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UN Economic and Social Council Documentation

Annual Report of ECOSOC to the General Assembly

ECOSOC reports annually to the General Assembly on its activities. .

  • symbol pattern: A/session/3
    • Supplement 3 to the General Assembly Official Records (GAOR)
    • example: A/72/3

The first part of the report includes "Matters calling for action by or brought to the attention of the General Assembly", and may include draft resolutions to be considered for adoption by the General Assembly;

The annexes include membership lists for the Council and its subsidiary bodies and a listing of intergovernmental organizations participating in ECOSOC deliberations.

Before 2015, the report was issued and a revised version was issued as part of the General Assembly Official Records.

Reports of the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General reports to ECOSOC on issues called for by resolutions, such as:

  • development
  • economic indicators
  • coordination within the UN system

All reports for ECOSOC have document symbols that begin with E/--.

Reports of ECOSOC Subsidiaries

ECOSOC has many subsidiary bodies that report to it regularly.

The sessional reports of ECOSOC subsidiaries often have a dual symbol and are usually issued as a supplement to the Economic and Social Council Official Records (ESCOR).

They include information about:

  • membership;
  • dates of meetings;
  • summary of discussions;
  • resolutions and decisions adopted by the body
  • draft resolutions recommended for adoption by ECOSOC and/or the General Assembly.

Information about the documentation of the Functional Commissions has been added to this guide in January 2018.