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Committee on Social Development, 11th session

17
-
18
October
2017
Location: 
Khartoum, Sudan

The Committee on Social Development was established pursuant to resolution 198 (XVII) of 31 May 1994, which was adopted at the 17th Ministerial session of ESCWA and subsequently endorsed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council in its resolution 27/1994 of 26 July 1994. The Committee was established to enhance regional cooperation through the effective participation of relevant parties in member countries in planning and implementing the programme of work of ESCWA in the field of social development. The Committee held its first session in Amman in 1997. This was followed by eight other sessions held in different venues between 1999 and 2013. The tenth session of the Committee was held in Rabat (Morocco) in 2015. The eleventh session will be hosted by the government of Sudan in the city of Khartoum on 17 and 18 October 2017.

The current session aims to provide a forum for member countries to deliberate on priority issues of main concern to them, share experiences and present proposals on all areas of social development. The session will start by reviewing and discussing actions taken by the Social Development Division (SDD) and the progress achieved in implementing its activities on priority issues in the field of social development. The Secretariat will then brief the Committee on follow-up to its recommendations to form an ESCWA Inter-Sessional group of Experts on Persons with Disabilities;  the Questionnaire on the programmes and activities of the Social Development Division; the Tunis Declaration on Social Justice: and Technical assistance on the social dimension of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The eleventh session will proceed to tackle three selected regional issues in the field of social development, namely: the New Urban Agenda; age structural transitions, and intergenerational justice. The  session will provide member countries with the opportunity to examine proposals related to the formulation of the ESCWA programme of work in the field of social development for the 2018-2019 biennium and subsequently make concrete recommendations on ways to streamline these activities and maximize their benefits thereto.