United Nations resolutions are formal expressions of the opinion or will of United Nations organs. They generally consist of two clearly defined sections: a preamble and an operative part. The preamble generally presents the considerations on the basis of which action is taken, an opinion expressed or a directive given. The operative part states the opinion of the organ or the action to be taken.

The term "decision" is used to designate formal actions, other than resolutions, dealing with non-substantive or routine matters such as elections, appointments, the time and place of meetings and the taking note of reports. They are sometimes also used to record the adoption of a text representing the consensus of the members of a given organ.

Resolutions: 1946-1977

Resolutions of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) are no longer published as individual documents; therefore, no document series symbol is assigned to them. Until 1977, the first 2,130 resolutions adopted by the ECOSOC were consecutively numbered. A roman numeral enclosed in parentheses follows the sequential number and indicates the regular (e.g., LIV) or special (e.g., S-III) session at which the resolution was adopted. In 1975, the resolution adopted during the organizational session was identified by the designation (ORG-75).


Examples:

Resolution 1296 (XLIV)	Arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations
Resolution 1828 (S-II)	Measures to be taken following the natural disaster in Pakistan
Resolution 1915 (ORG-75)	Measures to be taken following the earthquake in Pakistan

Resolutions: 1978 onwards

From 1978 onwards, the system changed: a new numbering sequence is established at the beginning of each year with arabic numerals following the four digits representing the year of adoption.


Example:

Resolution 1996/31

Consultative relationship between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations

Decisions: 1946-1977

Prior to 1974, decisions of the Council were not numbered. From 1974 to 1977, the decisions were numbered consecutively and were identified by a system identical to that established for resolutions adopted during the same period. From 1975 to 1977, decisions adopted during the organizational sessions were identified by the designation (ORG-75), (ORG-76) or (ORG-77) following the sequential number.


Examples:

Decision 5 (LVI)	Permanent sovereignty over natural resources
Decision 68 (ORG-75)	Changes in the calendar of conferences for 1975

Decisions: 1978 onwards

From 1978 onwards, the system for numbering decisions of the Council is identical to that in place for resolutions.


Example:

Decision 1995/206

Regional cooperation

Both resolutions and decisions of the Economic and Social Council are compiled into sessional/annual cumulations (always Supplement No. 1, 1A, etc. to the Official Records of the Economic and Social Council) issued for the regular, special, substantive or organizational session at which they were adopted. To insure the timely availability of the texts, they are provisionally issued in the INF/- series (e.g., E/2007/INF/2+ Add.1) prior to reissuance in a more formal format.

Online research on ECOSOC resolutions from 1946 onwards can be conducted in UNBISnet. The same database also provides indexing data for decisions starting in 1974.

The full text of ECOSOC resolutions from 1946 onwards is retrievable through UNBISnet and the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS). The main website of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) provides access to the full text of Resolutions and Decisions from 1946 to 2000 and from 2001 to the present.

Texts of resolutions and/or decisions of committees, commissions and other subsidiary bodies (overview) are included in their annual/sessional reports to the parent body. For example, the resolutions of the Commission on Sustainable Development, are reproduced in its sessional report to the ECOSOC (e. g., E/2007/29-E/CN.17/2007/15). Complete lists of symbols for the reports of the subsidiary bodies can be found in UN-I-QUE.

The full text of recent reports can be retrieved from UNBISnet, the ECOSOC website and the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS).