India re-elected to ECOSOC

India won its re-election to the EcoSoc. This win comes just a week after India’s re-election to the UNHRC. On election, members serve a three year term. India’s previous term was scheduled to end in 2013. Now, on re-election, India will serve another three year term beginning on 1^st January, 2015.

 Re-election to the EcoSoc

A country requires two-thirds of the total votes to become a member. EcoSoc has a total of 54 members. The countries serve for overlapping periods of three years. In October this year, all the members of the UNGA voted to elect 18 members from amongst themselves to the EcoSoc.
India was re-elected to the 193-member UN body, EcoSoc, after receiving 183 votes. India was re-elected with the highest number of votes in the Asia Pacific group. India was followed by Japan and Pakistan, both of whom received 181 votes each.

Members of the EcoSoc

The newly elected members of the EcoSoc are Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, India, Japan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The 54 seats on the EcoSoc are allotted ‘based on geographical representation with 14 allocated to African States, 11 to Asian States, six to Eastern European States, 10 to Latin American and Caribbean States, and 13 to Western European and other States.’

EcoSoc

The Economic and Social Council is the ‘United Nations’ central platform for reflection, debate, and innovative thinking on sustainable development.’ EcoSoc is one of the six main UN organs which were established by the UN Charter. EcoSoc is the ‘principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals.’ It supervises ‘the subsidiary and expert bodies in the economic, social and environmental fields.’

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2014