Agreement reached on Draft Resolution for the Strengthening of ECOSOC

On November 14, 2006, Member States reached agreement on a draft resolution for the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council.

The draft resolution, conceived in pursuance of paragraph 155 and 156 of the World Summit Outcome Document, will be presented for adoption by the General Assembly shortly.

Following is a summary of substantive issues decided by the draft resolution.

High Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council

The draft resolution decides that the following actions should be taken with respect to the High Level Segment of the Economic and Social Council:

1. The biennial Development Cooperation Forum will be launched in 2007. The Forum will then be meeting in New York starting from 2008. The Forum will be hold in alternate years in the framework of the High Level Segment of ECOSOC.
2. Annual ministerial-level substantive reviews will be hold to be “conducted by means of a cross-sectoral approach on thematic issues.”
3. The Secretary General is asked to include an analytical assessment of progress providing identification of obstacles in implementation and recommendations in its reports to the High Level Segment. The Secretariat is also requested to submit an analytical background report for consideration by the Development Cooperation Forum.
4. The outcome of the High Level Segment will be one ministerial declaration.

The draft resolution provides more detailed terms of reference for the Development Cooperation Forum (par. 3 & 4) and the Annual Ministerial Reviews (par. 8).

Humanitarian Affairs Segment of the ECOSOC

The ECOSOC is required to “support and complement” international efforts addressing humanitarian emergencies and should contribute in strengthening the coordination of United Nations efforts in this realm. To this end, the Council is asked to convene ad hoc meetings on specific humanitarian emergencies upon request of the affected Member State with the objective to raise awareness and promote engagement of all stakeholders.

Collaboration with the Peacebuilding Commission (PBC)

The draft resolution reaffirms the importance of inter-action between the ECOSOC and the Peacebuilding Commission and invites the PBC to benefit from the Council’s experience in post-conflict rebuilding. The Agenda of the PBC will be based on requests for advice from ECOSOC among others, with the consent of the concerned Member State.

Additional Resources

In recognition of the fact that in the past the Council’s work has suffered from insufficient provision of conferences services, the draft resolution decides to “ensure provision of full and substantive support” and entitles the Council to convene additional meetings “up to two weeks” in order to fulfill its strengthened mandate.

The implementation of the resolution shall be reviewed at the General Assembly's 65th session.

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