Belarus gets elected to ECOSOC
16.06.2017The United Nations General Assembly elected Belarus to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at its meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on June 15, 2017.
The Economic and Social Council is one of the main organs of the United Nations. ECOSOC comprises 54 States that are elected by the General Assembly for three years on a geographical basis. Six countries represent the region of Eastern Europe.
ECOSOC is a central organ in the United Nations system in promoting all three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental.
ECOSOC is responsible for promoting the improvement of living standards, identifying ways to resolve international problems in the economic and social fields, international cooperation in the fields of culture and education, promoting universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Reforms over the last decade have strengthened ECOSOC’s leading role in achieving a balanced integration of the three pillars of sustainable development. ECOSOC is charged with giving special attention to coordinated follow-up on major high-level United Nations conferences and summits.
Election of Belarus to the ECOSOC demonstrates the high level of confidence of the United Nations Member States in Belarus, her authority in the international arena, as well as hope vested in Belarus as a new member of ECOSOC.
The term, during which Belarus will be an ECOSOC Member (2018-2020), will be the ninth for the country. For the first time, the United Nations General Assembly elected Belarus to the ECOSOC in 1947. On the eve of the elections, the candidature of Belarus to ECOSOC was unanimously endorsed by the Members of the Eastern European Group.
