Joint Stamp Issue of ASEAN Community - "One Vision, One Identity, One Community"- 8.8.2015

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - 25th Anniversary 14.12.1997

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international economic organisation of 34 countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.
In 1961, the OEEC was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development by the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and membership was extended to non-European states. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.

The OECD's headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris, France. The stamp depicts the HQs of the OECD and also has a world map showing the countries in the OECD.

The International Court of Justice, The Hague, Netherlands 9.11.1979

The International Court of Justice (French: Cour internationale de justice; commonly referred to as the World Court or ICJ) is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.

Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the Court.

The Court's workload covers a wide range of judicial activity. After the court ruled that the U.S.'s covert war against Nicaragua was in violation of international law (Nicaragua v. United States), the United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986. The United States accepts the court's jurisdiction only on a case-by-case basis. Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to enforce Court rulings. However, such enforcement is subject to the veto power of the five permanent members of the Council, which the United States used in the Nicaragua case.

Thank you Merja.

Norway Celebrates the Centenary of the ITU

These two stamps on the first day cover with the special postmark were issued by Norway at Oslo on 1.4.1965 to commemorate the Centenary of the ITU.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), originally the International Telegraph Union (Union Internationale des Télécommunications), is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies. The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards.

ITU was founded in Paris in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union. It took its present name in 1932, and in 1947 became a specialized agency of the United Nations. Although its first area of expertise was the telegraph, the work of ITU now covers the whole ICT sector, from digital broadcasting to the Internet, and from mobile technologies to 3D TV. An organization of public-private partnership since its inception, ITU currently has a membership of 193 countries and some 700 private-sector entities. ITU is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has twelve regional and area offices around the world.

These two stamps on the first day cover with the special postmark were issued by Norway at Oslo on 1.4.1965 to commemorate theCentenary of the ITU.

CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) 27.10.1971

U.S. 8¢ CARE stamp commemorates the 25th anniversary of CARE (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) that delivered its first packages to Europe on May 11, 1946, in the aftermath of World War II. The program was a joint U.S.-Canadian initiative.

CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) is a major international humanitarian agency delivering broad-spectrum emergency relief and long-term international development projects. Founded in 1945, CARE is nonsectarian, non-partisan, and non-governmental. It is one of the largest and oldest humanitarian aid organizations focused on fighting global poverty. In 2011, CARE reported working in 84 countries, supporting 1015 poverty-fighting projects, and reaching over 122 million people.

CARE's programmes in the developing world address a broad range of topics including emergency response, food security, water and sanitation, economic development, climate change, agriculture, education, and health. CARE also advocates at the local, national, and international levels for policy change and the rights of poor people. Within each of these areas, CARE focuses particularly on empowering and meeting the needs of women and on promoting gender equality.

CARE International is a confederation of twelve CARE National Members and two Affiliate Members, each of which is registered as an autonomous non-profit non-governmental organization in the country. The twelve CARE National Members are: CARE Australia, CARE Canada, CARE Danmark, CARE Deutschland-Luxembourg, CARE France, CARE International Japan, CARE Nederland, CARE Norge, CARE Österreich, Raks Thai Foundation (CARE Thailand), CARE International UK, and CARE USA. The two CARE Affiliate Members are CARE India and CARE Peru.

Thank you Merja.

Cyprus 17.5.1965 - 100th Anniversary of the founding of the ITU 17.5.1965

On 24 May 1844, Samuel Morse sent his first public message over a telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore, and through that simple act, ushered in the telecommunication age.

On 17 May 1865, after two and a half months of arduous negotiation, the first International Telegraph Convention was signed in Paris by the 20 founding members, and the International Telegraph Union (ITU) was established to facilitate subsequent amendments to this initial agreement. Today, some 145 years later, the reasons which led to the establishment of ITU still apply, and the fundamental objectives of the organization remain basically unchanged.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was founded in 1865 making it the oldest international organization in the UN family. ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services.

From its beginnings in 1865 up until the present ITU has produced a multitude of documents that chart the organization’s history and contribution to information and communication technology issues.

This FDC issued by Cyprus with the three stamps on it was given to me by Maria and were issued on 17.5.1965 to comemorate the 100^thAnniversary of the founding of the ITU.