News

10 Aug 2011

Khalaf Visits Mikati and Mansour

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UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf is keen on asserting UN agencies, and particularly ESCWA's, commitment to provide all forms of support to Member Countries' governments in furthering their national efforts towards sustainable development. Khalaf conveyed this message to the newly appointed Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whom she congratulated on the successful formation of the government, which had just won a vote of confidence in the Lebanese parliament. She expressed her gratitude for the continued support rendered by Lebanon's government and people to ESCWA over the past years, be it in hosting the commission's permanent headquarters or backing its various activities. This was instrumental to ESCWA's success in upholding the responsibilities conferred upon it by Member Countries. ESCWA Executive Secretary discussed with Mikati some of the region's key priorities and challenges in the up-coming period, and ESCWA's planned activities to address those challenges. In this regard, she highlighted the question of reform and democratic transition in the Arab world, which are seen as the region's most salient challenges. Khalaf pointed to ESCWA's analytical expertise in providing global experiences and best practices to the region for the management of the transition in a way that ensures sustainable and balanced development. The visit was also an occasion to shed light on some major publications ESCWA is planning to release in the coming years. The main focus of this literature is to explore the future of the region in a "systematic" way, identifying alternative routes for decision-makers and enabling them to choose the best model for real and sustainable development in their countries. In the same context, and during her visit to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Dr. Adnan Mansour, Khalaf asserted her wish to strengthen existing cooperation between ESCWA and the ministry, especially with Lebanon being the host country. This requires the presence of continuously open and solid channels on all levels. ESCWA Executive Secretary offered Mansour an overview of the different areas of cooperation between the Commission and Lebanon in the past few years. This cooperation extended to several fields, including productivity-boosting activities, the promotion of socio-economic development, the development of information and communication technologies applications, and the empowerment of women. She highlighted the integrated approach in advisory-services delivery that ESCWA is pioneering in Lebanon which was very successful in its implementation. Mansour gave his assurance that his Ministry was ready to tackle any problems which may encounter ESCWA during its course of work in Lebanon.
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