Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the important organs of United Nations Organisation (UNO) with headquarter at New York. There are 54 members of the United Nations in it which are elected for three years by the General Assembly. This council meets at least thrice a year. As an organ of UNO it is responsible for social, economic and humanitarian matters. The major aims of this council are (i) to guarantee Fundamental Rights and freedom to all nations; and (ii) to promote the spirit of cooperation in human beings.
There are five Regional Economic Commissions founded by ECOSOC which are as follows :-
(i) ECE (Economic Commission for Europe) based in Geneva.
(ii) ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) located in Bangkok, capital of Thailand
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(iii) EC LA (Economic Commission for Latin America) located in Santiago, the capital of Chile.
(iv) ECA (Economic Commission for Africa) based in Addis Ababa; and
(v) ECWA (Economic Commission for Western Asia) situated in Baghdad, capital of Iraq.
All the above mentioned Commission have been established to enable the Nations of the major regions (if the world to cooperate on common problems and also to furnish economic information. The Council assists in coordinating the activities of the inter governmental specialised agencies. All such matters like statistics, population, human rights, economics and employment, status of women, transportation and communication and control of narcotic drug traffic are dealt under the additional functions of the Commissions.