Distinguished Guests
Colleagues and friends,

Good Morning. I am pleased to welcome you all to the UN House in Beirut. It is indeed a timely and momentous opportunity to draw on this distinguished group for deliberating current and evolving challenges facing the Arab world, and addressing salient development issues on the regional and international levels.

Colleagues,

We are meeting in interesting times indeed. Our region is going through a complete facelift, which started nine months ago. Although we do not know what the exact features of this new face, but the signs we have thus far are highly encouraging. We have seen transitions towards democracy in three Arab countries take place; Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and we are seeing an increasing number of managed reforms being introduced in others. Though not complete yet, they have shown all of us that there is no turning back and that the winds of democratic change have finally blown over the Arab world.

Nonetheless, as much as these transitions hold great promise they also pose serious, albeit controllable, challenges. As you are fully aware, the unprecedented wave of political dynamism calling for transformative change in the region, has also raised the expectations of a populace that has contested the diminishing ability of the state to provide them with the decent and productive lives they aspire for. Managing these expectations may prove a daunting task for these new fledgling democracies. Another key challenge would be building inclusive institutions and fostering a democratic culture, while averting a setback or a relapse into violence.

These challenges will invariably impact the way we work. The Youth-led uprisings has challenged us out of our comfort zones and forced us to re-think our approach to addressing poverty and sustainable development. That is why, now more than ever before, a new development paradigm that reaffirms the centrality of human beings and responds to people’s aspirations for human dignity and social justice, has become imperative.

UN development agencies have a key role to play in spearheading this new development discourse focusing on good governance, social justice and equity, stability and cohesion, and employment-led growth, and buttressing the sense of national identity. But how do we do that?

Clearly, we must become more responsive to the needs of our constituencies. We must be able to formulate policies that are tailored to the specificities of the countries of the region, collectively and individually. We must enhance partnerships and engage with civil society and the private sector if we want our vision for development to be inclusive. All concerned stakeholders have to pool their resources by working effectively together to create innovative solutions that address the real needs of the region we serve.

As ESCWA, we also have to build a more adaptable organization that is able to not only foresee change but also adjust its work program in response to it. We need to break out of the static models that have often guided the way we plan our work and become more attuned to the change forces that are shaping the region and the genuine needs of our constituencies. Those regional organizations that do not do so, will find themselves left behind and irrelevant.
Friends,
ESCWA must be able to develop a clear, strategic, and focused vision that supports member countries throughout this decisive period. We have a critical role to play in rallying actors at the regional level around broad economic and social policy priorities and articulating a development paradigm that fosters equitable and sustainable development.

Against this backdrop, we have revisited our programme priorities and directions in preparation for our biennium work program for the coming two years. After a series of internal consultations, we have articulated five priority areas which would constitute its strategic objectives up to the end of 2015.

These priorities include, equitable and sustainable growth, social justice, equity and good governance, regional integration, knowledge and innovation, and last but not least, resilience and responding to crisis and conflict.

I call upon you to review, scrutinize and validate these five strategic objectives. My hope is that we can conclude tomorrow with a clear direction of how to translate these objectives into policies. I encourage you, as you discuss these Objectives, to focus on identifying the key obstacles and bottle-necks in advancing them, actions and future initiatives to overcome them and important measures for further implementation, as well as highlighting new challenges and emerging issues in the realm of socio-economic development.

I thank you for taking the time to be with us today which signifies support for ESCWA and the region, and your commitment to the cause of an Arab Renaissance. I hope that this important event will help us contribute to a better and more prosperous future for all, and that it assists in mobilizing the resources needed for accelerating economic and social development in the region.

Please accept my best wishes for a productive meeting. Thank you.