Participants in the UNESCWA 24th Ministerial Session are due to discuss Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the UNESCWA Region based on a report prepared by UNESCWA in 2005 with the collaboration of several United Nations agencies in the region. The report was prepared in order to facilitate the review of follow-up action by policymakers aimed at achieving the MDGs by 2015.

UNESCWA Executive Secretary Mervat Tallawy presented the topics to be covered by Arab ministers participating in the UNESCWA 24th Ministerial Session, chiefly: the New Challenges in the Region and their Impact on the Work of UNESCWA; Facing Youth Unemployment Problems in the UNESCWA Region; Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the UNESCWA Region: the Damascus Declaration; and Review of the Progress Made by Yemen in the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the decade 2001-2010.

Ministerial delegates participating in the 24th Ministerial Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) called on member countries to make available up-to-date and precise national statistics on youth unemployment; and collect periodic data on all youth-related issues, including employment, education and health, from such sources as administrative records, population censuses, and household and specialized surveys, with a view to establishing national databases on the issues of employment and unemployment and their implications for youth, and for

Beirut, 19 May 2006 (United Nations Information Service)--UNESCWA Executive Secretary Mervat Tallawy headed to Sharm El Sheikh to participate in the World Economic Forum on the Middle East to be held on 20-22 May 2006. Mr. Mahmoud El-Hibr, Maritime Transport Team Leader at UNESCWA, and Mr. Bassam Annani, Senior Economic Affairs Officer in the Globalisation and Regional Integration Division of UNESCWA, are part of the UN Regional Commission’s delegation.