File photo: Delegates of the UN member states cast their ballots at the General Assembly hall at the UN Heaquarters in New York, Oct. 25, 2010 [Xinhua]China and Russia have been elected to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the coordinating body for the economic and social work of UN agencies and funds.
China won 182 votes out of a total of 185 votes casted in the Asia Pacific group in the election held on Tuesday.
Other elected ECOSOC members are North Korea, Britain, United Arab Emirates, Sweden and Norway among others. ECOSOC accredits and oversees human rights groups at the UN, deciding who can participate at the UN Human Rights Council.
The winners require two thirds majority of the votes in relevant groups.
ECOSOC is the principal UN organ to coordinate the economic, social and related work of the United Nations and the specialized agencies and institutions. It has 54 members, who serve three-year terms.
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) oversees the UN’s NGO committee.
Russia and China locked horns with the US at the UN NGO Committee last month when they denied press watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) application for consultative status with the ECOSOC.
Russia, China, India and South Africa did not support the application of CPJ. Following the vote, a Russian delegate said there were “serious doubts about whether this organization really is a non-governmental organization.”
US envoy to the UN Samantha Powers has vowed to take the New York-based CPJ’s accreditation request to the 54-member ECOSOC.
Meanwhile, Norway, on Tuesday, congratulated China and Russia on their election to the critical UN body.
Congrats to @AzerbaijanMFA #BosniaHerzegovina@RussiaUN on election to #ECOSOC! Looking forward to cooperate w #EasternEurope
— NorwayUN (@NorwayUN) June 14, 2016
Congrats to @Chinamission2un @ROK_Mission @MFA_Tajikistan @UAEMissionToUN on election to #ECOSOC!Looking forward to cooperate w #AsiaPacific
— NorwayUN (@NorwayUN) June 14, 2016
TBP and Agencies