At UN meet, PM Modi calls for ‘reformed multilateralism’
PM Statement at a high-level dialogue of the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC):
Only reformed multilateralism with a reformed United Nations at its centre can meet the aspirations of humanity.
About UN ECOSOC:
- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is an organ of special significance in the UN structure, particularly in economic, social, cultural, educational, health and human rights matters.
- It consists of 54 members, who meet twice a year.
- ECOSOC carries out its functions in the form of numerous committees and commissions (i.e. Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights) and specialized agencies (i.e. International Labour Organization [ILO], World Health Organization [WHO]).
Functions of UN ECOSOC:
- 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.
Membership:
- The Council's 54 member Governments are elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms.
- Seats on the Council are allotted based on geographical representation with fourteen allocated to African States, eleven to Asian States, six to Eastern European States, ten to Latin American and Caribbean States, and thirteen to Western European and other States.
Criticism:
- 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
- Bureaucratic in working
- Inefficacious
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