UN Economic and Social Council
The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is a coordinating council of the United Nations. It is charged with overseeing the specialized agencies with regard to economic and social issues.
Structure
The council has 54 seats. The General Assembly regional groups elect members to 3-year terms. Elections are held annually for overlapping terms.
The distribution by regional group is:
- 14 from the African Group
- 11 from the Asia-Pacific Group
- 6 from the Eastern European Group
- 10 from the Latin American and Caribbean Group
- 13 from the Western European and Others Group
The council forms a series of functional commissions:
- Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND)
- Commission on Population and Development (CPD)
- Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD)
- Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
Statistical Commission (!StatCom)
- Commission for Social Development (CSocD)
- Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ)
- Forum on Forests (UNFF)
The council also forms five regional commissions:
- Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE)
- Economic Commission for Africa (ECA, UNACE)
- Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, UNECLAC)
- Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP, UNESCAP)
- Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA, UNESCWA)
History
The council was established in 1945 with 18 seats. With very few exceptions, an unofficial distribution of members pervaded:
the 5 members of the Security Council
- 4 from Latin America
- 2 from Eastern Europe
- 1 from the British Commonwealth
- 3 from the Near and Far East
- 3 from Western Europe
In 1965, the number of seats was increased to 27 and a formal regional distribution was created. In 1973, the number of seats was doubled and the current distribution (also roughly double the prior distribution) was established.