UN Economic and Social Council Documentation

Resolutions and decisions of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) were not published as individual documents until 2012. Resolutions and decisions are numbered and published in annual compilations. 

Since 2001, the ECOSOC website has provided the text of individual decisions and resolutions. These appear without symbol or masthead and are not official documents. In 2012, ECOSOC resolutions began to be issued as individual documents.

Resolutions

From 1946-1977, the first 2,130 resolutions adopted by the ECOSOC were consecutively numbered. 

• resolution number followed by the session in parentheses
  • example: Resolution 1296 (XLIV)
  • example: Resolution 1828 (S-II)
  • example: Resolution 1915 (ORG-75)

In 1975, the resolution adopted during the organizational session was identified by the designation (ORG-75). 

Since 1978, the number of the resolution follows the year.

• Resolution year/number
• example: Resolution 1996/31 (in E/1996/96, page 53)

Since 2012, ECOSOC resolutions have been issued as individual documents.

• symbol pattern: E/RES/year/-
• example: E/RES/2016/26

Decisions 

Before 1974, decisions of the Council were not numbered. 

From 1974 to 1977, the decisions were numbered consecutively and were identified by a system identical to that established for resolutions adopted during the same period. 

• From 1975 to 1977, decisions adopted during the organizational sessions were identified by the designation (ORG-75), (ORG-76) or (ORG-77) following the sequential number. 
• example: Decision 5 (LVI) (in E/5544, page 3)

From 1978 on, the pattern for numbering decisions of the Council is similar to that of resolutions. 

• Decision year/number
• example: Decision 1995/206 (in E/1995/95, page 67)

The resolutions and decisions of the Economic and Social Council are:

• Compiled annually;
• Provisionally issued for each session during the course of the year:
  • Symbol pattern: E/year/INF/-
  • Example: E/2016/INF/2
• Finally issued as Supplement 1 to the Economic and Social Council Official Records (ESCOR) for the year;
  • Symbol pattern: E/year/99
  • Example: E/2015/99

Full text

The process by which a resolution or decision is adopted depends on the rules of procedure of the body adopting the text. In general, draft proposals follow similar path and share similar characteristics.

Draft resolutions and decisions are usually presented for adoption in an open formal meeting; they may be introduced to the body by a sponsor, co-sponsor or an official of the body, such as the Chair or President. 

Draft proposals may be

• issued as separate documents called draft resolution or draft decision , eg S/2024/528 ; A/78/L.95 
• included in the report of a subsidiary to its parent organ, eg. E/2024/42- E/CN.18/2024/9

The sponsors of draft proposals are usually listed in the document that transmits the draft to the adopting body; additional sponsors sometimes are added when the draft is introduced in the meeting. Sometimes the draft does not include information about sponsors. Sponsors may include:

• states
• groups of states (eg, G77+China, Nordic Group, etc.)
• Presiding officer of the body (President or Chair),  often after informal consulations
• subsidiary organs 

Depending on the rules of procedure of the body and its established practices, draft proposals may be adopted by consensus or may be voted on.