The object of the Association shall be, with a total respect for the independence of each of its members, to encourage and promote dialogue and exchanges between its members and, at a wider level, to encourage dialogue between economic and social partners in the world.

The Association will encourage the creation of ESCs in states which do not yet possess them and will contribute, through the exchange of work and the organization of meetings, to the prosperity and economic development of peoples and to the emergence, in mutual respect and peace, of democratic civil societies in accordance with the principles of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

-Participation of intergovernmental organizations in the work of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) : decision 2001/318

At its 44th plenary meeting, on 10 october 2001, the Economic and Social Council, having considered the application of the International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions, decided, in accordance with rule 79 of the rules of procedure of the Council, that the organization might participate on a continuous basis, without the right to vote, in the deliberation of the Council on questions within the scope of its activities.