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Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), UN

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ECOSOC plays the role of a central forum for discussing international economic and social issues as it formulates policy recommendations which are supposed to address the Member States and the UN system. The composition, power and function of the Economic and Social Council are enshrined in the chapter X of United Nations’ charter. The Council’s 54 member States are elected by the General Assembly for three-year terms. Seats on the Council are allotted on zonal and geographical basis. ECOSOC being a founding UN Charter body established in 1946 provides an important platform for debating world’s peace, and development. Today the importance and relevance of ECOSOC is increasing in the wake of social upheavals, underdevelopment and conflicts all over the world.


Objectives

The main objectives of this lecture are

  • to understand the objectives of ECOSOC
  • to discuss the nature and composition of ECOSOC
  • to highlight the role of associate agencies of ECOSOC
  • to locate human rights related interventions
  • to understand the initiatives of ECOSOC with regard to conflict resolution

 

Introduction

The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC hereafter) was established under the United Nations Charter as a principal organ to coordinate economic, social, and related works of the 14 UN specialized agencies, 10 functional commissions and five regional commissions. Comparatively speaking, ECOSCO receives reports from 11 UN funds and related programmes. ECOSOC plays the role of a central forum for discussing international economic and social issues as it formulates policy recommendations which are supposed to address the concerns of member states. The composition, power and function of the Economic and Social Council are enshrined in the chapter X of United Nations’ charter. The Council’s 54 member States are elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term. Seats on the Council are allotted on zonal and geographical basis.  For instance, fourteen are allocated to African States, eleven to Asian States, six to Eastern European States, ten to Latin American and Caribbean States, and thirteen to Western European and other States.

 

ECOSOC being a founding UN Charter body established in 1946 provides an important platform for debating world’s peace, and development. Reflecting on its contemporary relevance, the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) of 2014 thematically decided to “addressing on-going and emerging challenges for meeting the Millennium Development Goals in 2015 and for sustaining gains in the future”. This theme of the ECOSOC has also brought out several associate agenda for future UN interventions. In short, the following are the main objectives of ECOSOC;

 

  • Addressing the continuing and emerging challenges in our pursuit of poverty eradication
  • Ensuring the health of our planet
  • And engaging all stakeholders to achieve an effective result

 

ECOSOC: Issues and Procedures 

The world’s economic, social and environmental challenges continue to be ECOSOC’s main concern. According to some estimates, ECOSOC has broad responsibility for some 70% of the human and financial resources of the entire UN system. ECOSOC works with fourteen specialized agencies, nine commissions, and five regional commissions. ECOSOC holds regular meetings throughout the year with prominent academicians, business sector representatives and registered non-governmental organizations. It is astonishing to note that more than three thousand non-governmental organizations are registered with ECOSOC. The sessions of ECOSOC are categorized into 5 segments ― High-level, Coordination, Operational Activities, and Humanitarian Affairs. With its focus on pressing developmental concerns emphasizes on employment, education, health, etc.

The AMR and biennial Development Cooperation Forum (DCF) has been a notable success too, focusing on select themes drawn from the UN’s Millennium Development Goals popularly known as MDG. The powers and functional status of ECOSOC come from the constitutional mandate of UN charter. The legitimacy and power of ECOSOC are enshrined in the UN charter Articles starting from Article 61-72. Understanding the role of ECOSOC cannot be complete without locating Articles. The size of the ECOSOC is laid out in the Article 61. According to Article 61(1), ECOSOC shall consist of fifty-four Members of the United Nations elected by the General Assembly. According to Article 61(3) each member of ECOSOC shall have one representative.

 

With regard to the functions and powers, under the provisions of Article 62 (1) ECOSOC may make or initiate studies and reports with respect to international economic, social, cultural, educational, health and may make recommendations with respect to any such matters concerning the General Assembly and UN specialized agencies. The Article 62 (2) is significant as it empowers ECOSOC to make recommendations for the purpose of promoting respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.

 

Another interesting function of ECOSOC is related to the provisions of Article 63 (2) which empowers it to co-ordinate the activities of the specialized agencies through consultation with and recommendations. Further according to Article 64 (1) ECOSOC may take appropriate steps to obtain regular reports from the specialized agencies. The activities of ECOSOC in this regard can communicate its observations on these reports to the General Assembly. Similarly (article 65) it may furnish information to the Security Council and shall assist the Security Council upon its request. In other words, it is true that ECOSOC works under the guidance of General Assembly and Security Council as given in the Article 66 (1-3). However, each member of the ECOSOC enjoys equal representative power as they are entitled to have one vote only. Decisions of ECOSOC shall be made by a majority of the members present and voting.

 

As per the Article 68, ECOSOC shall set up commissions in economic and social fields and for the promotion of human rights, and such other commissions as may be required for the performance of its functions. ECOSOC has the power to make subsidiary bodies. The subsidiary bodies work on different aspects of social and even political issues all over the world. It has commissions, committees, fact-finding committees, monitoring and expert groups and specialised committees (Article 70) such as the Statistical Commission, Commission on Population and Development, Commission for Social Development, Commission on the Status of Women,Commission on Narcotics Drugs, Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Commission on Science and Technology for Development, Commission on Sustainable Development and United Nations Forum on Forests. Another significant contribution of ECOSOC come from its regional commissions particularly that works at the zonal level while taking up distinctive steps with regard to human rights. The regional commissions include Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). It is equally interesting to note that ECOSOC also coordinates various activities including Committee for Programme and Coordination, Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations and Committee on Negotiations with Intergovernmental Agencies.

 

In addition, ECOSOC also has Ad-hoc bodies as per the Article 71. The Article reads “the Economic and Social Council may make suitable arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations which are concerned with matters within its competence. Such arrangements may be made with international organizations and, where appropriate, with national organizations after consultation with the Member of the United Nations concerned”. The ad-hoc bodies which are created to address emergency attention include;

 


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