Mona Juul heads ECOSOC

Norway to lead UN’s central platform for development policy

Photo: International Peace Institute / Flickr
Mona Juul in August 2017.

Tor Ingar Oesterud
Norway Today

Mona Juul, Norway’s ambassador to the United Nations, was elected president of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for a one-year period on July 26.

ECOSOC is the U.N.’s central platform for sustainable development. The president of ECOSOC plays a key role in the U.N., with responsibility for following up the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the financing for development agenda.

“Norway has taken on this task, because we are a strong supporter of the U.N. and the SDGs. Our aim in this role is to strengthen a key part of the multilateral system, which is crucial for the U.N.’s work all over the world,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine  Marie Eriksen Søreide.

ECOSOC is made up of 54 member states and is the U.N.’s main body for the formulation of development policy. It is one of the six main organs of the U.N., which also include the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the U.N. Secretariat.

“Norway will use its presidency of ECOSOC to promote common solutions to the challenges facing the world today. We have not succeeded in mobilizing the resources we need to reach the SDGs. We will therefore highlight the financing for development agenda as an overall priority for ECOSOC in the coming year,” said Minister of International Development Dag-Inge Ulstein.

ECOSOC is an ecosystem of forums for development policy discussions, expert committees and commissions.

“U.N. meeting rooms in New York can feel far removed from the everyday life of young girls in Uganda. For me, it is important that cooperation in the U.N. and ECOSOC is meaningful to us all. For example, ECOSOC is following up how U.N. reform is working in practice,” Juul said.

This article was originally published on Norway Today.

This article originally appeared in the August 9, 2019, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.