ECOSOC at 80

By H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock, President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

Eighty years ago, the founders of the United Nations came together with a shared purpose: to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. But they also understood something profoundly important: that the maintenance of international peace and security could not be sustained by the absence of armed conflict alone. 

They knew that lasting and sustainable peace must be built on stable, flourishing societies - where every person has the right to live with dignity and the opportunity to fulfil their potential. From this insight grew a conviction now enshrined in the UN Charter: that peace, development, and human rights are inseparable.

This conviction found its institutional home in the Economic and Social Council - entrusted with a bold mandate: to promote international cooperation on economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related issues as pillars of peace. Over the past eight decades, ECOSOC has stood at the heart of global progress on these issues - from serving as the institutional home of the Commission on the Status of Women and the International Labour Organization, to shepherding more recent commitments such as the Doha Declaration and Pact for the Future.

ECOSOC has also played a central role in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development - our shared roadmap toward a more peaceful, just, and inclusive world. As the UN’s central platform for coordination, policy coherence, and follow-up, and as the host of the High-level Political Forum, ECOSOC has provided space for ambition to meet accountability.

This commemoration is not only a moment to reflect upon eight decades of progress, it is also a reminder of the work that remains unfinished. The United Nations is facing political and financial headwinds unlike ever before, and the imperative to adapt to the realities of the 21st century has never been clearer. The UN80 initiative is an opportunity for every organ of this house to evolve and reform - not simply to reduce costs, but to strengthen our collective effectiveness and relevance, while ensuring that restructuring efforts do not weaken development outcomes.

The upcoming review of ECOSOC and HLPF will allow Member States to propose ideas to make ECOSOC more coherent, agile, and fit for purpose. This review is an opportunity to advance more integrated responses, reduce duplication, and close critical gaps in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. Above all, it is a chance to renew ECOSOC’s role at the heart of the multilateral system, and to ensure it can deliver better for a world that needs it now more than ever.

As we mark 80 years of ECOSOC, let us continue the work our founders began. Not by business as usual, but by recognizing that the solutions required to the most pressing global challenges in 2026 are not the same as those of 1985 - let alone 1945. That is the unfinished work before us, and that is the promise ECOSOC was created to uphold - together.