Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Economic and Social Council

Economic and Social Council

1 4.2
A United Nations body that coordinates economic and social programs
  • proper noun
  • Formal
translation icon : Consejo Económico y Social
  • The commission, to be convened by 1993, will be a high-level body composed of representatives of the 54 member states of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and will report to ECOSOC just as the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) does.
  • Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
  • UN Economic and Social Council
  • Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

Examples

  • The Economic and Social Council is tasked with promoting sustainable development across various nations.

  • Most bilateral and multilateral ODA agencies now have some formal NGO liaison committee, culminating in consultative status in the UN's Economic and Social Council.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The statement of the Charter of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations is clear enough:

    Academic text (1990)

  • As the Security Council can envision new possibilities in the cause of peace, so the Economic and Social Council's role can be significantly strengthened.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) may make recommendations (Article 62(2)), and may prepare draft conventions (Article 62(3)) for voluntary adherence.

    Academic text (1990)

  • International economic and social policy functions are administered by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is one of the UN's six principal organs (the other five being the International Court of Justice, Security Council, General Assembly, Trusteeship Council, and Secretariat).

    Academic text (2003)

  • NGOs already having consultative status with the UN's Economic and Social Council were permitted to observe the government proceedings, while those lacking such status but based in Latin America could designate accredited representatives as observers in consultation with the regional governments.

    Academic text (2001)

  • When the General Assembly adopted two resolutions amending the Charter to provide for the enlargement of membership in the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council on 17 December 1963, the Soviet delegates voted against these two resolutions on the grounds of Chinese opposition to these revisions.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The Bretton Woods Institutions—the World Bank and International Monetary Fund—as well as the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) are states-only membership organizations.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Governments collaborate with the Economic and Social Council to align their social policies with international standards.

Synonyms

ECOSOC
vsEconomic and Social Council
  • Formal
7.4

A United Nations council that coordinates economic and social work across countries

is the full written name rather than the abbreviated form

Surface Forms

Economic and Social Council main

Morphology

economic + and + social + council

The phrase is a straightforward adjectival coordination modifying 'council'—'economic' + 'and' + 'social' + 'council' yields a council concerned with economic and social matters. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the core meaning (even if institutional details like UN affiliation are not explicitly derivable).

Etymology

Economic and Social Council is a very literal name: imagine leaders meeting around a table to talk about economic (money and jobs) and social (people and community) issues, and the word council means a group that meets to plan. That's why the name today refers to the United Nations body that 'coordinates economic and social policies' among countries.