India joins UN Economic and Social Council for 2022-24 term

INDIA has been elected to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six main arms of the United Nations, for the 2022-24 term.

The country was elected in the Asia-Pacific States category along with Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Oman in the elections held on Monday (7).

The council having 54 members is at the heart of the United Nations system to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development economic, social and environmental.

It is an important platform for fostering debate, forging consensus on ways forward, and coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals.

The council is also responsible for the follow-up to major UN conferences and summits.

India's permanent representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti thanked all member states for their 'vote of confidence in India' shortly after the election.

From the African states, C te d'Ivoire, Eswatini, Mauritius, Tunisia and the United Republic of Tanzania were elected while from the eastern European states, Croatia and the Czech Republic and from the Latin American and Caribbean states, Belize, Chile and Peru were elected.

At present, India is serving the 2021-22 term as a non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council and will assume the Presidency of the 15-nation UN organ in August.

The UN Charter established ECOSOC in 1945, and its members are elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly.

Seats on the council are selected 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.