25 July 2019: The UN Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC) launched its 2020 session, electing Mona Juul of Norway to serve as President. Juul noted the urgent need to set the “content and form” of the 2020 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

At the organizational session for the 2020 session, held on 25 July 2019, in New York, US, outgoing President Rhonda Inga King (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) reflected on the 2019 session. She said discussions at the HLPF had revealed that countries are not on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030, but “there is still time to change course.” King recommended that the HLPF’s voluntary national reviews (VNRs) “continue to top the agenda,” and also called for improving the VNRs further and strengthening regional-level discussions of the VNRs.

King urged governments to “use and believe in ECOSOC.”

King urged Member States to “use and believe in ECOSOC,” noting the need to continue efforts to reinvigorate the Council, restore its deliberative function, and preserve its various segments’ decision-making capacity. Areas for improvement include finding new ways to guide the work of ECOSOC’s subsidiary bodies. King also urged that the Council “keep the door open” to civil society and business, to anchor its work in current realities.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said King’s efforts as President had widened the participation of young people, and that the Council’s 2019 segments and forums “paved the way for a valuable” HLPF. She recommended taking similar steps to plan for the next HLPF.

After the handover from King to Juul, the incoming ECOSOC President said she aims to hold an “inclusive, fact-based and action-oriented” HLPF in 2020. Ahead of this, she noted the urgency of making plans for that session, and said she will consult with Member States to reach a timely decision.

Juul also highlighted the ongoing UN reform processes. She said the needed reforms include “bold changes” in the way the UN is funded, including to provide the UN development system with more flexible and predictable funding. She called on governments to comply with the funding compact that was agreed in March 2019, and said that the UN development system must do their part in providing better results, greater transparency and accountability, and more efficiency.

Juul said women’s rights and gender equality “must remain a reform priority and a cross-cutting issue,” and told delegates that ECOSOC will place gender equality at the heart of its work. She highlighted women’s participation as a key factor for economic growth, and supported identifying and implementing solutions with transformative effects on climate change. Also on climate change, she said that during the 2020 session, “we must identify and implement solutions with transformative effects” on both adaptation to climate change, as well as mitigation.

On financing, the ECOSOC President called for accelerating implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and the global partnership for sustainable development, and said she will advance financing for development (FfD) throughout the work of the “ecosystem” of ECOSOC and its intergovernmental structures. She said additional focus areas include fair and predictable taxation regimes, and responsible borrowing and lending to stem debt distress.

The 54-member Council elected Juul by acclamation at the first meeting of the 2020 session. Her election marks the third consecutive year that the Council has elected a female president, and Juul will be the fifth in the Council’s history. The Council elected by acclamation the following Vice‑Presidents of its 2020 session: Maleeha Lodhi (Pakistan), from the Asia‑Pacific States; Mher Margaryan (Armenia) from the Eastern European States; and Juan Sandoval Mendoilea (Mexico), from the Latin American and Caribbean States. The Council deferred election of a Vice-President from the African States to a later date.

ECOSOC also approved the provisional agenda (E/2020/1) and the working arrangements for the session (E/2020/L.1). [UN News Story] [UN Meeting Summary] [Publication: E/2020/1] [Meeting Webcast] [Mona Juul Statement]