ECOSOC was established under the United Nations Charter as the principal organ to coordinate economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions. The Council also receives reports from 11 UN fund and programs. Its main responsibilities in accordance with article 55 of the UN Charter are promoting higher standards of living, full employment, and economic and social progress; identifying solutions to international economic, social and health problems; facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation; and encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Viewed separate from the specialized bodies it coordinates, ECOSOC’s functions include information gathering, advising member nations, and making recommendations. Moreover, ECOSOC is well positioned to provide policy coherence and coordinate the overlapping functions of the UN’s subsidiary bodies and it is in these roles that it is most active.

More at:http://www.un.org/ecosoc/

TOPIC A: The Empowerment of Women and their participation in the economy

Women's absence in economy is by proxy a problem due to social norms and heritage of patriarchal understanding where women must take care of their children and do the housework. Although women are at least as capable as men in the majority of the jobs available, the employers prefer men and so the women even hesitate to apply for a job. Although having a ‘mom’ at home to take care of us or our children makes our lives really comfortable, the economic consequences are immense. Considering that many industries have trouble finding labor, it is clear that we are not using the global capacity at full potential.

As ECOSOC we are aiming to come up with solutions and discuss the already suggested ones to empower women in social, political and economic life. Being the 3rd target in Millennium Development Goals, gender inequality requires simultaneous actions taken in different domains of our lives thus necessitates different NGO’s and different bodies of UN such as UN Women (Formerly known as UNIFEM) and UNCDF to take action in order to make progress. There are only four years left to reach the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals and currently there is great uncertainty as to whether the UN will be able to achieve the goals by the set date. “Nevertheless the efforts that have been provided for these goals has been enormous and for that reason, the attempt will not be considered a failure whatsoever, it would rather be considered a complete success because of the achievements they will have accomplished at the due date.”

The scope of our topic focus but is not limited to the economic aspects of gender inequality. Some of the possible solutions would be “supporting national and local initiatives to include gender perspectives in budgeting processes, and to collect and use sex-disaggregated data in public policy formulation to ensure that macro-economic policy frameworks address women’s priorities.” This would lower the entrance barriers of business for women and encourage entrepreneurship. Rights to land and inheritance would also be a challenge for women indicating that the ownership of money and land can be limited men only.

TOPIC B: Economic Recovery for the Arab Spring Countries: The Washington Consensus - a model for the future?

In the beginning of 2011, across the Tahrir Square demands for redistribution in wealth, lower youth unemployment and fighting corruption were high on the list of protestors’ concerns. Economic opportunity had been a huge driver to the political uprising. And while a year into the Arab awakening democracy remains elusive for the majority of populations in revolt, the economy is under an even greater threat now than ever. There is a great need for urgent economic reforms to reap the benefits of the political reforms.

Political turmoil in the Middle East could have powerful economic implications. There is a serious threat that the uprisings will spread, destabilizing other Middle East economies, and eventually Saudi Arabia, causing a sharp increase in world oil prices that could lead to a global recession. The Institute of International Finance has been predicting GDP contractions from 2,5% in Egypt to 4% in Syria due to a sharp decline in tourism and foreign investment flow. With a drop in investor confidence, the stock market in Egypt has fallen down by 34% in 2011. Furthermore, the original revolt drivers- youth unemployment and high political corruption remain a huge problem.

In 1989, The Washington Consensus was established as a set of ten relatively specific economic policy prescriptions that were considered a reform package to transfer crisis-wrecked Latin American countries and centrally planned communist economies of Eastern Europe into market-oriented, liberalized capitalist economies. The prescriptions encompassed policies in areas such as macroeconomic stabilization (high fiscal discipline, tax reform), economic opening with respect to both trade and investment (financial and trade liberalization, floating exchange rates), and the expansion of market forces within the domestic economy (privatization, deregulation and the implementation of property rights). The Washington Consensus strongly promoted a neoliberal doctrine, as it was then believed that a combination of democracy and market fundamentalism that includes trade liberalization was (the only) formula for achieving economic growth and development. However, since the rise of China, we have seen that a communist controlled economy with state interventionism in its trade policy is able to achieve a 300% growth in GDP in 20 years.

The transition from autocracy to democracy in the Middle East is likely to be bumpy and unstable, at best. A bold new assistance program modelled on the Washington Consensus should be designed for the region. However, the specific recommendations the ECOSOC will decide upon should consider both the peculiarities of this region as well as the outcomes of recent economic history. The goal should be to stabilize these countries’ economies as they undertake their delicate political transitions.

Countries

1. Argentina

2. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)

3. Egypt

4. Finland

5. France

6. Germany

7. Ghana

8. India

9. Iraq

10. Italy

11. Japan

12. Mongolia

13. Morocco

14. Namibia

15. Norway

16. PR China

17. Russian Federation

18. Rwanda

19. Saudi Arabia

20. Senegal

21. Tunisia

22. United Kingdom

23. United States of America

24. Venezuela

Observers

1. Arab League

2. IMF