The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was established under the United Nations Charter and serves as the main liaison and discussion forum for the 14 United Nations agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions pertaining to economic and social issues. ECOSOC also stands as the agency where policy recommendations for Member States and the United Nations as a whole are born. Its main responsibilities include: working towards full employment, and improvement of living, economic and social conditions; devising ways to address global economic, social and health issues; promoting partnerships among member states in the arenas of culture and education; and inspiring all to hold important regard for human rights and basic freedoms. On all of these issues, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has the ability to serve as the starting point for related studies and reports as well as to join in the efforts to arrange and continue with the work brought forth from large-scale global conferences on economic and social issues. The Council’s purview covers more than 70 per cent of the United Nation’s human and financial resources.

As a mandate of the 2005 World Summit, ECOSOC created both the Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) and the Development Cooperation Forum (DCF). The AMR’s goal is to evaluate the work that has been done on the internationally agreed development goals (IADGs) agreed upon at major conferences and summits, while that of the DCF is to contribute to the success of the work of various partners in development. In 2010, peacewomen monitored the AMR given its focus on actions and achievements with regard to “the global agenda on women’s issues” and the mainstreaming of gender, framing its work around the following themes in 2010: “(i) Promoting greater coherence: how can all policies be geared towards development goals? (ii) Accountable and transparent development cooperation: how can we build more equal partnerships? (iii) The role of various forms of cooperation including South-South and triangular cooperation. (iv) Impact of multiple crises: Allocating resources among competing needs; and (v) Achieving the MDGs by 2015: an agenda for more and improved development cooperation".

Source:
United Nations