UN ECOSOC Group of Eminent Persons (1973)

Date: 20 July 2025
Data source: various UN sources
Funding: Part of a European Research Council (ERC)-grant, ECOINT, Grant No 885285
Note: This dataviz is not made for small mobile screens

On 2 July 1972, the UN ECOSOC adopted Resolution 1721 (LIII), which requested the Secretary-General to appoint a “group of eminent persons […] to study the role of multinational corporations and their impact on the process of development” and their “implications for international relations.” This Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) was tasked with submitting “recommendations for appropriate international action.” The result was the 1974-Report "The Impact of Multinational Corporations on Development and on International Relations" (E/5500/Rev.1 ST/ESA/6).

This visualization presents the individuals involved in that process:

• the 20 members of the GEP
• the experts who provided testimony in hearings held in New York and Geneva in late 1973.

Each individual is shown in connection with a city, which represents the capital of the country where their institution or affiliation was based at the time. This allows the map to convey the geopolitical geography of expertise and influence in ECOSOC's initiative.

• Hover over a name to display information provided in the relevant UN record.
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• orange = member of GEP; green = expert witness

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