Orientation Course on the Economic and Social Council for Members of the Council
The Economic and Social Council provides a global platform for inclusive and integrated policy dialogue, follow-up and review, coordination and stakeholder engagement in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related United Nations Agendas.
Overall, there are some 30 UN bodies that have a direct reporting relationship to the Council: nine functional commissions, five regional commissions, three standing committees, one ad hoc body, eight expert bodies and four related bodies. In addition, ECOSOC plays an important role in reviewing the work of another 14 standing bodies that report formally to the General Assembly.
The broadening of the United Nations development agenda to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its Sustainable Development Goals is a significant transformation in global development policy. Actions to achieve poverty eradication and sustainable development are interdependent and require integrated policy responses that balance trade-offs and maximize opportunities for synergy. In enhancing its substantive guidance, the General Assembly requested the Council to adopt an annual main theme that guides the work of the ECOSOC system, as well as forge a broad, synthesized overview of progress.
The General Assembly also tasked the high-level political forum on sustainable development (HLPF) with providing political leadership, guidance and recommendations for sustainable development. The HLPF, which meets annually under the auspices of ECOSOC, and every four years under the General Assembly, is a central platform for overseeing follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda at the global level. It has been tasked with working coherently with the GA, ECOSOC and other relevant organs and forums in accordance with existing mandates.
Through ECOSOC, Member States also undertake the review of progress in the mobilization of financing and other means of implementation (MoI) within a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development. The Third International Conference on Financing for Development brought a renewed focus to this area through the recently established ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum, which undertakes the follow-up to the Addis Abba Action Agenda (AAAA).
This UNITAR workshop is intended to provide ECOSOC Member States with an opportunity to examine in-depth the key functions of the Economic and Social Council. It is sponsored by the Government of Italy and will be conducted in cooperation with UNDESA and DGACM.
The workshop will examine the ECOSOC architecture and the opportunities that the ECOSOC segments, forums, and instruments offer to Member States to assess, review and guide progress towards sustainable development, including how ECOSOC and the ECOSOC system supports integrated follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and related Agendas.
In particular, participants will gain insights on:
* The ECOSOC system support to national implementation;
* Stakeholder engagement and partnerships through ECOSOC platforms; and
* ECOSOC’s methods of work, including the role of the President and Bureau, in support of effective implementation.