General Assembly fills seats on UN Economic and Social Council

The General Assembly today elected 18 countries to serve on the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for three-year terms beginning 1 January 2008.

The 11 new members are Cameroon, Congo, Malaysia, Mozambique, Moldova, Niger, Poland, Republic of Korea, Saint Lucia, Sweden and Uruguay.

They will fill the seats vacated at the end of this year by Albania, Chad, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Denmark, Guinea, India, Lithuania, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand.

Brazil, China, Iceland, Pakistan, Russia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, which are already Council members, were also re-elected.

Members were elected by secret ballot according to the following pattern: four from African States, four from Asian States, three from Eastern European States, three from Latin American and Caribbean States and four from Western European and Other States.

In addition, Liechtenstein was elected to the Council for a one-year term of office beginning 1 January 2008, after Germany announced that it was relinquishing its seat for the remainder of its term, which expires at the end of next year, in favour of Liechtenstein.

The 54-member Economic and Social Council is the principal organ coordinating the economic, social and related work of the various UN specialized agencies, regional commissions and functional commissions.

As of 1 January 2008, the Council’s membership will also include Algeria, Angola, Austria, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cuba, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, France, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Paraguay, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and the United States.