UNITED NATIONS: Pak­istan’s Permanent Repre­sen­tative to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram, was elected unanimously on Thursday as the president of the UN Economic and Social Council for a year, ending in July 2021.

The 54-member ECOSOC is the third principal organ, along with the General Assembly and Security Council, established in 1945 under the UN Charter to promote international economic cooperation and oversee the work of all international economic organisations.

This is the sixth time that Pakistan has been elected as Ecosoc president and the second time that Ambassador Akram has been elected to this post, having served as the body’s chief in 2005.

In his acceptance speech, Ambassador Akram said that UN member states faced three simultaneous challenges: the COVID, health and economic crisis, the realisation of the sustainable development goals (SDG) and the existential threat of climate change.

The commitments made in each area must be implemented, he added.

Hoping that a COVID-19 vaccine will be developed soon, he emphasized the ensure that this vaccine was made available to “everyone, everywhere — rich or poor.”

Ambassador Akram proposed that in the coming year, ECOSOC should focus on these three areas” financing of the COVID-19, SDG and climate change goals; sustainable infrastructure investment; and application of advanced science and technology for development.

He said that as ECOSOC president he would convene special meetings to advance action in these areas.

Referring to the IMF Managing Director’s estimate that developing countries will need over $2.5 billion to recover from the current COVID induced recession, Ambassador Akram recalled the early call by Prime Minister Imran Khan for a “Global Initiative on Debt Relief”.

He also mentioned the proposals for new SDRs and other financing proposals under consideration.

He said the pledge of the advanced countries to raise 100 billion dollars annually for climate action must be fulfilled.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2020