In an effort to raise awareness and interest on social policy and social protection issues among ESCWA member countries, ESCWA's Social Development Division, in collaboration with the Community Development Authority (CDA)-Government of Dubai (UAE), are organizing an Arab Forum on Social Policy on 28 and 29 October 2009 at the UN House in Beirut. The Forum, which will be held immediately following the Seventh Session of the Committee on Social Development, is structured along two complementary thematic pillars: Social Policy Planning and Social Protection.

This two-day meeting brings together representatives of government agencies and organizations of the UN system, as well as regional experts from civil society and academia, with the aim of enhancing national capacity to integrate social priorities and perspectives in public policies, and initiating an on-going process of dialogue on issues of social policy and human development.

A Knowledge Fair will be organized on the sidelines of the Forum as an alternative to formal presentations. It will provide participants the opportunity to show-case an element of their work on social policy or social protection, and to browse information and material such as publications, brochures, and posters, or audio-visual displays, and on-line interactive sessions, at their leisure