The Social Development Division at ESCWA has conducted in the period of four months in 2010 three online discussion forums on the following thematic areas: (a) Government -civil-society participation in public policy processes including social policies (1 July to 30 August 2010); (b) Media and Development (1 August to 30 September 2010); and (c) Social Integration towards achieving participation (1 September to 30 October 2010).

​Within the framework of the “Regional Initiative for Promoting Small-Scale Renewable Energy Applications in rural areas of the Arab region (REGEND)” Project, the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is partnering with the Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP), University College London, RELIEF Centre and Chatham House to organize a workshop on “Transitions to Renewable Energy and Sustainable Prosperity in Lebanon: The Role of Municipalities, Education and Future Scenarios for 2030”.
 
The objective of this workshop is to discuss how alternatives and equitable energy supply systems can be built in Lebanon. The dialogue will be tackling issues such as the chronic lack of data about energy use and demand, the potential of government policies to enable equitable energy supply and the stakeholders’ engagement to effectively contribute to Lebanon’s long-term development goals.

With the aim to increase awareness on the latest developments concerning assessment of trade policy trends in member countries, ESCWA is organizing an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on "Trade Policy Trends in ESCWA Member Countries and Their Respective Implications on Trade and Economic Performance". The Meeting will be held in Beirut, Lebanon, during the period 17-18 December 2008.

Geographic location is needed to know where a situation is present or where an event has occurred, and to allow decision makers to respond. The integration of geospatial information with data and statistics for SDGs is also instrumental for the production of a number of indicators and in enabling data interoperability across data ecosystems and linking data sets within and across countries.