Capacity-building in integrated social policies, tackling poverty and strengthening social institutions were some of the issues discussed on 21 May at ESCWA, when the Regional Commission received Saudi Social Affairs Minister, Youssef bin Ahmad Al Otheymeen and the newly appointed Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali bin Saeed Awwad Oussairi and officials of the Embassy.  

ESCWA and the World Bank held a joint high-level workshop on Thursday 18 March, where they presented the findings and recommendations of a study entitled “Regional Cross-Border Trade Facilitation and Infrastructure for Mashreq Countries”.

Opening statements were delivered by Lebanese Minister of Finance Raya Hassan, ESCWA Executive Secretary Bader AlDafa, and World Bank Director for the Middle East Department, Hedi Larbi.

The Seventh Session of UNESCWA Committee on Transport will convene at the UN House, Beirut, on Monday 17 April 2006 at 10:00 a.m. under the auspices of Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport Mohammed Safadi. The meeting will continue until 19 April and discuss major issues that concern the transport sector due to its importance and its direct impact on the economies of the countries in the region.

A United Nations report launched in Beirut today said governments of the Middle East and North Africa region were lagging behind global averages in reducing disaster risks. The 2011 UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR11) was launched Wednesday in its Arabic version at the UN House in Beirut by ESCWA and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). GAR 11 is the second edition of this biennial UN publication on disaster risk reduction. “Globally, mortality risk for weather-related hazards – i.e.