Beirut, 09 November 2019 (ESCWA)—The United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Ms. Rola Dashti, was nominated for this year’s UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Award for “Staff Engagement”.
 
Dashti, a Kuwaiti former minister and a leading economist, assumed her duties at the helm of ESCWA last February. In April, she established “Young ESCWA”, a network of junior staff, to drive internal reforms and launch a dialogue aimed at including the highest possible number of employees in decision-making.
 
“This is a recognition of ESCWA’s efforts in the past few months to improve the work environment in it,” commented Dashti upon hearing of her nomination. “I feel fortunate to be leading such an energetic, passionate and committed team – a team eager to improve its performance in supporting Arab States to achieve sustainable development,” she said.
 
By this annual award, the UN seeks to honour an individual staff member, a team or an initiative, for engaging staff and creating an enabling environment for constructive interaction. Dashti was shortlisted among some 140 nominations for the 2019 UNSG awards.
 
Ms. Nathalie Khaled, a member of “Young ESCWA”, said that Dashti’s decisions and actions have increased transparency and communication, empowered staff and promoted a culture of innovation, cooperation and teamwork at ESCWA.
 
The winners will be announced on Thursday 21 November at an awards ceremony hosted by the Secretary-General at the UN Headquarters in New York.
 
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For more information:
-Ms Rania Harb, Public Information Assistant, +961-70-008-879; email: harb1@un.org