New York, November 4 (RHC-Mercopress) -- Argentina and Brazil were elected by the United Nations General Assembly as members of the UN Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, for a period of three years beginning next January first.

The General Assembly voted to elect 18 members of the Economic and Social Council. The other new members are Austria, Burkina Faso, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, India, Japan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

ECOSOC's 54 members are elected by the General Assembly for overlapping three-year terms. Seats on the Council are allotted based on geographical representation, with 14 allocated to African States, 11 to Asian States, six to Eastern European States, 10 to Latin American and Caribbean States, and 13 to Western European and other States. Each country has a vote and decisions are adopted by simple majority.

ECOSOC, one of the six main agencies of the United Nations established by the UN Charter in 1946, is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals.

It serves as the central mechanism for the activities of the United Nations system and its specialized agencies, and supervises the subsidiary and expert bodies in the economic, social and environmental fields.

The work of the Council is guided by an issue-based approach, and there is an annual theme that accompanies each programmatic cycle, ensuring a sustained and focused discussion among multiple stakeholders.