Fifty-four members and eighteen elected every year: how the Economic and Social Council is constituted

Background

Chapter X of the Charter of the United Nations governs the Economic and Social Council. Article 61 provides that the Council consists of fifty-four Members of the United Nations elected by the General Assembly. Eighteen members are elected each year for a term of three years, and a retiring member is eligible for immediate re-election. Article 61(3) records the enlargement of the Council from twenty-seven members to fifty-four: at the first election after the increase, twenty-seven additional members were elected, nine of them for a one-year term and nine for a two-year term. Article 67 provides that each member of the Council has one vote and that decisions are made by a majority of the members present and voting.