United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said agriculture is by far the main user of freshwater, and unless we increase our capacity to wisely manage its use, we will fail to end hunger and we will open the door to a range of other ills, including drought, famine and political instability. The admonition came in a message by Ban on the occasion of the World Water Day, which was marked today by at the UN House in Beirut by ESCWA, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Information Centre in Beirut (UNIC).

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, (UN-ESCWA), Mr. Bader Al Dafa, arrives in Amman tomorrow, Tuesday, to open the inter-regional forum on “Trade Facilitation and Regional Trade Agreements” held on 14-15 November 2007 in Kempinski Hotel in Amman, Jordan. During his visit, Al Dafa is to meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abdelelah Al-Khatib, the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Mrs. Suhair Al-Ali, and the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Salem Khazaaleh.

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) today said the Arab Spring is a knowledge and professional challenge for United Nations agencies which these organizations do not shun, and have rather begun to reconsider the development paradigm itself building on lessons from this experience. ESCWA Deputy Executive Secretary Nadim Khouri said the Arab Spring has amplified responsibilities of governments, international organizations and peoples to identify their clear path towards a national and Arab developmental, revivalist project.