee (IOC) | Lausanne, Switzerland | 1894 | Thomas Bach |
| The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) | Zurich, Switzerland | 1904 | Gianni infantino |
| The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) | The Hague, The Netherlands | 1997 | Fernando Arias |
| World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) | Avenue du Mont-Blanc, Gland, Vaud, Switzerland | 1961 | Pavan Sukhdev |
| Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) | Beijing, China | 2016 | JinLiqun |
| New Development Bank (BRICS Development Bank) | Shanghai, China | 2014 | Marcos Prado Troyjo |
| Asian Development Bank (ADB) | Manila, Philippines | 1966 | Masatsugu Asakawa |
| International Monetary Fund (IMF) | Washington DC, US | 1945 | Kristalina Georgieva (Managing Director) & Gita Gopinath (Chief Economist) |
| World Bank (WB) | Washington DC, US | 1944 | David Malpass (President) |
| International Organization for Standardization (ISO) | Geneva | 1947 | Eddy Njoroge |
| UN Women (UW) | New York | 2010 | Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka |
| International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) | Vienna | 1957 | Yukiya Amano, Rafael Grossi |
| Universal Postal Union (UPU) | Berne | 1874 | Bishar Abdirahman Hussein |
| Transparency International (TI) | Berlin | 1993 | Delia Ferreira Rubio |
| International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) | Abu Dhabi (UAE) | 2009 | Francesco La Camera |
| Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) | Jeddah | 1969 | Yousef Al-Othaimeen (Secretary-General) |
| Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORA) | Ebene, Mauritius | 1997 | Dr Nomvuyo Nokwe |
| International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) | Zurich, Switzerland | 1919 | Christopher M. A. Brett (Portugal) |
| International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) | Monaco | 1921 | Dr. Mathias Jonas |
| International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) | Monaco | 1912 | Sebastian Coe |
| International Hockey Federation (FIH) | Lausanne,Switzerland | 1924 | Narinder Batra |
| Federation international des Ă©checs or World Chess Federation (FIDE) | Athens, Greece | 1924 | Arkady Dvorkovich |
| International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) | Gland, Switzerland | 1948 | Grethel Aguilar |
| Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) | Los Angeles, USA | 1998 | Göran Marby (CEO and President), |
| Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors without Borders (MSF) | Geneva, Switzerland | 1971 | Christos Christou (MSF International President) |
| International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) | Munich, Germany | 1907 | Vladimir Lisin |
| Bank for International Settlements (BIS) | Basel, Switzerland | 1930 | AgustĂn Carstens |
| Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) | Washington D.C. | 1988 | Keiko Honda |
| International Finance Corporation (IFC) | Washington D.C. | 1956 | Philippe Le Houérou |
| International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) | Washington D.C. | 1957 (But operating starts in 1966) | Meg Kinnear |
| The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) | Washington D.C. | 1944 | David Malpass |
| International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) | Lyon, France | 1923 | Sec-General: Jurgen Stock, President: Kim Jong-yang, |
| African Union | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 2001 | Chairman Alpha Conde |
| The Arab League | Al Tahrir Sq., Cairo, Egypt | 1945 | Al Tahrir Sq., Cairo, Egypt |
| Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) | Minsk Russia | 1991 | Secretary-General Alexey Sergeev |
| Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) | Riyadh, SaudiArabia | 1981 | Secretary-General Bahrain A. bin Rashid Al Zayani Supreme Council Presidency: Kuwait |
| The International Air Transport Association (IATA) | Montreal, Canada | 1945 | alexander de Junia |
| The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) | Beijing China | 2001 | Rashid Alimov |
World Organisation and Their Headquarters
| World Organisation | Headquarter |
|---|---|
| United Nations Organisation (UNO) | New York |
| United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) | Nairobi (Kenya) |
| United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) | Geneva |
| United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | New York |
| United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) | New York |
| United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation  (UNESCO) | Paris |
| World Health Organisation | Geneva |
| International Monetary Fund | Washington |
| Commonwealth | London |
| Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) | Vienna |
| World Wildlife Fund (WWF) | Gland (Switzerland) |
| United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) | Geneva |
| International Olympic Committee (IOC) | Lusane |
| League of Arab States | Cario (Egypt) |
| Amnesty International | London |
| Asian Development Bank | Manila (Philippines) |
| Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) | Jakarta |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) | Brussels |
| African Union (AU) | Addis-Abada |
| South Asian Association for Regional Corporation | Kathmandu |
| International Police (INTERPOL) | Lyons (France) |
| World Trade Organisation | Geneva |
| Women Aid International | London |
| World Bank | Washington |
| Universal Postal Union | Berne (Switzerland) |
| BENELUX Economic Union | Brussels |
| General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) | Geneva |
| United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) | New York, USA |
| UN Women | New York, USA |
| International Labour Organization (ILO) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| United Nations Security Council (UNSC) | New York, USA |
| International Committee of the Red Cross | Geneva, Switzerland |
| International Organization for Standardization | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) | Paris, France |
| World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) | Vienna, Austria |
| Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) | Rome, Italy |
| World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Transparency International | Berlin, Germany |
| Organization of Islamic Cooperation | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) | Gland, Switzerland |
| United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) | Vienna, Austria |
| International Maritime Organisation (IMO) | London, United Kingdom |
| International Renewable Energy Agency | Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons | The Hague, Netherlands |
| International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) | Paris, France |
| Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) | Queenstown, Singapore |
| International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry | North Carolina |
| World Economic Forum | Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland |
| Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation | Ebene, Mauritius |
| United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) | Turin, Italy |
| International Telecommunication Union (ITU) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) | Montreal, Canada |
| United Nations University (UNU) | Tokyo, Japan |
| International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) | Gland, Switzerland |
| United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) | Vienna, Austria |
| UN-OHRLLS | New York, USA |
| United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) | Nairobi, Kenya |
| International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) | Rome, Italy |
| United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) | Madrid, Spain |
| UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) | Amman, Jordan |
| International Court of Justice (ICJ) | The Hague, Netherlands |
| World Food Programme (WFP) | Rome, Italy |
| International Organization for Migration (IOM) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) | Turin, Italy |
| United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) | Bonn, Germany |
| Arctic Council | Tromso, Norway |
| African Development Bank Group | Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire |
| International Trade Centre (ITC) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Andean Community | Lima, Peru |
| Association of Caribbean States (ACS) | Port of Spain, Trinidad, Tobago |
| Bank for International Settlements (BIS) | Basel, Switzerland |
| International Solar Alliance (ISA) | Gurugram, India |
| Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Caribbean Community (CARICOM) | Georgetown, Guyana |
| Council of Europe | Strasbourg, France |
| Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Central American Bank for Economic Integration | Tegucigalpa, Honduras |
| Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) | Lusaka, Zambia |
| Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) | Stockholm, Switzerland |
| European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) | London, United Kingdom |
| European Free Trade Association (EFTA) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) | Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria |
| European Central Bank (ECB) | Frankfurt, Germany |
| European Space Agency (ESA) | Paris, France |
| Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| European Union (EU) | Brussels, Belgium |
| Group of Eight (G8) | New York, USA |
| G-15 Summit | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) | Djibouti, Djibouti |
| International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) | Paris, France |
| Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) | Washington, DC, USA |
| International Development Association (IDA) | Washington, DC, USA |
| International Finance Corporation (IFC) | Washington, DC, USA |
| International Labour Organization (ILO) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| International Peace Bureau (IPB) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| International Seabed Authority (ISA) | Kingston, Jamaica |
| International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Inter-Parliamentary Union | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) | Washington, DC, USA |
| The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) | Central Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) | Vienna, Austria |
| Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) | Kuwait, Middle East |
| World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) | Geneva, Switzerland |
| Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) | Noumea, New Caledonia |
| Nordic Council of Ministers | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| UniĂłn Latina | Paris, France |
| United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) | Beirut, Lebanon |
| United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) | Bangkok, Thailand |
| United Cities & Local Governments (UCLG) | Barcelona, Spain |
| United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
| United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) | Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, USA |
| Western European Union (WEU) | Paris, France |
| World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) | Geneva, Switzerland and New York City, USA |
Explore the complete list and more details in the downloadable PDF.
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