The Economic and Social Council coordinates the work of five regional commissions with the responsibility to reflect the regional dimensions of the economic and social issues addressed by the United Nations

• Africa ECA
• Asia and the Pacific ESCAP
• Europe ECE
• Latin America and the Caribbean ECLAC
• Western Asia ESCWA

Africa ECA

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) - was established in 1958 with the mandate to function as a regional branch of the UN in Africa to support economic and social development in its member states.

The individual documents from the ECA usually carry the following symbols:

• Economic Commission for Africa. Information about the structure and work of the Commission, documents and reports, data and statistics, as well as news.
• Economic Report on Africa.
• ECA Data and Statistics.

Asia and the Pacific ESCAP

The Economic and social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) - is located in Bangkok, Thailand. It was established by the Economic and Social Council in 1947 to serve as a regional arm of the United Nations Secretariat.

The Commission promotes economic and social development in the member states and provides advisory services at request of the governments in the region. ESCAP works to improve the use of statistics and to develop and disseminate quality statistics in the region.

The individual ESCAP documents carry the following symbols:

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Information about the structure and work of the Commission, documents and reports, data and statistics, as well as news.

• ESCAP Data and Statistics

Europe ECE

The Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) was established by the ECOSOC in 1947. It serves as a forum for pan-European economic cooperation and integration. It has 56 member states in the European Union, non-EU Western and Eastern Europe, South-East Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and North America.

ECE develops conventions, norms and standards to harmonize action and facilitating exchanges between member states, and coordinates statistical activities in the UNECE region.

The individual ECE documents carry the following symbols:

Economic Commission for Europe. Information about the structure and work of the Commission, documents and reports, data and statistics, as well as news.

• UNECE economic surveys.

ECE submits annual reports to ECOSOC in the documentary series Supplements to the Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, no 37.

Latin America and the Caribbean ECLAC

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) - was established in 1948 by the ECOSOC. It was founded for the purposes of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, and, later, the scope of its work was extended to include the countries of the Caribbean. The Commission is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.

The member states comprises all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and several countries in other parts of the world with historical, cultural and economic ties to the region.

ECLAC documents usually carry the following symbols:

ECLAC documents are given individual symbols - for the period 1948-1974: E/CN.12, for the period; 1975-1984: E/CEPAL, and for the period after 1984 E/LC.

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Information about the structure and work of the Commission, documents and reports, data and statistics, as well as news.

Regional economic surveys by ECLAC:

• Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean
• Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean
• CEPAL review
• ECLAC Repository. Publications from ECLAC.

Western Asia ESCWA

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) was established by the Economic and Social Council in 1973. The Commission is headquartered in Beirut and has Member States in the Gulf Area and North Africa.

The ESCWA serves as a regional forum for the UN organization to promote social and economic development in the region.

ESCWA individual documents carry the following symbols:

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. Information about the structure and work of the Commission, publications, documents, reports , data and statistics, as well as news.

More on regional commissions' documentation

• The regional commissions submits their annual reports in the documentary series Supplements to the Official Records of the Economic and Social Council.
• Supplements are posted as Reports at the ECOSOC website.
• Learn more about the subsidiaries in the research guide: UN Documentation : Economic and Social Council, subsidiary bodies, by Dag Hammarskjöld library (New York).