UN-ESCWA Executive Secretary, Mr. Bader Aldafa stressed today the importance of promoting cooperation among developing countries, as well as the role that public-private partnership could play on this level. Aldafa laid these comments out in the presentation entitled “South-South Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership for Development”, which he made before the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York (Economic and Financial).

ESCWA held an expert group meeting on 30-31 May at the UN-House, Beirut, to discuss and assess the key findings of the study "Policies to Empower Women in the Arab Region: Combating Violence against Women and Girls". ESCWA and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN) had prepared a study with support from the Norwegian Embassy in Lebanon.

Within the context of the 5th Beirut Energy Forum, ESCWA organized a session entitled "The Role of Renewable Energy in Socio–Economic Development in the Arab Region" on 17 September 2014. The session, which was moderated by Moncef Ben Abdallah, Senior Energy Expert, and former Tunisian Industry and Energy Minister, tackled the impact of sustainable energy transition on youth unemployment and job creation opportunities; the impact of Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) deployment; and the role of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in this matter.

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) signed on 20 June a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC). This MoU represents a statement of intent by the parties to work together and outlines the basis, collaboration and joint activities in fields of mutual interest. In the signing ceremony held in Qatar, ESCWA was represented by its Executive Secretary Bader Omar AlDafa, and GOIC by its Acting Secretary-General Loulwa Bint Abdullah Al Musnad.