# Regional pacts and communities The regional agreements that organized continents: from the Organization of American States to ASEAN, ECOWAS, and the African continental market. *This story part of: Production and labor* *Asian crisis and the blocked Asian Monetary Fund parallel this story* ## 14 April 1890 — Founding of the International Union of American Republics The First International Conference of American States creates a union of American republics with a commercial bureau in Washington. It grew into the Pan American Union and later the Organization of American States. ## 22 March 1945 — Founding of the Arab League Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen sign the pact of the League of Arab States in Cairo, creating a regional organization to coordinate Arab political and economic affairs. ## 22 March 1945 — Pact of the League of Arab States Founding charter of the Arab League, joining seven Arab states in a regional organization for political and economic coordination. It was among the first postwar regional pacts. ## 30 April 1948 — Charter of the Organization of American States Charter founding the Organization of American States as the main political body of the Western Hemisphere. It committed members to collective security, democracy, and peaceful dispute settlement. ## 30 April 1948 — Founding of the Organization of American States Twenty-one American republics sign the OAS Charter at the Ninth Pan-American Conference in Bogotá, turning decades of Pan-American cooperation into a formal regional organization based in Washington. ## 5 May 1949 — Founding of the Council of Europe Ten Western European states sign the Treaty of London creating the Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law. It later produced the European Convention on Human Rights. ## 1952 — Founding of the Nordic Council Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden agree to create the Nordic Council, an inter-parliamentary body for Nordic cooperation. Its first session met in the Danish parliament in February 1953, and Finland joined in 1955. ## 25 May 1963 — Founding of the Organisation of African Unity Leaders of 32 newly independent African states sign the OAU Charter in Addis Ababa to promote unity and complete decolonization of the continent. The date is celebrated as Africa Day. ## 25 May 1963 — OAU Charter Founding charter of the Organisation of African Unity, joining newly independent African states around decolonization and the inviolability of inherited borders. It was succeeded by the African Union in 2002. ## 8 August 1967 — ASEAN Declaration Declaration by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand founding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It grew into the central institution of Southeast Asian cooperation. ## 8 August 1967 — Founding of ASEAN Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand sign the Bangkok Declaration founding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to promote regional stability and economic cooperation. ## 26 May 1969 — Founding of the Andean Community Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru sign the Cartagena Agreement, founding the Andean Pact for regional economic integration, later renamed the Andean Community. ## 25 September 1969 — Founding of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Muslim states meeting in Rabat after an arson attack on the al-Aqsa Mosque found the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the largest grouping of Muslim-majority countries. ## 5 August 1971 — Founding of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders of seven Pacific states and territories hold the first South Pacific Forum in Wellington, founding the region's main political grouping, renamed the Pacific Islands Forum in 1999. ## 4 July 1973 — Founding of CARICOM Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago sign the Treaty of Chaguaramas creating the Caribbean Community, deepening earlier free trade arrangements into a common market and political community. ## 28 May 1975 — Founding of ECOWAS Fifteen West African states sign the Treaty of Lagos creating the Economic Community of West African States to promote economic integration, later adding security and peacekeeping roles. ## 1 August 1975 — Founding of the OSCE Thirty-five states from both Cold War blocs sign the Helsinki Final Act, launching the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. It became the permanent Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1995. ## 25 May 1981 — Founding of the Gulf Cooperation Council Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE sign the GCC charter in Abu Dhabi, creating a political and economic union of the Arab Gulf monarchies amid the Iran-Iraq War. ## 8 December 1985 — Founding of SAARC Seven South Asian states sign the charter of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation at a summit in Dhaka, creating a regional body for economic and cultural cooperation. ## 26 March 1991 — Founding of Mercosur Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay sign the Treaty of Asunción creating the Southern Common Market, South America's main trade bloc. ## 8 December 1991 — Founding of the Commonwealth of Independent States The leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus sign the Belovezha Accords declaring the Soviet Union dissolved and founding the Commonwealth of Independent States, which most other former Soviet republics joined weeks later. ## 17 August 1992 — Founding of the Southern African Development Community Southern African leaders sign the SADC Treaty in Windhoek, transforming the 1980 anti-apartheid coordination conference SADCC into a full regional development community. ## 15 June 2001 — Founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation China, Russia and four Central Asian states found the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, expanding the Shanghai Five border talks into a permanent body for security and economic cooperation across Eurasia. ## 15 June 2001 — Shanghai Cooperation Organisation founding declaration Declaration by China, Russia, and four Central Asian states founding the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation for security and economic cooperation. It has since expanded to include India, Pakistan, and Iran. ## 9 July 2002 — Founding of the African Union The African Union is launched at a summit in Durban, replacing the Organisation of African Unity with a more ambitious body modeled partly on the European Union, headquartered in Addis Ababa. ## 16 June 2009 — Founding of BRICS Brazil, Russia, India and China hold their first formal summit in Yekaterinburg, turning an investment-bank acronym into a political grouping of major emerging economies. South Africa joined in 2010. ## 29 May 2014 — Founding of the Eurasian Economic Union Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan sign the treaty creating the Eurasian Economic Union, a single market that took effect on 1 January 2015 and was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.