بيانات صحفية

8 أيار/مايو 2006

Beirut

Senior Officials Meet to Begin UNESCWA 24th Ministerial Session

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UNESCWA Executive Secretary Mervat Tallawy presented the topics to be covered by Arab ministers participating in the UNESCWA 24th Ministerial Session, chiefly: the New Challenges in the Region and their Impact on the Work of UNESCWA; Facing Youth Unemployment Problems in the UNESCWA Region; Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the UNESCWA Region: the Damascus Declaration; and Review of the Progress Made by Yemen in the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the decade 2001-2010. Tallawy was speaking to a large number of officials participating in the Senior Official’s Segment preceding the 24th Ministerial Session due to be opened by Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri at 10:00am Wednesday at the UN House, Beirut. The Assistant Head of the Syrian State Planning Commission, Mr. Ahmed Achkar, whose country was chairing the 23rd Ministerial Session, preceded Tallawy with a statement on this occasion. In her speech, Tallawy said UNESCWA succeeded in performing its functions despite the critical situation the region is going through. She reviewed UNESCWA activities with respect to social policies; land, railroad and maritime transport; energy; and information and communication technology. Tallawy turned to an issue that had attracted media attention lately, clarifying that the audit done on UNESCWA’s programming and administrative structure is part of a routine report published to review the performance of UN agencies. She said, “The media recently highlighted the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) at the United Nations and its audit of UNESCWA’s programming and administrative structure. Some wondered why this report was not placed on today’s agenda. I wish to clarify that the OIOS inspection is a routine exercise done every two years for all UN agencies in order to propose changes that improve performance. This is not remotely related to any investigations or infractions since there is a separate office that oversees complaints and investigations.” She added that these reports, including the report on UNESCWA, are submitted to the UN General Assembly in order to make the necessary recommendations and only then will they find their way to the Agenda. Tallawy pointed out that previous recommendations of this kind had been submitted to UNESCWA ministerial sessions so the media was advised to be accurate when reporting on the issue. Tallawy added that the report under scrutiny had itself made some positive observations in UNESCWA’s favor. In his statement, Achkar said it was clear that there are three axes (the new challenges facing the region and their impact on UNESCWA work, the profile of jobs and roles UNESCWA will assume in light of these challenges, and facing youth unemployment in the region) considered to be national and regional priorities that the UN agencies are helping to achieve. He stressed Syria’s belief in balanced and sustainable development; the link between social and economic development; and the need to address poverty and deprivation in each country. “We believe that one of the most important requirements for achieving meaningful results in economy, politics, culture and other aspects is the existence of active cooperation between the countries of the region as well as guaranteeing peace and security in the region and the world,” he said. The opening ceremony was directly followed by the election of officers. Mr. Ahmed bin Ibrahim Al Hakami, Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning in Saudi Arabia, was elected Chairperson, Mr. Mahmoud Hashem Al Kohaji, Assistant Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs in Bahrain, was elected as first Deputy Chairperson, Egypt’s Assistant Deputy Foreign Minister for International Economic Relations Amr Hilmi as second Deputy Chairperson. Mr Mohamed Ghadieh, Director General of Human Development in the Palestinian Ministry of Planning was elected as Rapporteur. During the afternoon session, the participants followed up on the implementation of the recommendations of the 23rd Ministerial Session held in Damascus last May. They also focused on the achievements of the technical cooperation program; regional advisory services; mobilization of UNESCWA human and financial resources; the report of the 7th UNESCWA Transport Committee meeting in Beirut last April.
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