Jakarta - Indonesia has been elected a member of the e United Nations Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) to represent Asia for the period 2002 to 2014, according to a report from the UN Headquarters in New York. Indonesia won the most votes from countries in the Asia region in a secret selection process hold in a session of the UN General Assembly on Monday y (Oct 24). In the vote, Indonesia got 191 ballots from 193 member states of the United Nations, while India and Japan won the second and third biggest number of votes or d 189 and 186 ballots respectively. Commenting on the event, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said with the selection, Indonesia was entrusted by the world community to accomplish the global social and economic development agenda. "It shows that the world has trust in Indonesia, that we can play our role and commitment to enhance international policies in the economic, social, education and health fields," Minister Marty said. Ecosoc is an arm of the UN General Assembly to promote international cooperation in the social and economis fields as well as in development. It is responsible for e coordination of the related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions. The council has 54 members which are all elected by the General Assembly, and holds one substantive session each year. Indonesia has been an Ecosoc member for ten periods. Ecosoc serves as a central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, as well as formulating policy recommendations addressed to e UN member states. Since 1998, Ecosoc has held an annual meeting with finance ministers heading key committees from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Last May, Indonesia was also elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council by obtaining the most ballots from UN member states.
