STATEMENT BY MS. RIMA KHALAF
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA (ESCWA)
AT THE OPENING OF THE MINISTERIAL MEETINGS
OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH SESSION
BEIRUT, WEDNESDAY, 9 MAY 2012
Your Excellency Mr. Prime Minister Najib Mikati,
Your Excellency Mr. Sultan bin Said al-Mansouri, Minister for Economic Affairs of the United Arab Emirates,
Your Excellency Mr. Saleh Kharabsheh, Director of the Ministry of Planning of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,
Sir Derek Plumbly, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon,
Honoured Distinguished guests,
Allow me to welcome you to the opening of the Ministerial Segment of the twenty-seventh session of the Economic and Social Commission for West Asia.
Let me start by expressing my gratitude to His Excellency Prime Minister Najib Mikati, under whose auspices this session is being conducted, and take this opportunity to express my utmost appreciation for his strong support of ESCWA and its activities—a support that, I believe, stems from his abiding faith in moving this great Arab nation forward and his firm commitment to any activity that contributes to that goal.
I offer to the delegate of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan my heartfelt thanks for his service as Chair of the twenty-sixth session, which saw substantial and tangible progress in the work of the Commission. And I express my sincere wishes for success to the United Arab Emirates, which has now assumed the Chairmanship of the twenty-seventh session, and my supreme confidence that the work of the Commission will witness yet more progress under its stewardship.
The opportunities and challenges that confront us today are many, but they differ considerably from those that we spoke about during the twenty-sixth session. At that time, we were concerned about the crisis raging in the world’s financial centres, which quickly became a debilitating economic crisis. We watched the countries of the West and saw monumental edifices collapse, and with them the livelihoods of millions. Banks, financial markets, massive intercontinental companies—all collapsed with lightning speed. The contagion spread from one country to the next. Our gazes were fixed on a world that was undergoing changes that threatened to undermine achievements that had been decades in the making.
Today, we witness a different spectacle. Today, it is our region that is producing the newspaper headlines, and it is others who fear the consequences. As far as we are concerned, it is my view that the transformations and developments being witnessed by our countries are for the most part cause for optimism. Some countries in our region are busy building genuinely democratic institutions and recalibrating economic and social policies towards greater justice and equality of opportunity. Others are launching ambitious reform programmes aimed at promoting popular participation in decision making. In many of our countries, both the poor and the better off, we see a serious rethinking of development, as if a consensus has arisen that the old approaches to development no longer respond to today’s needs. Although they produced nominal growth, they impeded genuine development. and they were not conducive to the creation of job opportunities for a new generation of creative young people, who reject any limits that bind or limit their ambition. These are commendable first steps by our countries towards comprehensive and just development that leaves out no- one. That is cause for optimism.
Optimism does not mean that we are out of danger. The lapse into violence in some countries is a cause of grave concern. Violence deprives peoples of their sacred right to life and a secure existence. It squanders precious resources on struggles that are in no-one’s interest, and wastes opportunities to build the future. Let us also not forget the oppressive Israeli occupation of Palestine and other Arab lands that persists in violating international law and moral norms and constitutes a perennial threat to all of the region’s States and their development efforts.
The global economy presents another challenge. The prospects for the global economy, despite some improvement, remain unsettled and far from stable. The powers that be have yet to find fundamental solutions that address the causes of the structural imbalance that brought about the global economic crisis, and which has fuelled widespread protest movements that reject globalization and the current model of unrestrained capitalism. This challenge will become more serious in the medium term because of the structural change in the rules of the international game, as new countries rise to positions of power while others that have exercised control over production and the global economic system for decades are in retreat.
Like earthquakes, these regional and global changes are shifting the very ground beneath our feet. We must implement reforms and development efforts expeditiously to keep up with these changes and to protect our economies and the well-being that is our peoples’ right. Let the first step be recognizing that outside influences and challenges have power over us only to the extent that we allow them to, and that the surest way of confronting those influence and challenges is to counteract weaknesses lurking in the Arab system by working for comprehensive human development rooted in right, justice and the primacy of knowledge in our economies and societies.
It has been my honour to serve as ESCWA Executive Secretary for almost one and a half years. During that time, my sole concern has been the interest of our countries and the well-being of our peoples. My goal has been to continue the worthy efforts of the Executive Secretaries who have gone before me and make this institution a repository of outstanding expertise that can work with our countries’ governments, civic institutions and all our vital sectors to provide them with the knowledge and skills they need to realize their development goals. The first task along that path was to bring the ESCWA secretariat’s work methods up to date and improve its mechanisms for working with member countries, based on four pillars:
The first was to engage development issues with a comprehensive rather than a fragmentary approach, and to make optimal use of the unique characteristics of the Commission, which brings a large variety of social, economic, and even political experience together under one roof.
The second was to bring our assessment methodology up to date to ensure that our development activities are geared towards a comprehensive approach. We are in the process of adopting a new performance evaluation policy that promotes innovation, stresses accountability, and allows us to adapt to changing developments. We believe that this policy will represent a new qualitative model not only within ESCWA but for the United Nations system as a whole.
The third pillar was the development of an administrative structure capable of rapid response to unforeseen changes and the constant stream of international and regional developments.
The fourth pillar was a focus on the quality rather than quantity of outputs . You can expect from us a new and creative intellectual approach, not just a repackaging of material available in other sources. I hope you have started to note the change in our most recent publications.
Finally, let me say how enormously gratified I am by the interest being shown by Arab countries in joining ESCWA. During this session, we have received requests from three countries: Tunisia, Libya and Morocco. It is no secret that the expansion of the Commission’s membership to match the composition of existing regional organizations would be significant. The Commission is a vital link between the regional and the international that both assists countries of the region in responding to international commitments and agreements and conveys the views of the region and its countries to international forums. Carrying out that role efficiently and effectively entails constant coordination with the League of Arab States and its subsidiary organizations, and structural modifications to coordinate between its membership and regional arrangements in force. Expanding ESCWA’s membership would be of enormous benefit to both current and new members. ESCWA is not a funding organization that would have to reduce individual member shares in order to expand. ESCWA is a knowledge supplier, and knowledge is the only commodity for which an increase in consumption leads to an increase rather than a decrease in supply.
Lastly, let me say that I look forward to working with you and with my ESCWA colleagues to build an organization that meets challenges—an organization that looks to the future and invents solutions—an organization that responds with flexibility to the needs of its members.
What we look for is an organization worthy of your pride and confidence.
Thank you..