Your Excellencies,
Colleagues Representing Sister U.N. Agencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to be among you today and to represent the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in this important coordination meeting. I bring to you the greetings of the ESCWA Executive Secretary, Dr. Rima Khalaf who has placed partnership with the League of Arab States front and centre of the organization’s partnership strategy.
LAS and ESCWA are longtime partners in development in the region. Since its establishment, the Commission has viewed its partnership with LAS as a critical component in its regional role, both by mandate and in practice. The two organizations support the political processes leading to regional declarations and agreements on priority issues, and have jointly engaged in producing data and knowledge in different areas of economic and social development.

The Arab region today is beset with political upheavals promising fundamental structural changes in the social, economic, and political arenas, at levels official and governmental as well as public and societal. This critical moment in the history of our region offers a great opportunity for our organizations to reorganize our cooperation along lines that are clear, strategic, focused, and responsive to the current challenges. The region cannot afford scattered and reactive development initiatives. Today we have the opportunity to lead by example, putting into practice cohesive programmes of cooperation targeting the most critical priority issues.
Luckily we can draw on years of experience of successful and fruitful cooperation with LAS and U.N. Partners. The partnerships are too many to enumerate, but I mention here a few:
The recently concluded Rio +20 Conference is one such example where ESCWA and UNEP worked in close partnership with LAS and in particular with the Council of Ministers Responsible for the Environment. With ESCWA support, a regional, multi-stakeholder consultative process was put in place to harmonize Arab positions towards the objectives and themes of Rio+20. With consultations taking place in Arab cities from Amman, to Cairo, to Beirut, to Jeddah, to Dubai, and Damascus, involving policy makers, civil society and the private sector, the Arab Region consolidated its views on the themes of Rio +20 and demonstrated its regional coherence and weight in the discussions in Brasil.
Similarly, ESCWA is now working with U.N.F.P.A. and LAS to support regional preparations for the International Conference on Population and Development at 20.
Through the Regional Coordination Mechanism, the R.C.M., ESCWA collaborates with LAS and all Regional U.N. Partners to ensure regional policy coherence on issues of strategic relevance to the region. ESCWA considers LAS a Co-Chair of this mechanism and together we coordinate a number of initiatives including those related to food security and regional statistical harmonization. The Thematic Working Group of the R.C.M. on M.D.G.s also produces the Regional Millennium Development Goals Report, a major flagship report that benefits from the contributions of all constituents.

A close partnership between ESCWA and LAS has also resulted in the establishment of a regional Internet Governance Forum that brings multiple stakeholders to review issues of internet governance that are high priority for the region.
These are only some of the exciting initiatives at ESCWA that we look forward to discussing with you over the next few days and exploring opportunities for real and meaningful partnership and collaboration.
Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In its recent 27th Ministerial Session, ESCWA welcomed the expression of interest for membership by three new countries: Tunisia, Libya and Morocco. While their formal adoption as Member Countries awaits approval by ECOSOC, we are keenly aware that our relevance is strengthened by a membership that could only bring LAS and ESCWA closer together, emphasizing our joint commitment to a broader vision of Arab prosperity and development.
Cooperation between LAS and ESCWA has been, and will continue to be, an integral part of the long-standing strategic partnership between the two organizations. This cooperation has a long history and, Inshallah, a very bright future.