Pakistan was re-elected on Thursday to the Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc), the economic arm of the United Nations, for a three-year term, beginning January 1, 2008. Already on the 54-member council, Pakistan received 177 out of the 188 votes cast in the UN General Assembly to serve another term.
The impressive vote reflects the confidence and prestige the country enjoys in the international community. Malaysia topped the table of the Asian Group, with 185 votes.
First elected in 1954, Pakistan served the Ecosoc in 1965-1967, 1969-1971, 1974-1977, 1979-1984, 1986-1988, 1990-1992, 1994-1995, 1998-2003 and 2005-2007. In 2005, Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram was elected president of the council.
Of the Ecosco's 54 members, 18 retire each year. Seats have been distributed on geographical basis with 14 allocated to Africa, 11 to Asia, six to East Europe, 10 Latin America and 13 to Western Europe and other states. The 11 new members are: Cameroon, Congo, Malaysia, Mozambique, Moldova, Niger, Poland, South Korea, Saint Lucia, Sweden and Uruguay.
They will fill the seats vacated at the end of this year by Albania, Chad, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Denmark, Guinea, India, Lithuania, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand. Besides Pakistan, Brazil, China, Iceland, Russia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, which are already Council members, were also re-elected.
As of January 1, 2008, the Council's membership will also include Algeria, Angola, Austria, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cuba, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, France, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Paraguay, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and the United States.