TOYO MODEL UNITED NATIONS
Economic And Social Council
About the Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the 6 principal organs of the United Nations (UN) framework established by the UN Charter in 1945. The body coordinates economic, social, and related work of the fourteen United Nations specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions. ECOSOC serves as the central platform for discussing international economic and social issues, and developing policy recommendations addressed to Member States and the United Nations system.
ECOSOC has 54 members elected by the General Assembly (GA) for a three-year term. Every year 18 new members are elected according to a geographical distribution. ECOSOC has no permanent members, but a country can be reelected immediately.
The council`s main areas of focus are: promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress; formulating solutions to international economic, social and health problems; fostering international cooperation in cultural and educational domain; and advocating for universal human rights and fundamental freedoms.
ECOSOC meets in annual sessions, running from July to July. ECOSOC`s activities are subsidized through the UN budget adopted by the General Assembly.
To conclude, there are a variety of activities in the socioeconomic sphere that ECOSOC is concerned with. The current challenges to the body are, among others, extreme poverty, inequalities within and among countries as well as other issues associated with weak governance, natural disasters, environmental degradation, unsustainable consumption and production patterns, climate change and a volatile global financial system.
Rethinking energy security amid the global energy crisis
The energy crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has reshuffled the immediate priorities of policymakers. Governments in Europe struggled to ensure an adequate energy supply and fund packages to aid households and businesses in coping with surging gas and electricity bills. With energy security at the top of the agenda at the start of the winter heating season, policymakers and energy officials hastened to expand renewable energy generation in pursuit of replacing part of the fossil fuel consumption and ensuring energy security. Now that the winter season is already over, we can observe how EU countries dealt with the situation. The Delegates of ECOSOC are expected to explore policy options available to countries to respond to the energy price shock and supply disruptions. They are also expected to consider how energy security and climate security should go hand-in-hand, and propose actions to reduce the world's dependence on non-renewable resources.