Foreign Minister, Hon Jeremiah Manele, announces that Solomon Islands wins seat on the United Nations Economic and Social Council for the term 2021 - 2023.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, The Hon Jeremiah Manele announces that Solomon Islands has been successfully elected on to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, for a three-year term beginning 2021 and ending in 2023.

The elections were held at the United Nations Secretariat in New York on 17th June 2020. Solomon Islands successfully polled 187 votes out of the 192 UN member states that were present and voting.

The UN Economic and Social Council is one of the six main organs of the United Nations established by the UN Charter in 1946. It is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals.

The Council also serves as the central mechanism for the activities of the United Nations system and its specialized agencies, and supervises the subsidiary and expert bodies in the economic, social and environmental fields.

Solomon Islands hopes to work alongside other council members to continue to lend its voice on global issues of importance including Climate Change, Ocean Conservation and Sustainable Development.

Solomon Islands especially sees its role on the council comes at critical juncture given the current global COVID19 pandemic that has significantly impacted the economies of developing countries throughout the world.

In the aftermath of COVID19, Solomon Islands believes that it is crucial that the work of the Council and indeed the United Nations as whole enables countries to build back better through the accelerated implementation of the Agenda 2030, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Solomon Islands election on the UN Economic and Social Council ensures that the unique lens of a Small Island Developing State is brought to the work of the council.

The Solomon Islands Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade and the Solomon Islands Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York remains committed to delivering on the mandate entrusted to it by the United Nations Member States, during its tenure on the UN Economic and Social Council.

Source: GCU