Approved International Organizations

A federal agency may detail or transfer an employee to any organization that the Department of State has designated as an international organization (IO) on the list below. The list below does not determine whether an entity is an international organization for the purpose of other statutes or regulations, it is solely for the purpose of detailing or transferring federal employees. It will be updated as new organizations are added or deleted. Visit our Federal Agency and Federal Employee pages to learn more about how the detail and transfer process works.

While the U.S. government participates in other international organizations not listed here, the degree of participation may not be enough to warrant designating the organization an IO for the purpose of details and transfers. The Department of State will consider the status of such organizations under the detail and transfer statutory provisions on a case-by-case basis when requested to do so by Federal agencies.

Federal agencies interested in learning more about how to add an organization to the list should contact us for information on the process.

Organizational Categories

• United Nations Organizations
• Specialized Agencies of the United Nations and Related Organizations
• International Financial Institutions
• Inter-American Organizations
• Other Regional Organizations
• Other International Organizations

United Nations (UN Secretariat, Organs and their Subsidiary Bodies and Special Programs)

• United Nations Secretariat (UN)
• UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
• UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
• UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
• UN Development Program (UNDP)
• UN Environmental Program (UNEP)
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• UN Human Settlements Program (UN HABITAT)
• UN International Training and Research Center (UNITAR)
• UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
• UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
• UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
• UN University (UNU)
• UN Volunteers (UNV)
• International Court of Justice (ICJ)
• International Civil Service Commission (ICSC)
• International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
• International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
• International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
• Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
• World Food Program (WFP)

Note: Because the United Nations qualifies as an international organization in which the United States government participates within the meaning of Public Law 89-554 as amended, organs and special programs of the United Nations usually qualify under the statute as well. The list, therefore, is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive. Please contact us with questions as to whether other organs or special programs of the United Nations not on the above list qualify under the statute.

Specialized Agencies of the United Nations and Related Organizations

• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• International Labor Organization (ILO)
• International Maritime Organization (IMO)
• International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
• UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Universal Postal Union (UPU)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
• World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

International Financial Institutions

• Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• North American Development Bank (NADB)
• UN Regional Development Banks
• African Development Bank
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
• World Bank Group
• International Bank for Reconstruction & Development (IBRD)
• International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)

Inter-American Organizations

• Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC)
• Inter-American Center of Tax Administrators (CIAT)
• Inter-American Indian Institute (IAII)
• Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA)
• Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)
• Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)
• Organization of American States (OAS)
• Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
• Pan American Institute of Geography and History (PAIGH)
• Pan American Railway Congress Association (ACPF) (Argentina)
• Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP)

Other Regional Organizations

• Asia Pacific Energy Research Center (APERC)
• Colombo Plan Council
• Great Lakes Fisheries Commission (GLFC)
• International Energy Agency (IEA)
• Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC)
• North Atlantic Assembly (NAA)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)

Other International Organizations

• Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
• Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)
• Commission for Labor Cooperation
• Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
• Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
• COSPAS-SARSAT (Search and Rescue Satellite System)
• Energy Charter Conference (ECC)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• The Global Fund (to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria) (TGF)
• The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCOPIL)
• International Agreement on the Maintenance of Certain Lights in the Red Sea
• International Bureau for the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)
• International Bureau for the Protection of Industrial Property
• International Bureau for the Publication of Customs Tariffs
• International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM)
• International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)
• International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)
• International Coffee Organization (ICO)
• International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT)
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
• International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC)
• International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
• International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL)
• International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
• International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
• International Energy Forum Secretariat (IEFS)
• International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC)
• International Grains Council (IGC)
• International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSP)
• International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
• International Institute for Cotton
• International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT)
• International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO)
• International Organization for Legal Metrology (OIML)
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)
• International Plant Genetics Resources Institute (IPGRI)
• International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
• International Rubber Study Group (IRSG)
• International Science and Technology Center (ISTC)
• International Seed Testing Association (ISTA)
• International Service for National Agriculture Research (ISNAR)
• International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (ITSO)
• International Trade Center (ITC)
• International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)
• International Union of Credit and Investment Insurers (Berne Union)
• International Whaling Commission (IWC)
• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
• Iran-United States Claims Tribunal
• ITER International Fusion Energy Organization (ITER)
• Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO)
• Multinational Force and Observers (MFO)
• North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)
• North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC)
• Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
• Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
• Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO)
• Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses (PIANC)
• Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC)
• Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU)
• Sierra Leone Special Court
• World Customs Organization (WCO)
• The World Heritage Fund
• World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
• World Trade Organization (WTO)