The Executive Committee was established pursuant to Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) resolution 320 (XXVIII) at its twenty-eighth session in September 2014, after amending the terms of reference of the Technical Committee, redesignating it and increasing its executive role within ESCWA.  The Executive Committee plays an important role in steering and coordinating all of the Commission’s activities, tracking the implementations of recommendations and the application of discussed agendas, as well as following up on important regional and global issues including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The Executive Committee is held biennially since June 2015. It held its second session in Amman, from 14 to 16 December 2015.

The Executive Committee of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) will convene its third meeting, in Rabat, from 6 to 7 May 2017.  Representatives of ESCWA member states will participate in the meeting.

At its third session, the Executive Committee will review action taken with regards to the Doha Declaration on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; recommendations emanating from the 29th Ministerial session of ESCWA (December 2016), and the recommendations made by the Executive Committee at its second meeting.  Other global and regional issues to be discussed include: outcomes of international conferences, including Habitat III- the New Urban Agenda, Quito (October 2016) and COP22, Marrakech (November 2016).  The Committee will also review a progress report on Financing for Development and the Addis Ababa Agenda, a report on the Digital Future in the Arab World, as well as assess the outcomes of the Arab Forum on Sustainable Development 2017.  Finally, it will present the proposed programme of work for the 2018-2019 biennium to member states and seek their reviews.