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United Nations Economic and Social Council
Principal organ of the United Nations

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, coordinating economic and social activities including oversight of the fifteen specialized agencies and various commissions. It serves as a forum for addressing global economic and social issues with 54 rotating member states and over 1,600 NGOs holding consultative status. ECOSOC convenes annually in July and holds a finance-focused meeting with the World Bank and IMF each April. It oversees the High-level Political Forum for sustainable development and elects leadership of bodies such as UNICEF and the UN Development Programme, also managing the list of least developed countries.

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President

Main article: President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council

The president of the Council is elected for a one-year term and chosen from the small or medium sized states represented on the Council at the beginning of each new session.8 The presidency rotates among the United Nations Regional Groups to ensure equal representation.9

His Excellency Bob Rae was elected the eightieth President of the Economic and Social Council for the 2025 Session on 25 July 2024. Paula Narváez, Representative of Chile, was elected as the seventy-ninth president of the Council on 27 July 2023. She succeeded Lachezara Stoeva, who was elected as the seventy-eighth president of the Council on 25 July 2022,10 succeeding Collen Vixen Kelapile of Botswana.11

Members

See also: List of members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council

The Council consists of 54 Member States, which are elected yearly by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. Seats on the Council are allocated ensuring equitable geographic rotation among the United Nations regional groups.1213 Outgoing members are eligible for immediate re-election, and some seats are held by de facto permanent members.

History

In 1945 when the United Nations Charter was originally signed, the Economic and Social Council consisted of 18 seats. The formal concept of the United Nations Regional Groups did not yet exist, and unlike the Security Council, there was no "gentlemen's agreement" between the superpowers to assign ECOSOC seats. Regardless, with 4 exceptions out of 102 elections (see list), a relatively stable pattern emerged and held until 1960:1415

As the number of United Nations members grew with decolonization, the pattern began to break down starting in 1961, with nations in Africa winning elections to seats formerly held by Western Europe and the Republic of China (Taiwan).1718

In 1965, the Charter was amended to increase the size of ECOSOC to 27 seats, and the Regional Groups were formally introduced. The seat distribution became:19

In 1973, the Charter was amended again to increase the size of ECOSOC to 54 seats. The seat distribution became:20

Current members

TermAfrican StatesAsia-Pacific StatesEastern European StatesLatin American & Caribbean States Western European & Other States
2025 – 202721 Algeria  Ivory Coast  Djibouti  South Africa  Tanzania Bangladesh  Saudi Arabia  Sri Lanka  Uzbekistan Armenia  Azerbaijan Antigua and Barbuda  Dominican Republic  Mexico Australia  Austria  Canada  Finland  Italy  Netherlands   Switzerland
2024 – 20262223 Kenya  Mauritania  Nigeria  Senegal  Zambia Japan    Nepal  Pakistan Poland Vacant24 Haiti  Paraguay  Suriname  Uruguay France  Liechtenstein  Spain  Turkey  United Kingdom
2023 – 2025 Botswana  Cape Verde  Cameroon  Equatorial Guinea China  Laos  Qatar Republic of Korea Slovakia  Slovenia Brazil  Colombia  Costa Rica Sweden
Total Countries

54

14116 (currently 5, 1 vacant)1013

Observer Inter-Governmental Autonomous Organisations

Participation on a continuing basis:25

Participation on an ad hoc basis:26

Commissions

Functional commissions

Active

The following are the active functional commission of the Council:2728

Disbanded

The following commissions were disbanded by the Council and replaced by other bodies:

Regional commissions

The following are the active regional commissions of the Council:33

The regional commissions seek to link the global ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with regional actors, contexts, and priorities. In practice, however, when it comes to agenda setting, the regional commissions mostly seek to balance the new global agenda with their regional priorities and prior agendas. No regional commission has in its founding mandate a reference to sustainability or to the environmental dimension of development; the key goal is to “raise the [regional] level of economic activity”.34

Committees and other bodies

The following are some of the other bodies that the Council oversees in some capacity:35

Standing committees

Expert bodies

Other subsidiary bodies

  • System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB)
  • High-Level Committee on Management (HLCM)
  • High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP)

Specialized agencies

See also: List of specialized agencies of the United Nations

The specialized agencies of the United Nations are autonomous organizations working within the United Nations System, meaning that while they report their activities to the Economic and Social Council, they are mostly free to their own devices. Some were created before the United Nations existed and were integrated into the system, others were created by the League of Nations and were integrated by its successor, while others were created by the United Nations itself to meet emerging needs.36 Each agency must negotiate with the Council as to what their relationship will look and work like. This leads to a system where different organizations maintain different types of relationships with the Council.3738 For example, in the 1950s[clarify] the members of ECOSOC were responsible for granting a state admission to UNESCO,3940 but now this is done by the members of UNESCO themselves.

The following is a list of the specialized agencies reporting to the Council:41

"World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation"

In a report issued in early July 2011, the UN called for spending nearly US$2  trillion on green technologies to prevent what it termed "a major planetary catastrophe", warning that "It is rapidly expanding energy use, mainly driven by fossil fuels, that explains why humanity is on the verge of breaching planetary sustainability boundaries through global warming, biodiversity loss, and disturbance of the nitrogen-cycle balance and other measures of the sustainability of the earth's ecosystem".42

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added: "Rather than viewing growth and sustainability as competing goals on a collision course, we must see them as complementary and mutually supportive imperatives". The report concluded that "Business as usual is not an option".43

Reforms

The governance of the multilateral system has historically been complex and fragmented. This has limited the capacity of ECOSOC to influence international policies in trade, finance, and investment. Reform proposals aim to enhance the relevance and contribution of the council. A major reform was approved by the 2005 World Summit based on proposals submitted by secretary-general Kofi Annan.44 The Summit aimed to establish ECOSOC as a quality platform for high-level engagement among member states and with international financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society on global trends, policies, and action. It resolved to hold biennial high-level Development Cooperation Forums at the national-leadership level, transforming the high-level segment of the Council to review trends in international development cooperation and promote greater coherence in development activities. At the Summit it was also decided to hold annual ministerial-level substantive reviews to assess progress in achieving internationally agreed on development goals (particularly the Millennium Development Goals). These "Annual Ministerial Reviews" will be replaced by the High-Level Political Forum from 2016 onwards after the new post-MDG/post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals are agreed upon.45

Subsequent proposals by the High-Level Panel Report on System-Wide Coherence in November 2006 aimed to establish a forum within the ECOSOC as a counter-model to the exclusive clubs of the G8 and G20. The Forum was to comprise 27 heads of state (L27, corresponding to half of ECOSOC's membership) to meet annually and provide international leadership in the development area. This proposal however, was not approved by the General Assembly.46

Society and culture

Chamber design

The Economic and Social Council Chamber in the United Nations Conference Building was a gift from Sweden. It was conceived by Swedish architect Sven Markelius, one of the 11 architects in the international team that designed the UN headquarters. Wood from Swedish pine trees was used in the delegates' area for the railings and doors.47: 6  The pipes and ducts in the ceiling above the public gallery were deliberately left exposed; the architect believed that anything useful could be left uncovered. The "unfinished" ceiling is a symbolic reminder that the economic and social work of the United Nations is never finished; there will always be something more that can be done to improve living conditions for the world's people.48: 7 

See also

Notes

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References

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  2. "High-Level Political Forum 2020 (HLPF 2020)". Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. Retrieved 2020-01-27. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020#vnrs ↩

  3. Basu, Rumki (2019). The United Nations. Sterling. p. 83. ISBN 978-81-207-2775-5. 978-81-207-2775-5 ↩

  4. "Welcome to csonet.org | Website of the UN DESA NGO Branch. At your service". csonet.org. Archived from the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2023-01-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20230111170415/https://csonet.org/?menu=123 ↩

  5. UN Document E/1981/81 Resolutions and decisions of the Economic and Social Council, organizational session for 1981, New York, 3-6 February 1981, 1st regular session of 1981, New York, 14 April - 8 May 1981. "1981/134. Elections, appointments and nominations to subsidiary and related bodies of the Council" https://undocs.org/en/E/1981/81 ↩

  6. UN Document A/RES/61/136 Enlargement of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/61/136 ↩

  7. UN Document E/2007/99 Resolutions and decisions of the Economic and Social Council : organizational session for 2007, New York, 17 and 22 January, 6, 9 and 15 February, 2 and 15 March and 16 April 2007; resumed organizational session for 2007, New York, 25 and 26 April and 24 May 2007; substantive session of 2007, Geneva, 2-27 July 2007; resumed substantive session of 2007, New York, 4 and 17 October 2007 "2007/201. Elections, nominations, confirmations and appointments to subsidiary and related bodies of the Economic and Social Council" https://undocs.org/en/E/2007/99 ↩

  8. Mu Xuequan (27 July 2018). "UN ECOSOC Elects New President". Xinhuanet. Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190226173201/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-07/27/c_137350465.htm ↩

  9. "United Nations Official Document, Rule 20.2". United Nations. Archived from the original on 2020-09-10. Retrieved 2020-09-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20200910222604/https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/5715/Rev.2 ↩

  10. "2022: H.E. Lachezara Stoeva (Bulgaria)". Economic and Social Council United Nations. Archived from the original on Sep 6, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230906090957/https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/2022-He-lachezara-stoeva ↩

  11. "President of ECOSOC". ECOSOC. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180726234124/https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/president-ecosoc ↩

  12. "Members". UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC and SOCIAL COUNCIL. Retrieved 18 September 2019. https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/content/members ↩

  13. "General Assembly Elects 19 Economic and Social Council Members to Terms Beginning 1 January 2020, Adopts Resolution Commemorating Signing of United Nations Charter". United Nations Meetings Coverage & Press Releases. United Nations. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020. https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12153.doc.htm ↩

  14. Gregg, Robert W. “The Economic and Social Council: Politics of Membership.” The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, 1963, pp. 109–32. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/445962. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024. https://doi.org/10.2307/445962 ↩

  15. For comparison purposes, applying the Regional Groups retroactively: 1 seat to the African Group 3 seats to the Asian Group and Taiwan 3 seats to the Eastern European Group 4 seats to the Latin American and Caribbean Group 7 seats to Western European and Others Group (The Republic of China (Taiwan) never joined the Asian Group.[15][16][17]) ↩

  16. Various nonstandard, inconsistent names, including also "Near and Middle East", were used before Africa and Asia became Regional Groups. Sources published after the introduction of the Regional Groups retroactively name this group "Asia-Africa" or similar, but this name was not used at the creation of ECOSOC.[15][14][16] ↩

  17. Gregg, Robert W. “The Economic and Social Council: Politics of Membership.” The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 16, no. 1, 1963, pp. 109–32. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/445962. Accessed 5 Mar. 2024. https://doi.org/10.2307/445962 ↩

  18. For comparison purposes: 2 seats to the African Group 3 seats to the Asian Group 3 seats to the Eastern European Group 4 seats to the Latin American and Caribbean Group 6 seats to Western European and Others Group ↩

  19. "Economic and Social Council Membership". Economic and Social Council. https://research.un.org/en/unmembers/ecosocmembers ↩

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  21. Francis, Dennis (8 June 2024). "Delighted to congratulate the newly elected members of the Economic and Social Council for the term 2025-2027". New York City: UN GA President. Retrieved 16 August 2024 – via X.com. /wiki/Dennis_Francis_(diplomat) ↩

  22. "ECOSOC Membership by Year". Dag Hammarskjöld Library. Retrieved 1 January 2024. https://research.un.org/en/unmembers/ecosocmembers ↩

  23. "Türkiye elected to UN Economic and Social Council". Anadolu Agency. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2024. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkiye/turkiye-elected-to-un-economic-and-social-council-/2917951 ↩

  24. Election pending between North Macedonia and Russia. /wiki/North_Macedonia ↩

  25. ECOSOC observers, Part V Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine https://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd/dsd_pdfs/ECOSOC_IGOs.pdf ↩

  26. ECOSOC observers, Part V Archived 22 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine https://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd/dsd_pdfs/ECOSOC_IGOs.pdf ↩

  27. "Subsidiary Bodies of ECOSOC". United Nations Economic and Social Council. United Nations. n.d. Retrieved 25 February 2019. https://www.un.org/ecosoc/en/content/subsidiary-bodies-ecosoc ↩

  28. Manhire, Vanessa, ed. (2019). "United Nations Handbook 2019–20". United Nations Handbook: An Annual Guide for Those Working with and within the United Nations (57th ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand: 144–198. ISSN 0110-1951. https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/peace-rights-and-security/work-with-the-un-and-other-partners/un-handbook-2019-20 ↩

  29. "UN Creates New Human Rights Body". BBC. London. 15 March 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2019. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4810538.stm ↩

  30. "United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC)". UIA Open Yearbook. Union of International Associations. n.d. Retrieved 25 August 2020. https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100052982 ↩

  31. "United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)". UIA Open Yearbook. Union of International Associations. n.d. Retrieved 25 February 2019. https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100043826 ↩

  32. United Nations General Assembly Session 67 Resolution 290. Format and Organizational Aspects of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development A/RES/67/290 9 July 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2020. /wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly ↩

  33. Manhire, Vanessa, ed. (2019). "United Nations Handbook 2019–20". United Nations Handbook: An Annual Guide for Those Working with and within the United Nations (57th ed.). Wellington: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand: 144–198. ISSN 0110-1951. https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/peace-rights-and-security/work-with-the-un-and-other-partners/un-handbook-2019-20 ↩

  34. van Driel, Melanie; Biermann, Frank; Kim, Rakhyun E.; Vijge, Marjanneke J. (2023). "The UN Regional Commissions as Orchestrators for the Sustainable Development Goals". Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. 29 (4): 561–590. doi:10.1163/19426720-02904006. ISSN 1075-2846. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License https://brill.com/view/journals/gg/29/4/article-p561_7.xml ↩

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  36. Kurtas, Susan. "Research Guides: UN System Documentation: Specialized Agencies". Research Guides at United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library. Retrieved 2020-12-13. https://research.un.org/en/docs/unsystem/sa ↩

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  44. Ian Williams, "Annan has paid his dues". The Guardian, 19 September 2005 https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/sep/20/mainsection.commentanddebate2 ↩

  45. UNDESA (8 July 2015). "Session 18: Reviewing and monitoring progress: What have we learned and how can it advance implementation?". Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. Retrieved 2020-03-18. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=400&nr=1801&menu=35 ↩

  46. "Turkmenistan Elected to ECOSOC for 2019-2021". The Gazette of Central Asia. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 2020-03-18. http://gca.satrapia.com/+turkmenistan-elected-to-ecosoc-for-2019-2021+ ↩

  47. Anand, Ankit. "Project Work of Political Science". scribd. Chanakya National Law University. Retrieved 9 February 2021. https://www.scribd.com/document/219915387/Project-Work-of-Political-Science ↩

  48. Anand, Ankit. "Project Work of Political Science". scribd. Chanakya National Law University. Retrieved 9 February 2021. https://www.scribd.com/document/219915387/Project-Work-of-Political-Science ↩