Arab League

About Arab League:

• The Arab League, or League of Arab States, is a voluntary association of countries whose peoples are mainly Arabic-speaking or where Arabic is an official language.
• It is a regional organization of Arab states in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
• Formation:
  • It was formed in Cairo in 1945 with 6 members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (later renamed Jordan), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, with Yemen
  • The league was chartered in response to concerns about postwar colonial divisions of territory as well as strong opposition to the emergence of a Jewish state on Palestinian territory.
• The main aims of the League are to strengthen relations and to coordinate collaboration between member states, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty, and to provide collective consideration of the affairs and interests of the member states.
• Headquarters: Cairo, Egypt.
• Official language: Arabic
• Members: It currently has 22 member states: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
• There are 4 nations that were conferred observer status by the League: Brazil, Eritrea, India and Venezuela.
• Organisation Structure:
  • The highest body of the League is the Council, which is composed of representatives of each state.
  • Each member state has one vote, irrespective of size.
  • The League makes decisions on a majority basis. The decisions are binding only on states that voted for them.
  • The General Secretariat, the administrative and executive body of the League, runs the League on a daily basis.
  • It is headed by a Secretary-General appointed by the Arab League Council every five years.