Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me pleasure to welcome you all to the twenty-seventh session of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia here at the United Nations House in Beirut. I greatly appreciate your participation in this session and your ongoing efforts for its success, which attest to your firm commitment to the issues and priorities of the region and to the need to work together to realize the aspirations and ambitions of its countries and peoples.
ESCWA works to keep track of the conditions, changes and aspirations in the region to ensure that its programmes are informed by the real situation of the region and the ambitions of its peoples. It also works to achieve regional integration through harmonization of legislation for the benefit of future generations. ESCWA functions as mediator in bringing successful developments, practices and experiences from development processes around the world to its member countries while keeping in mind the cultural specificities of the region. Conversely, it conveys the aspirations and concerns of its member countries to the international community for incorporation into the global development agenda. In so doing, ESCWA helps the countries of the region to meet economic and social challenges and bring progress and prosperity to their peoples.
The Arab countries are witnessing exceptional circumstances that need not be recapitulated here. Our fear is that we might be entering a spiral of political tensions and instability that will lead to setbacks for economic and social development. Data already suggest that if current negative trends continue, including a decline in investment and growth rates and an increase in unemployment, mostly attributable to deteriorating political and security conditions, addressing the social consequences will become increasingly difficult, and the prospects for future generations increasingly murky.
In preparation for the ministerial segment to be held on 9 and 10 May, today’s and tomorrow’s meetings will take up a number of important programme, administrative and organizational questions, as well as a number of general issues of pressing concern to member countries.
We will consider the following programme, administrative and organizational questions:
• The programme performance report for the biennium 2010-2011, which includes results achieved and obstacles and challenges faced by ESCWA in the course of implementation;
• Proposed amendments to the work programme for the biennium 2012-2013;
• The revised draft strategic framework for the biennium 2014-2015, which defines the Commission’s orientation and work in accordance with the needs and development priorities of member countries. The secretariat has tried to reorder the priorities of ESCWA to adjust to the transformations being undergone by the region;
• An overview of the evaluation policy adopted by ESCWA, measures taken to implement it, and expected results. This includes an evaluation conducted by the secretariat of some of its subprogrammes, its Development Account projects, its work methods and its intergovernmental mechanism, with a view to improving accountability, credibility and benefits from previous experiences;
• The request of Tunisia for membership in the Commission, which ESCWA welcomes warmly with a view to expanding ESCWA to include all Arab countries and enhancing cooperation with the League of Arab States to provide technical support to those countries.
In accordance with your decisions at the sixth meeting of the Commission’s Technical Committee held in Beirut on 1 and 2 December 2011, there will be three round tables on the following policy issues of importance to the ESCWA region:
1. The role of participation and social justice in achieving sustainable and balanced development, which you chose as the main theme of the session, and which is intimately linked to the realization of development aspirations for all;
2. Preparations for Rio+20 in the Arab region, which I hope will contribute to bringing the priorities and concerns of the countries of the region to the attention of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 20 to 22 June 2012;
3. Inclusive financing in the ESCWA region: current situation and future prospects, which is a vital issue for the future benefit of all segments of society, especially those who are marginalized and live under the burden of poverty and deprivation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am confident that your debates and discussions in the course of the two coming days will contribute to orienting the work of ESCWA in the coming period in accordance with your priorities and issues of concern to you.
I welcome you again and wish you all a fruitful and successful meeting and a pleasant stay in Lebanon.
Thank you.