In preparation for the 24th UNESCWA Ministerial Session to take place in Beirut next May, the ambassadors of UNESCWA member countries will meet tomorrow, Thursday 2 February 2006, at the UN House, Beirut. This comes within the context of an Advisory Committee Meeting that is the first for this year.

The Meeting will open at 11am and include a discussion of the outcome of the High-Level Expert Meeting on the Future Role of UNESCWA in Servicing its Member States until 2010 that took place on 24 and 25 January 2006 at the UN House, Beirut. Participants will also discuss the establishment of the UNESCWA Technology Centre and a regional Mechanism for Building Capacities in Managing Shared Water Resources.

The Advisory Committee was established by UNESCWA resolution 175 (XV) of 18 May 1989 to strengthen the role and performance of the Commission. It consists of heads of diplomatic missions in the host country of the Commission, as well as a high-level representative of the host country. The Advisory Committee plays a consultative role and functions as a major means of communication between member countries and the UNESCWA Secretariat and among member countries themselves on important matters requiring attention during the period between the biennial sessions of the Commissions.