Norwegian envoy elected new president of UN ECOSOC

Norwegian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mona Juul on Thursday was elected the new president of the world body's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

On Thursday morning, ECOSOC held its first plenary meeting for the 2020 session, in which it elected its bureau for the session.

After her election, Juul pledged that ECOSOC will prioritize development financing, transparent institutions, good governance and anti-corruption in 2020, as arrangements were finalized for the forthcoming session.

Emphasizing that the 54-member ECOSOC's work remains "as relevant and compelling as ever," she went on to describe the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a shared road map to transform the world.

Outlining the path ahead, she said ECOSOC and its intergovernmental structures make up a whole ecosystem to help the global community in reaching common goals.

As such, she said, ECOSOC should address a range of issues, including women's participation as a key factor for economic growth, increased domestic resource mobilization, stopping illicit financial flows and fighting corruption.

She added additional focus areas will include responsible borrowing and lending, fair and predictable taxation regimes and identifying and implementing solutions with transformative effects on climate change.

Besides the election of the president, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi, Permanent Representative of Armenia Mher Margaryan, and Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico Juan Sandoval Mendiolea were elected vice presidents of ECOSOC.

The ECOSOC bureau is elected by the council at large in July every year. The bureau's main functions are to propose the agenda, draw up a program of work and organize the session with the support of the UN Secretariat.

In accordance with the principle of geographical rotation among the regional groups, the Western European and Other States nominated Mona Juul as its candidate for the president.

The Asia Pacific States, the Eastern European States, and the Latin American and Caribbean States nominated Maleeha Lodhi, Mher Margaryan and Juan Sandoval Mendiolea as their candidates for vice presidents.

All four candidates were approved by acclamation at the opening of the 2020 session of ECOSOC.

According to outgoing ECOSOC President Inga Rhonda King, the election of the vice president from the African States will be held at a later date.

In her speech, King spotlighted strides made during ECOSOC's 2019 session and voiced her conviction that much more can and will be done in 2020.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed highlighted King's many achievements, including efforts to make ECOSOC deliver on its mandate, from addressing climate action to widening participation of young people.

She stressed that great challenges remain, and more action is needed to realize the UN sustainable development goals, noting ECOSOC must continue to discharge its important work as the world transitions into a new phase to deliver on those goals.