Model United Nations
United Nations Economic and Social Council
Hanyang University
Summer 2009
United Nations Economic and Social Council
• The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of
the United Nations assists the General
Assembly in promoting international economic
and social cooperation and development.
• ECOSOC has 54 members, all of whom are
elected by the General Assembly for a threeyear term.
• The president is elected for a one-year term
and chosen amongst the small or middle powers
represented on ECOSOC. (Haiti)
Official UN regionalization scheme
SOURCE: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm
United Nations Economic and Social Council
• ECOSOC meets once a year in July for a four-week
session.
• Since 1998, it has held another meeting each April with
finance ministers heading key committees of the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• Viewed separate from the specialized bodies it
coordinates, ECOSOC’s functions include information
gathering, advising member nations, and making
recommendations.
• In addition, ECOSOC is well positioned to provide policy
coherence and coordinate the overlapping functions of the
UN’s subsidiary bodies and it is in these roles that it is
most active.
United Nations Economic and Social Council
• Through much of its history, ECOSOC has served
primarily as a discussion vehicle for economic and social
issues.
• ECOSOC had little authority to force action and a
number of member states were concerned that its utility
was only marginal.
 However, beginning in 1992, the US and other nations
began an effort to make ECOSOC more relevant by
strengthening its policy responsibilities in economic,
social, and related fields, particularly in furthering
development objectives.
United Nations Economic and Social Council
 The resulting reform made ECOSOC the oversight and
policy-setting body for UN operational development
activities and established smaller executive boards for
the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Population
Fund (UNFPA), and UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), which
would provide those agencies with operating guidance and
promote more effective management.
• Coordinated their work on issues of common interest,
such as narcotics control, human rights, the alleviation of
poverty, and the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
United Nations Economic and Social Council
 One positive impact of this reform was the manner in which
the UN development system began to respond more
efficiently to humanitarian crises around the world.
 Another example was the ECOSOC decision in 1994 to
authorize the creation of a new co-sponsored UN program
on HIV/AIDS.
• This program (UNAIDS) will bring together the existing
AIDS-related resources and expertise of the World
Health Organization, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCO,
and the World Bank into one consolidated global program,
eliminating duplication of effort and enhancing the ability
of member states to cope with the AIDS pandemic.
• It began operating in January 1996.
U N Economic and Social Council
• ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31 allows for the roughly 2000
NGOs holding consultative status to have input "into
ECOSOC's deliberations" including public meetings, UN
international conferences, and "to place items on the
agendas of ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies", and to
present statements to governments.
• Annual Ministerial Review (AMR).
• Through this review, the ECOSOC will assess progress made
towards the Millennium Development Goals, and also the
implementation of the other goals and targets agreed at the major
UN conferences and summits over the past 15 years.
• Assists the General Assembly in promoting international
economic and social cooperation and development.
• ECOSOC has 54 members, all of whom are elected by the General
Assembly for a three-year term.
ECOSOC - Functional Commissions
• UN Commission for Social Development
• UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR):
• Disbanded 2006, replaced by the United Nations Human Rights
Council (UNHRC), a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly
• Commission on Narcotic Drugs
• Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
• Commission on Science and Technology for
Development (CSTD)
• Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)
• UN Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW)
• Commission on Population and Development
• UN Statistical Commission
• United Nations Forum on Forests
•
ECOSOC - Specialized Agencies
Specialized Agencies are autonomous organizations working with the
United Nations and each other:
ILO - International Labor Organization
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
WHO - World Health Organization
World Bank Group
1. IBRD - International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development
2. IDA - International Development Association
3. IFC - International Finance Corporation
4. MIGA - Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
5. ICSID - International Centre for Settlement of Investment
Disputes
IMF - International Monetary Fund
ICAO - International Civil Aviation Organization
IMO - International Maritime Organization
ECOSOC - Specialized Agencies (cont’d)
ITU - International Telecommunication Union
UPU - Universal Postal Union
WMO - World Meteorological Organization
WIPO - World Intellectual Property Organization
IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development
UNICEF - United Nations Children Fund
UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development
Organization
UNDP - United Nations Development Program
IRO - International Refugee Organization (ceased to exist
in 1952)
INCB - International Narcotics Control Board
U N Millennium Declaration, September 2000, commits
189 member states to achieve by 2015:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
•
•
•
Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than one
U.S. dollar a day.
Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
Increase the amount of food for those who suffer from hunger.
2. Achieve universal primary education
•
•
Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary
schooling.
Increased enrollment must be accompanied by efforts to ensure
that all children remain in school and receive a high-quality
education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
•
Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education
preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.
4. Reduce child mortality
•
Reduce child mortality rate under five by two thirds.
Millennium Development Goals
5. Improve maternal health
•
Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio.
•
•
Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
•
•
•
reverse loss of environmental resources.
reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe
drinking water
improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020.
•
Address the least developed countries’ special needs.
•
•
•
•
Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing states.
Deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt problems.
Develop decent and productive work for youth.
In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable
essential drugs in developing countries
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development
•
tariff- and quota-free access for their exports; enhanced debt relief for heavily
indebted poor countries; cancellation of official bilateral debt.
Economic Development
• The World Bank - classifying economies by gross
national income (GNI) per capita which is similar to
but not the same as the gross domestic product (GDP).
1.
2.
3.
4.
low income countries the GNI per capita is $745 or less;
lower middle income countries it is $746 - $2,975;
upper middle income countries it is, $2,976 - $9,205;
high income countries it is, $9,206 or more.
• There are no official definitions of "developed" or
"developing" countries in the UN system.
U N Development Program
• Largest multilateral source of development
assistance in the world.
 The UNDP Administrator is the third highest
ranking member of the United Nations after
the United Nations Secretary-General and
Deputy Secretary-General.
• Headquartered in New York City, the UNDP is
funded entirely by voluntary contributions
from member nations.
Functions UNDP
• Democratic governance UNDP supports national democratic transitions
by providing policy advice and technical support, improving institutional
and individual capacity within countries, educating populations about and
advocating for democratic reforms, promoting negotiation and dialogue,
and sharing successful experiences from other countries and locations.
• Poverty reduction UNDP helps countries develop strategies to combat
poverty by expanding access to economic opportunities and resources,
linking poverty programs with countries’ larger goals and policies, and
ensuring a greater voice for the poor. UNDP also works at the macro
level to reform trade, encourage debt relief and foreign investment, and
ensure the poorest of the poor benefit from globalization.
• On the ground, UNDP sponsors developmental pilot projects, promotes the
role of women in development, and coordinates efforts between governments,
NGOs, and outside donors.
• In this way, UNDP works with local leaders and governments to provide
opportunities for impoverished people to create businesses and improve
their economic condition.
Functions
• Crisis prevention and recovery UNDP works to reduce the risk of
armed conflicts or disasters, and promote early recovery after
crises have occurred.
• Energy and environment As the poor are disproportionately
affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean,
affordable energy services, UNDP seeks to address environmental
issues in order to improve developing countries’ abilities to develop
sustainably.
• UNDP works with countries to strengthen their capacity to address
global environmental issues by providing innovative policy advice and
linking partners through environmentally sensitive development projects
that help poor people build sustainable livelihoods.
• UNDP’s environmental strategy focuses on
1. effective water governance,
2. access to sustainable energy services,
3. Sustainable land management to combat desertification and land degradation,
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity,
4. and policies to control emissions of harmful pollutants and ozone-depleting
substances