Economic and Social Council

2010 Organizational Session

8^th & 9^th Meetings (AM & PM)

In Resumed Organizational Session, Economic and Social Council Solidifies Plans

for Forthcoming Substantive Session, Fills Vacancies in Subsidiary Bodies

In a resumed organizational session today, the Economic and Social Council adopted three draft decisions and filled vacancies in 18 of its subsidiary bodies, with five requiring votes.

Under the terms of one draft decision, the Council decided that the theme for the item on regional cooperation of its substantive session in July will be “Gender equality and empowerment of women in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals:  regional perspectives” (document E/2010/L.2).

By another text, the Council decided that the theme for the humanitarian affairs segment for that session would be “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian assistance” (document E/2010/L.3).  It further decided that two panels would be convened on the subject.  One would deal with humanitarian assistance operations in highly hazardous or insecure and unsafe environments, while the other would focus on strengthening preparedness for humanitarian emergencies and the coordinated provision of humanitarian assistance.

According to a third decision, the Council agreed to hold an event on the afternoon of 13 July to discuss transition from relief to development (document E/2010/L.4).  The theme of the event ‑‑ which would consist of a panel discussion with no negotiated outcome ‑‑ would be “From relief to recovery, lessons learned from the experience of Haiti”.

The 18 subsidiary bodies for which there were elections, nominations, confirmations or appointments were the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Commission on Population and Development; Commission for Social Development; Commission on the Status of Women; Commission on Sustainable Development; Commission on Science and Technology for Development; Committee for Programme and Coordination; Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations; and the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.

Also, the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP); Programme Coordinating Board of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat); Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting; and the Executive Board of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.

As background, the 54-member Council is the principal coordinating organ for the socio-economic and related work of the United Nations.  The Council’s subsidiary bodies include 14 United Nations specialized agencies, 9 functional commissions, 5 regional commissions, and other standing committees and expert and related bodies.  The Council also receives reports from 11 United Nations funds and programmes, serving as the central forum for economic and social issues and as a policy adviser to States and the United Nations system.

Candidates in today’s proceedings were elected on the basis of equitable geographical distribution and were mostly endorsed by the five geographical groups representing African States, Asian States, Eastern European States, Latin American and Caribbean States, and Western European and Other States.  Background documentation on candidates and positions can be found in documents E/2010/9 and Adds 1-13.

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

In the action to fill vacancies, two votes by secret ballot took place in the election of four members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for three-year terms, beginning on 1 January 2011.  The first vote was for two members from Latin American and Caribbean States.

Results for Candidates from Latin American and Caribbean States

Number of Ballots:	53
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid votes:	53
Number of abstentions:	0
Number of members voting:	53
Majority required:	27
Number of votes obtained
Alvaro Esteban Pop Ac ( Guatemala)	49
Mirian Masaquiza ( Ecuador)	37
Gabriel Muyuy Jacanamejoy ( Colombia)	18

Having obtained the required majority and largest number of votes, Alvaro Esteban Pop Ac ( Guatemala) and Marian Masaquiza ( Ecuador) were elected to the Forum.

In relation to that election, it was announced that the Government of Bolivia had withdrawn the candidacy of Adolfo Chávez Beyuma.

The second vote was for two members from Western European and Other States.

Results for Candidates from Western European and Other States

Number of Ballots:	53
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid votes:	53
Number of abstentions:	0
Number of members voting:	53
Majority required:	27
Number of votes obtained
Megan Davis ( Australia)	40
Eva Rita Katarina Biaudet ( Finland)	38
Bartolomé Clavero Salvador ( Spain)	24

Having obtained the required majority and largest number of votes, Megan Davis ( Australia) and Eva Rita Katarina Biaudet ( Finland) were elected to the Forum.

In addition, four members were elected to the Forum by acclamation.  They included Simon William M’Viboudoulou (Congo), endorsed by the African States group; Paimaneh Hasteh (Iran), endorsed by the Asian States group; and Helen Kaljuläte (Estonia) and Andrey A. Nikiforov (Russian Federation), both endorsed by the Eastern European States group.

The Council President also appointed eight members for a three-year term of office.  They includedPaul Kanyinke Sena (Kenya) from Africa; Raja Devashish Roy (Bangladesh) from Asia; Dalee Sambo Dorough (United States) from the Arctic region; Mirna Cunningham Kain (Nicaragua) and Saúl Vicente Vázquez (Mexico) from Central and South America and the Caribbean region; Anna Naikanchina (Russian Federation) from the Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia region; Edward John (Canada) from North America; and Valmaine Toki (New Zealand) from the Pacific region.

Executive Board of United Nations Development Programme/United Nations Population Fund

In other action to fill vacancies, one vote by secret ballot was taken in the election of two members to the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for three-year terms beginning 1 January 2011.

Results for Candidates from Asian States

Number of Ballots:	53
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid votes:	53
Number of abstentions:	0
Number of members voting:	53
Majority required:	27
Number of votes obtained
China	41
Bangladesh	39
Philippines	15
Republic of Korea	8

Having obtained the required majority and largest number of votes, China and Bangladesh were elected to the Executive Board.

Before voting, it was announced that the Government of the Republic of Korea had withdrawn its candidacy.

A total of 11 new members were elected to the Board.   Belarus, Czech Republic, Argentina, El Salvador, Canada, Finland, Luxembourg and the United States were elected by acclamation.  In addition, the Government of Cape Verde put forward the candidacy of Djibouti, which was also elected to the Board.

Five countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Spain and Slovenia resigned their seats on the Board effective 1 January 2011.   Denmark, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Estonia were elected today by acclamation to assume the five resigned seats, for a term expiring 31 December 2012.

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The election of members to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was also addressed through two votes by secret ballot.  The two votes elected a total of four members forfour-year terms beginning 1 January 2011.

Results for candidates from African States

Number of Ballots:	53
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid votes:	53
Number of abstentions:	0
Number of members voting:	53
Majority required:	27
Number of votes obtained
Clément Atangana ( Cameroon)	44
Azzouz Kerdoun ( Algeria)	30
Marc Somda ( Burkina Faso)	27

Having obtained the required majority and largest number of votes, Clément Atangana ( Cameroon) and Azzouz Kerdoun ( Algeria) were elected to the Committee.

Results for candidates from Asian States

Number of Ballots:	53
Number of invalid ballots:	1
Number of valid votes:	52
Number of abstentions:	0
Number of members voting:	52
Majority required:	27
Number of votes obtained
Chandrashekhar Dasgupta ( India)	41
Heisoo Shin ( Republic of Korea)	38
Virginia Bonoan Dandan ( Philippines)	17
Dhari Rasheed Yassin ( Iraq)	5

Having obtained the required majority and largest number of votes, Chandrashekhar Dasgupta ( India) and Heisoo Shin ( Republic of Korea) were elected to the Committee.

By acclamation, Aslan Abashidze ( Russian Federation) from the Group of Eastern European States was also elected.

Turning to the remaining seats to be filled in that Committee, also for the four-year term beginning on 1 January 2011, the Council President recalled that the third rotating seat on the Committee was held in abeyance, pending an agreement between Latin American and Caribbean States and Western European and Other States, as both groups had the same number of States that had ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Informing the Council that an arrangement had been reached that was agreeable to both groups, the Council President said that, under the terms of that agreement, the Latin American and Caribbean States group would be allocated the seat for the four-year term beginning 1 January 2011 and the Western European and Other States group would gain the seat for four years beginning on 1 January 2015.

The Council President proposed that, notwithstanding the provisions of Council resolution 1985/17 of 28 May 1985, that that arrangement would be on an exceptional basis, notwithstanding the increase in the number of ratifications received by any regional group during the eight-year period from 2010 to 2018.

The Council then took a formal decision on that arrangement and elected, by acclamation, Renato Zerbini Ribeiro Leão (Brazil), Alvaro Tirado-Mejía (Colombia) and Jaime Marchán-Romero (Ecuador) from the Latin American and Caribbean States group; and Eibe Riedel (Germany) from the Western European and Other States group.

In relation to that election, it was announced that the Government of Portugal had withdrawn the candidacy of Maria Virginia Bras Gomes.

Regarding the seat held by the Western European and Other States group in the Committee, the Council President noted that there was an agreement between Germany and Portugal whereby Germany would resign its seat in two years, at the end of 2012, and Portugal would stand for election to complete Germany’s term.

Other Elections, Appointments and Nominations

All other candidates were elected by acclamation.  The Council elected four members to the Commission on Population and Development to fill an equal number of vacancies.   Algeria, Gabon, Georgia, and the United States would begin serving four-year terms at the first meeting of the Commission’s forty-fifth session in 2011.

The Council then decided to postpone the election of two members from Asian States and two from Latin American and Caribbean States for four-year terms beginning at the first meeting of the Commission’s forty-fifth session and expiring at the close of its fourth-eighth session in 2015.

The Council then elected 14 members to the Commission for Social Development for four-year terms beginning on the first meeting of the Commission’s fiftieth session in 2011 and expiring at the close of its fifty-third session in 2015.  Those elected were Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt and Zimbabwe from African States; Cuba, Mexico and Peru from Latin American and Caribbean States; and Andorra and Spain from Western European and Other States.  The election of three members from Asian States, one member from Eastern European States, and one member from Western European and Other States for a four-term year was postponed.

Before the election of those members, the Government of Mongolia withdrew its candidacy to the Commission.   Mongolia’s representative said that her Government submitted its candidacy for next year’s elections, but that it was recorded as candidacy for the current election as a technical error.

The Council President said that one outstanding vacancy remained from Eastern European States for the term ending at the close of the Commission’s fifty-first session in 2013; however, to date, no nominee had been proposed to fill the seat.

Next, the Council elected 11 new members to fill an equal number of vacancies on the Commission on the Status of Women for four-year terms beginning at the first meeting of the Commission’s fifty-sixth session in 2011 and expiring at the close of its fifty-ninth session in 2015.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Zimbabwe were elected from the Group of African States; Iran and Thailand were elected from the Group of Asian States; Estonia and Georgia were elected from the Group of Eastern European States; Jamaica was elected from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States; and Belgium, Netherlands and Spain were elected from the Group of Western European and Other States.

Turning to the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Council elected 19 new members to serve three-year terms beginning at the first meeting of the Commission’s twentieth session in 2011 and expiring at the close of its twenty-second session in 2014.  They include Angola, Botswana, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Lesotho from the African States group; Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia from the Asian States group; Armenia and Montenegro from the Eastern European States group; Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico and Nicaragua from the Latin American and Caribbean States group; and Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain from the Western European and Other States group.

The Council postponed the election of one member from the Western European and Other States group, also for a three-year term beginning at the first meeting of the Commission’s twentieth session and expiring at the close of its twenty-second session in 2014.

To fill vacancies on the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, the Council elected 16 new members to four-year terms beginning 1 January 2011:  Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda, Togo, Tunisia and United Republic of Tanzania from the African States; China, India, Iran and Philippines from the Asian States; Latvia from the Eastern European States; Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Peru from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and the United States from the Western European and Other States group.  The Council postponed the election of one member from Asian States, two members from Eastern European States and four members from Western European and Other States.

As it went on to the Committee for Programme and Coordination, the Council nominated six members for election by the General Assembly for three-year terms beginning on 1 January 2011.  They include Algeria, Benin, Eritrea, China, Republic of Korea, and Antigua and Barbuda.

The Council postponed the nomination of one member from the Asian States group for election by the General Assembly for a three-year term beginning 1 January 2011.

The Council President reminded the Council that there were also four outstanding vacancies on that Committee from the Western European and Other States group.  He said that three of those vacancies had terms of office expiring on 31 December 2011, while one had a term of office expiring on 31 December 2012.  To date, no nominees had been proposed to fill those seats.

Next, the Council elected 19 members to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations for four-year terms beginning 1 January 2011.  Those elected were African States Burundi, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal and Sudan; Asian States China, India, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan; Eastern European States Bulgaria and Russian Federation; Latin American and Caribbean States Cuba, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela; and Western European and Other States Belgium, Israel, Turkey and the United States.

As the Council turned to the Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, it decided to endorse the Secretary-General’s decision to approve the applications of Switzerland for membership in the Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, and of the Russian Federation for membership in the Subcommittee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.

Turning to vacancies on the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Council elected 11 new members for three-year terms beginning 1 January 2011:  Namibia from the African States, China and Indonesia from the Asian States, Estonia and Russian Federation from the Eastern European States; Antigua and Barbuda from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Colombia, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom from the Western European and Other States group.   Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and Luxembourg are resigning their seats as of 1 January 2011, and Japan, Belgium, Spain, Germany and Sweden were elected by acclamation to complete those terms of office.

Next, the Council elected Slovenia to fill a new seat on the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as per General Assembly resolution A/64/128 of 18 December 2009.  In that resolution, the Assembly decided to enlarge the membership of the Executive Committee from 78 seats to 79 seats, and requested the Council to elect the new member.

Six members were then elected to fill an equal number of vacancies on the Executive Board of the World Food Programme for a three-year term beginning on 1 January 2011.  They include Morocco, Sudan, Republic of Korea, Cuba, Australia and Norway.

In connection with that Executive Board, the Council President said that Luxembourg was resigning its seat effective 1 January 2011.  The Council then elected Spain to complete Luxembourg’s term of office.

The Council next elected eight new members to the Programme Coordinating Board of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS for three-year terms beginning 1 January 2011:  Egypt and Djibouti from the African States; Bangladesh and India from the Asian States; Russian Federation from the Eastern European States; Mexico from the Latin American and Caribbean States; and Monaco and the United States from the Western European and Other States group.   Turkey resigned its seat on the Board effective 1 January 2011, and thus the Council today elected Canada by acclamation to complete Turkey’s term of office expiring 31 December 2012.  In addition, Togo was elected today by acclamation to fill an outstanding vacancy, in a term beginning today and expiring 31 December 2012.

To membership in the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the Council elected the following 15 countries:  Algeria, Central African Republic, Gabon, Mali, Mozambique and Nigeria from the African States group; Indonesia, Iran, Japan and Pakistan from the Asian States group; Albania and Russian Federation from the Eastern European States group; Argentina and Venezuela from the Latin American and Caribbean States group; and United States from the Western European and Other States group.

In connection with that Governing Council, the Council postponed the election of two members from the group of Latin American and Caribbean States and three members from the group of Western European and Other States for a four-year term beginning on 1 January 2011.

The Council President also reminded the Council that there were four outstanding vacancies on the UN-Habitat Governing Council from the Western European and Other States group.  To date, no nominees had been proposed to fill those seats.

Turning to outstanding vacancies from previous sessions for which there were now nominees, the Council elected five new members to the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting, including Niger, Poland, Saint Kitts and Nevis ‑‑ whose terms expire 31 December, 2012 ‑‑ and Portugal and France, whose terms expire 31 December 2011.  The Council also agreed to further postpone the election of 13 members.

Next, the Council elected Benin, Djibouti, Slovakia and Belarus as members of the Executive Board of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.  The terms of those countries will begin today and expire on 31 December 2012.

Four members were then elected to the Executive Board of the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women for terms beginning today and expiring on 31 December 2012.  Before the vote, Belarus submitted its candidacy.  Those elected were Benin and Djibouti from the African States; and Slovakia and Belarus from the Eastern European States.

In connection with that Executive Board, the Council agreed to further postpone the election of two members from the Asian States group, one member from the Eastern European States group, and two members from the Western European and Other States group for a term beginning on the date of election and expiring on 31 December 2012.

The Council President then informed the Council on elections for other subsidiary bodies, on which the Council would need to take action later this year.  As per the demise of member Tatiana Dmitrieva of the Russian Federation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna called for nominations from Governments to fill the seat for a term of office expiring 1 March 2015.  The deadline for receipt of candidatures was announced as 25 May 2010.

He also announced that, in order for the General Assembly to review the distribution of seats of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme and allow for the Council to hold elections for new seats in 2011, final recommendations from the Council were required by the end of 2010.  The recommendation would also require the concurrence of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

The Council would also be required this year to allocate seven seats on the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commission for two-year terms beginning 1 January 2011.  The current allocation of seats, under the provisions of Council resolution 2008/38, was one seat for each regional group plus two additional seats for African States.  He announced that the current allocation would need to be reassessed in order to reach an agreement by the end of the year.

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For information media • not an official record