India elected to four United Nations agencies

India was elected to four important United Nations (UN) agencies on 8 April 2015. These agencies are United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Program (WFP), Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat.

India was elected to these bodies at the Coordination and Management Meeting (CMM) of UNECOSOC (the United Nations Economic and Social Council) held at the UN headquarters in New York, USA.

India was elected by acclamation, which is a form of election that doesn’t use a ballot.

Results of Elections
• India, along with thirteen other nations, was elected to the Executive Board of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for a three year period starting from January 2016.
• India was re-elected to the Executive Board of the World Food Programme (WFP) along with five other nations for a two year period starting from January 2016.
• India was elected to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) along with nineteen other nations for a three year period starting from January 2016. Some of the nations that were elected to CCPCJ included Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia Austria, France, Sweden and the United States.
• India was re-elected to the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) along with thirteen other nations for a three year period starting from January 2016.

Significance of India’s election to UN bodies

• India has a 100 percent record of winning the UNECOSOC elections. For instance, in the first week of April 2015, India was re-elected to the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council for the period of 2015-17. In October 2014, India was re-elected to ECOSOC by garnering the maximum number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group.
• These continuous wins at various UN bodies highlights the fact that India’s role as an important and influential global power is now recognised by a vast majority of the UN membership.