22 June 2015: Members of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Bureau have issued a “food for thought” paper suggesting a possible institutional architecture for the review and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. The paper considers ECOSOC’s existing platforms and processes, as well as the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF). It notes that pending the outcomes of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD 3) and of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda, and says the “ECOSOC system stands ready to expand the dedicated space to support follow-up and review for financing for development in the Council’s cycle.”

The ECOSOC Bureau consists of the ECOSOC President Martin Sajdik (Austria) and four Vice-Presidents: Vladimir Drobnjak (Croatia), María Emma Mejía Vélez (Colombia), Mohamed Khaled Khiari (Tunisia) and Oh Joon (Republic of Korea). In an accompanying letter addressed to all UN Member States, ECOSOC Bureau members note that the proposals included in the food for thought paper build on the “long-standing work” of the Council and on lessons learnt by the ECOSOC Bureau in leading the work of the Council over the past two years.

The paper recalls that the HLPF, mandated by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), is tasked with providing political leadership, guidance and recommendations for sustainable development, and with following up and reviewing progress in the implementation of sustainable development commitments. It adds that ECOSOC is “a principle body” for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and has a key role in the balanced integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development.

The paper includes proposals related to the Regional Commissions and ECOSOC Coordination and Management Meetings, the Operational Activities for Development and Integration Segments of the Council and its Development Cooperation and Partnerships Forums. It also includes a section on the dedicated ECOSOC space on financing for development.

As part of its proposals, the paper suggests that the Operational Activities for Development Segment (OAS) could use the HLPF and the annual ECOSOC themes to review how the UN development system is supporting the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda. The deliberations of the OAS could further contribute to the ECOSOC Integration Segment, which would then inform the deliberations at the HLPF and the ECOSOC High-Level Segment (HLS) on the policy recommendations to be considered for inclusion in the HLPF/HLS Ministerial Declaration.

The paper also proposes to mandate the ECOSOC Partnerships Forum to: serve as a platform for follow-up and review of partnerships at the intergovernmental level; review the contributions of the multi-stakeholders to the implementation of the post 2015 agenda; and report on it to the HLPF and HLS.

In the context of these proposals, the authors remark that creating additional spaces for the support of implementation and follow-up and review of the agenda within ECOSOC would require a simple decision by the Council following the outcomes of the post-2015 intergovernmental negotiations and of FfD 3. They add that: there would be no additional resource requirements to convene meetings more frequently; ECOSOC is entitled to convene approximately 200 meetings per biennium; and the Council could fully use these resources in support of the implementation and follow-up and review of the post-2015 development agenda.

The ECOSOC Bureau is elected by ECOSOC at the beginning of each annual session, with the aim to propose the agenda, draw up a programme of work and organize the session with the support of the UN Secretariat. [ECOSOC Webpage]