Chapter X of the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations (UN) is the foundational treaty of the UN, an intergovernmental organization. It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the ...

deals with the

UN Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

. Originally, Article 61 provided that ECOSOC would consist of 18 members, but in 1965 the Charter was amended to expand ECOSOC to 27 members, before being amended to include 54 in 1971. ECOSOC's members are elected by the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

to staggered three-year terms, and are eligible for immediate re-election. This enables countries like the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to be

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

permanent members. Article 62 empowers ECOSOC to "make or initiate studies and reports with respect to international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related matters" and to make recommendations "promoting respect for, and observance of,

human right Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

s and fundamental freedoms for all." It can prepare draft conventions and call international conferences – these have included, for instance, the 1961 New York conference that drafted the

Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 (Single Convention, 1961 Convention, or C61) is an international treaty that controls activities (cultivation, production, supply, trade, transport) of specific narcotic drugs and lays down a syste ...

. Article 64 gives ECOSOC concurrent power, along with the UN General Assembly, to receive reports from specialized agencies, provided that the subject matter falls within ECOSOC's purview. Article 68 empowers it to "set up commissions in economic and social fields and for the promotion of human rights."

Article 71

Article 71 forms the basis for granting

nongovernmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

Consultative Status The consultative status is a phrase whose use can be traced to the founding of the United Nations and is used within the UN community to refer to "Non-governmental organizations ( NGOs) in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and So ...

. There were representatives of 1,200 voluntary organizations present at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, and this article provided a mechanism for continued involvement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapter 10 Of The United Nations Charter Divisions and sections of the Charter of the United Nations United Nations Economic and Social Council