Minister of State for Administrative Reform in Lebanon to Open UNESCWA 7th Statistical Committee Session

The seventh session of the UNESCWA Statistical Committee will be held on Tuesday 7 November at 10:00 a.m. at the UN House, Beirut, under the auspices of Lebanese Minister of State for Administrative Reform in Lebanon Jean Hogassapian. The meeting will continue until 9 November and will address major issues that concern statistical work in the UNESCWA region and its direct impact on the development process. Topics proposed in the meeting’s “Organization of Work” include: the Millennium Development Goals and statistical literacy, capacity-building in statistics for the formulation of evidence-based policy-making, as well as issues related to information and communication technology indicators. In addition, the committee will follow up on the implementation of the recommendations of the sixth session, and will review progress made in statistical activities since that period including the implementation of the International Comparison Program (ICP). The session will also present the proposed work programme in the field of statistics for 2008-2009. All UNESCWA member countries have expressed a wish to attend this major event and will be represented by the directors of the Central Statistical Organization. Moreover, representatives of concerned international and regional organizations will also be attending. More information on the Committee can be obtained from the website: http://www.escwa.org.lb/divisions/scu/events/7-9nov06.html