Press release

4 May 2006

Beirut

Challenges Facing Region on Agenda of UNESCWA 24th Ministerial Session

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The New Challenges Facing Western Asia and their Impact on UNESCWA Work is the one of the priorities listed on the agenda of the 24th Ministerial Session being held under the auspices of Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri at the UN House, Beirut, on 10-11 May 2006. This issue will be the focus of discussions at 11:00am following the opening ceremony on Wednesday 10 May. It comes in the context of the results of the Expert Group Meeting on the Role of UNESCWA in Serving its Member Countries to 2010 held last December. Participants will discuss the characteristics of the future role of UNESCWA based on the views expressed at the meeting; the political, economic and social challenges that occurred in the region; as well as the final document of the 2005 World Summit. The discussion will cover the major recommendations of the Expert Group Meeting (EGM), including: establishing an Arab regional observatory with the primary task of devising comparative indicators for various issues related to development, security and human rights in the Arab region as well as amassing of the data necessary to regularly follow up and issue periodic reports on the development of those indicators in the region; formulating integrated views on sustainable development, given the uncertain and unstable conditions that prevail in the region, and having each pertinent national and regional party integrate those views into their work when formulating economic and social development plans and when translating those plans into actual programmes of work, in order to ensure that such plans and programmes include indicators that could be used for comparisons and analysis, with a view to taking into account the factors of tension and lack of stability. The EGM in January 2006 also discussed the following issues and made recommendations accordingly: economic conditions; social policies in the region; regional integration; building state and community institutions; and the media. Accordingly, participants in the session on New Challenges Facing Western Asia and their Impact on UNESCWA Work will be discussing the need to formulate integrated social development policies to be translated to practical and feasible programs. Governmental and non-governmental institutions in all the Arab countries should be invited to coordinate the formulation of social policies and programmes, with a view to transferring successful national and regional experiences in that field, adopting those that are appropriate and adapting them to local particularities, to the extent possible. With respect to regional integration, the participants will discuss the benefits that the international community might reap from Arab regional integration; the need to promote its results; and to conduct in-depth studies in this regard that involve the elements of success and failure in a manner that helps to understand the factors affecting the progress of Arab regional integration. This is in addition to discussing the importance of building state and community institutions through three dimensions embodying the partnership between Arab Government and civil society institutions and the private sector; as well as the role of the Arab media in raising the awareness of Arab citizens of development issues that affect the development of society, the concept of citizenship and the right to participate in decision-making.
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