= 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 [[WorldHistory/UnitedNations/GeneralAssembly|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 [[WorldHistory/UnitedNations/SecurityCouncil|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. ---- CategoryRicottone