The Economic and Social Council

In one line

The Economic and Social Council is a body of fifty-four Members which studies and recommends on economic, social, cultural, educational, health and human rights matters, coordinates the specialized agencies, and is the only organ the Charter authorises to consult non-governmental organisations.

The purposes it serves: articles 55 and 56

Article 55. With a view to the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, the United Nations shall promote:

(a) higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development;

(b) solutions of international economic, social, health, and related problems, and international cultural and educational cooperation; and

(c) universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.

The opening words state the Charter's economic theory. Peace is not merely the absence of force; it requires conditions of stability and well-being, and the Organization's economic and social work is directed to that end rather than to welfare for its own sake.

Article 56. All Members pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in article 55.

Articles 55(c) and 56 read together are the Charter's human rights obligation, and their strength has been argued over since 1945. The language is a pledge to take action in cooperation with the Organization, which is weaker than a duty to secure the rights, and the Charter names no right. What articles 55 and 56 did was supply the legal foundation on which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the Covenants were built, and that is the accurate way to state their effect.

The specialized agencies: articles 57 to 59 and 63

Article 57(1), the definition. The various specialized agencies, established by intergovernmental agreement and having wide international responsibilities, as defined in their basic instruments, in economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related fields, shall be brought into relationship with the United Nations in accordance with article 63. Article 57(2): agencies so brought into relationship are the specialized agencies.

Three elements make an agency specialized: it is established by intergovernmental agreement; it has wide international responsibilities in the listed fields as defined in its own basic instrument; and it has been brought into relationship with the United Nations under article 63.

They are separate organisations, not organs of the United Nations. Each has its own constitution, its own membership, its own budget and its own legal personality, and its relationship with the United Nations rests on an agreement. That is why [The International Labour Organisation] can predate the United Nations by a quarter of a century and why [The World Trade Organization] is not a specialized agency at all.