The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has commenced a new annual cycle. In an inaugural statement, the incoming President of ECOSOC outlined her focus areas for the year, vowing to build on the “solid foundation” left by her predecessor and his bureau “to transform the world into a better place for the people of today and tomorrow.”
Lachezara Stoeva, Permanent Representative of Bulgaria to the UN, was elected President of ECOSOC for the 2023 session, succeeding Collen Vixen Kelapile, Permanent Representative of Botswana.
Addressing the Council at the first plenary meeting of its 2023 session, on 25 July 2022, Stoeva set her agenda for the rest of the session, which will run from 25 July 2022 to 26 July 2023. She highlighted the following priorities:
- Ensuring that ECOSOC and the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) provide “solid, evidence-based, innovative and actionable policy guidance” to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the SDGs;
- Helping bridge the “great finance divide,” identified in the 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development Report;
- Ensuring that the HLPF and ECOSOC contribute effectively to the preparations for the September 2023 SDG Summit;
- Supporting and reinforcing the work of the UN and its humanitarian partners in addressing the “profound humanitarian crisis” faced by the international community;
- Following up on the UN Secretary-General’s recommendations addressed to ECOSOC in Our Common Agenda;
- Providing better access to ECOSOC for youth, civil society, and other stakeholders; and
- Implementing the recommendations adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in June 2021 for reforming the work of ECOSOC and the HLPF.
She said the “coming year will be especially challenging for the world,” as it continues to pursue recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic amidst the war in Ukraine, which has “triggered massive food insecurity, energy shortages and financial crises,” highlighting her objective “to ensure that the policy debates and outcomes of the HLPF and ECOSOC make a positive difference on the lives of people, including the poorest and most vulnerable, at country level.”
Also during the 25 July meeting, the Council adopted its provisional agenda and elected its bureau. ECOSOC elected, by acclamation, Albert Ranganai Chimbindi (Zimbabwe), Arrmanatha Christia wan Nasir (Indonesia), and Maurizio Massari (Italy) as Council Vice-Presidents for the 2023 session. The Council elected Paula Narváez Ojeda (Chile) as Vice-Chair by secret ballot. [UN Meeting Coverage] [UN News Story] [Working Arrangements for the 2023 Session of the Economic and Social Council]