The 27th Ministerial Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) opened on 9 May at the United Nations House in Beirut. Speakers at the opening ceremony were Mr.

Three Palestinian young officials, Kahrumana Jarrar, Head of Department of UN and International Organizations in the Palestinian Ministry of Planning and Adminastrative Development, Rabii Al-Hantouli, First Secretary of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, and Omar A

A group of Political Studies students from the University of Helsinki visited ESCWA on 16 May 2012 and learned about its objectives and programmes.

On 5 June 2012, ESCWA hosted a lecture on the book “Public Health in the Arab World.”

Under the umbrella of ESCWA and the League of Arab States (LAS), the first meeting of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) of the Arab Internet Governance Forum (Arab IGF) was held on 18-19 June 2012 in Cairo, Egypt.

ESCWA gathered today a group of experts, academics, program specialists, government officials, as well as concerned U.N. Entities and other civil society players, to discuss “Barriers Hindering Women’s Economic Participation in the ESCWA Region,” in an expert group meeting at the U.N.

ESCWA Deputy Executive Secretary Nadim Khouri opened today the consultative intergovernmental meeting on the “Water and Energy Nexus in the ESCWA Region” at the UN House in Beirut.

On 20-22 June 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) took place in Rio de Janeiro, capturing global attention and participation.