organs of un

UNITED NATIONS

The institutions and organs of the UN

Overview and positioning of the

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

1

GENERAL OVERVIEW

2

ORGANS OF THE U

N

3

General Overview: The institutions and organs of the UN

4

GENERAL OVERVIEW: THE INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANS OF THE UN

Main Bodies

the Charter of the UN constitutes six active principal organs these are supported by several sub organs and special organizations except for the International Court of Justice all headquarters are situated in New York

Security Council• the most powerful body• consists of five permanent members with veto right

China, France, Great Britain, Russia and the USA• and ten non-permanent members• the only body that can make global binding

decisions

5


General Assembly• each Member State has voting rights• scrutiny of the UN budget• the regular plenary meeting holds

annual meetings in autumn

Secretary • most important administrative organ • organizational support of the other UN

Bodies• consists of Secretary-General and

international public servants• the Secretary-General has the highest

executive functions in the UN system• additionally exist several sub offices

6


International Court of Justice (ICJ)• organ of juries• based in Den Haag• the legal foundation is the law of

nations

UN Trusteeship Council• suspended operations in 1994 • was supposed to restore countries

which stood under colonial rule to autonomy

7

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL (ECOSOC)

coordinates the work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, 10 functional commissions and five regional commissions

receives reports from 11 UN funds and programmes

issues policy recommendations to UN Bodies and Member States

is controlled by the General Assembly serves as coordinating mechanism does not hold executive authority

The ECOSOC is the central forum for discussing economic and social issues within the UN

8


a. Tasks and functions

• promotion of higher standards of living, full employment, economic and social progress

• solutions to international economic, social and health problems

• international cultural and educational cooperation• encouraging universal respect for human rights

and fundamental freedoms• consults with academics, business sector

representatives and more than 2100 registered non-governmental organizations

• Examples: Millennium Development Goals, ICT Task Force [Information and communication Technologies], African Development, Poverty eradication and sustainable development

9


10

b. Structure and members


Albania India

Brazil Lithuania

Chad Mexico

China New Zealand

Costa Rica Pakistan

Democratic Republic of Congo Portugal

Denmark Russia

Guinea South Africa

Iceland Thailand

United Kingdom

11


12

b. Structure and members


c. Subsidiary Bodies of the ECOSOC

Functional Commissions

Statistical Commission Commission on Population and Development Commission for Social Development Commission on the Status of Women Commission on Narcotic Drugs Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal

Justice Commission on Science and Technology for

Development Commission on Sustainable Development United Nations Forum on Forests

13


Ad hoc open-ended intergovernmental group of experts on energy and sustainable development

Regional Commissions

Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the

Pacific (ESCAP) Economic Commission for Europe(ECE) Economic Commission for Latin America and the

Caribbean (ECLAC) Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

(ESCWA)

14


Standing Committees

Committee for Programme and Coordination Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on Negotiations with

Intergovernmental Agencies

Governmental Experts

Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals

United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names

15


Independent Experts

Committee for Development Policy United Nations Committee of Experts on Public

Administration Ad Hoc Group of Experts on International

Cooperation in Tax Matters Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Special Bodies

International Narcotics Control Board Board of Trustees of the International Research and

Training Institute for the Advancement of Women

16


d. Problems

huge number of institutions and organs within the ECOSOC overlapping responsibilities, hard to manage/ coordinate

the structure of the ECOSOC does not support coordinating function

very bureaucratic inefficacious

17

Thank you for your attention.

18

organs of un

Government & Nonprofit

general overview

social council ecosoc