Activities of the Regional Commissions

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

The Demographic and Related Socio-Economic Data Sheets for Member Countries of ESCWA as Assessed in 2000  The eleventh issue of the Demographic and Related Socio-Economic Data Sheets for Member Countries of ESCWA provides the results of population estimates for 2000 as well as related demographic indicators. The Data Sheets, published every two years, are based on population estimates for each country in the region and use the latest surveys and censuses available. The purpose of the Data Sheets is to bridge the information gaps resulting from the ten-year interval between the two censuses, and to compensate for missing or incomplete registration of vital statistics (death, birth, marriage and divorce). In most of the ESCWA member countries, data have become more readily available in recent decades. All member countries have expanded and strengthened the capabilities of their statistical machinery, including civil registration offices. All of them have conducted at least one population census, and most of them have established a modern registration system. They have also conducted all types of demographic surveys and have approved internationally recommended definitions, classifications, and tabulation plans.

Arab Youth Forum Convened in Beirut

Youth representatives from ESCWA’s 13 member States have drafted a joint blueprint proposing new strategies to empower young Arab men and women to participate in the decision-making process and develop their resources. The Arab Youth Declaration culminated in a Forum held in Beirut on 26-27 June 2001, organized by ESCWA and DESA. The Beirut Forum addressed a comprehensive agenda of issues of concern to an estimated 32 million young Arabs, aged between 15 and 24 years old, highlighting concerns, ranging from education and health to employment opportunities and social discrimination and injustices. The Forum Declaration said regional instability was obstructing human development, wasting human and physical potential, deepening the developmental gap with other countries and hindering social and economic progress. The objectives of Arab youth, according to the document, included eradicating illiteracy, refining talent through focusing on sports and leisure activities, providing work opportunities without discrimination, eliminating poverty, improving health services and combating diseases and addictions.

The Arab Youth Forum Declaration was presented to the Fourth Session of the World Youth Forum, that took place in Dakar, Senegal, on 5 -10 August 2001. It called on all Arab governments to support the participation of youth and students in the Dakar conference as well as in the 15th Session of the World Youth Festival expected to be held in Algeria later this year.

 Regional Seminar on Foreign Direct Investment, National Strategies and Policies

ESCWA, in cooperation with the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, held a Regional Seminar on “Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) National Strategies and Policies in the ESCWA Region”, on 12 -13 June 2001 at the UN-House, Beirut.

The seminar reviewed the existing shortages in the ESCWA member countries’ strategies and policies with regard to FDI, and examined their consistency and adequacy. Participants also discussed the changes that need to be introduced in FDI policies and in the investment climate in order to attract sizable FDI. They also worked on ways of strengthening the networking among investment promotion offices and concerned agencies in the region, with the purpose of facilitating the exchange of expertise and experience.

The regional seminar brought together national and international experts, and representatives from investment promotion offices, ministries of trade and economy, as well as representatives of private sector associations and chambers of commerce, foreign firms and investment companies. Participants came mainly from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. 

Regional Meeting of National Coordination Committees to Follow-up on Global Conferences

Representatives from Arab states met in Amman, Jordan on 3-5 September 2001 to participate in the Regional Meeting of the National Coordination Committees, aimed at promoting coordination between Arab countries in the follow-up and implementation of recommendations and plans of action adopted in the global conferences.

The regional meeting was organized by ESCWA and UNDP in collaboration with the Jordanian Ministry of Planning and focused on the following global conferences: the World Summit for Children, the International Conference on Population and Development, the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, the World Summit for Social Development and the Second UN Conference on Human Settlements or Habitat II.

 Better Agricultural Revenue for ESCWA States

ESCWA has teamed up with the World Bank in a campaign to improve agricultural strategies in Arab countries to help further the quest for more benefits from the new trade agenda. Expert staff from the two international institutions and representatives of five selected ESCWA member states—Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria—attended a four-day workshop in Beirut on 2-5 July 2001.

The capacity-building workshop entitled the “Capacity Building Workshop on Agriculture and the New Trade Agenda: Capturing the Benefits for the Middle East”, assisted governments in evaluating their interests and options and formulating strategies that would strengthen their negotiating stands, when addressing such issues as finding markets for their export products and maintaining proper standards to uphold a competitive edge.

Among the issues addressed were the need for quantitative economic analysis to evaluate the implications of the new trade agenda on the region, the reforms necessary at domestic and regional levels, and to boost human and institutional capacity to implement commitments under the WTO agreements to ensure effective participation in future WTO meetings.

 Developing Trainers’ Skills for Rural Community Development

ESCWA’s campaign for the development of rural communities in its 13 member states is gathering steam with a scheme for training local community workers on capacity building firmly on track after initial surveys identified an alarming shortage of skills and expertise.

ESCWA’s target is to increase productivity and reduce poverty in rural communities to ultimately curb migration to urban centers. However, the first stages of implementing development pilot projects in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon helped expose the weaknesses and strengths of local potential. These also revealed that agriculture and agrarian development was a centerpiece of any attempt at social and economic development in the ESCWA region, where rural communities make up about 44.5 percent of a total population of more than 300 million

This prompted ESCWA to cooperate in the development of trainers with other agencies, namely the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations, United Nations Volunteers, as well as Mercy Corps and the regional Center on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development for the Near East.  

ESCWA launches redesigned website

On 6 August 2001, ESCWA launched its redesigned web site. Catering to the international community, the United Nations system and its member States and civil society, the web site offers extensive information on the operation of ESCWA and its activities in the region. The site can be accessed through http://www.escwa.org.lb.

The web site focuses on the substantive activities of ESCWA, offering information about projects, meetings and publications in the fields of economic and social development; energy, natural resources and the environment; and sectoral issues and statistics. As part of the enhancement of the web site, certain pages of interest to the countries of the ESCWA region will be translated into Arabic and the site will, as appropriate, provide links to useful databases.