UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The U.N. Economic and Social Council's new president says he is revitalizing the body by involving a wider variety of people in its work.
President Dalius Cekuolis of Lithuania proposed Thursday that people ranging from government ministers to activists, academics and business executives join in reaching for a more prominent role of the body this year.
"We have," Cekuolis told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York "a very interesting and challenging year ahead."
This year, ECOSOC will be tasked with two new functions aimed to strengthen the body. First, the Annual Ministerial Review will assess the progress, or lack of it, ECOSOC has made in reaching objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals -- eight targets for tackling poverty, hunger and other social ills by 2015.
The second, the Development Cooperation Forum, aims to have the voices of people at different levels -- governments, non-governmental organizations, academia and the private sector, among others -- heard in discussions on international development and aid cooperation.
ECOSOC is made up of 54 member states elected by the U.N. General Assembly. It is a U.N. body which meets yearly to further economic and social cooperation and development.
Its mandate was enhanced during the U.N. 2005 World Summit to improve the effectiveness of aid and monitor the implementation of targets, such as the MDGs, agreed upon by member states.
