Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), Canada is currently a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, and the government is fully supportive of its important function in the UN system and engaged in its work, in many instances in cooperation with our provincial and civil society partners. ECOSOC has a broad and complex mandate which has been substantially affected by increasing globalization. In the UN charter, ECOSOC is given responsibility for the UN’s economic, social and cultural work, and the complex of subsidiary bodies created by ECOSOC have became the fora for primary detailed discussion of these issues, as well as many issues related to the environment. It is the parent body of the UN’s functional commissions and a number of committees and expert bodies which, along with the specialized agencies, report to ECOSOC. Other questions which have no other clear institutional home in the system, such as financing for development, are dealt with first by ECOSOC. ECOSOC is also tasked with follow-up to the UN’s major summits and conferences. Last year ECOSOC adopted 49 resolutions and 74 decisions on a diverse range of issues, including economic development, rural development and hunger, the next financing for development conference, implementation of the decisions of the World Summit on the Information Society, humanitarian assistance, rule of law and criminal justice in Africa, several issues related to women and girls, drug control strategies for Afghanistan, assistance to the Palestinians. ECOSOC therefore plays a vital role, in particular as the sole UN body which brings together government representatives and civil society. ECOSOC is the focus for debate on a wide range of critical issues of concern to the international community, including Canadians. Canada has also been active in efforts to ensure ECOSOC’s continued relevance and authority through reform and modernization of its working methods and structure.
In response to (b), there is no change planned in the government’s policy toward ECOSOC.