The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) held an expert group meeting entitled Environmental Economic Accounting for the ESCWA Region in Beirut on 14-16 October 2009. The meeting was held to discuss the publication Framework for Environmental Economic Accounting in the ESCWA Region, prepared by ESCWA in 2009, which led to an implementation programme for the System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA) in member countries.



While international migration is one of the main factors driving economic and social change in the Arab region, the continuing displacement of populations occurring in several countries of the region remains one of the most pressing issues of today. In order to understand and make the most of the positive effects of migration – and to mitigate its potential downsides – a new approach, underpinned by good practice, human rights and a long-term development perspective, is needed.

The Expert Group Meeting on Monitoring Progress on Governance amid Arab Political Transformation, organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon, on 11-12 June 2014, brought together international and regional experts, and senior government officials, who agreed that progress towards accountable, transparent and participatory governance in the region required a good monitoring tool at the national level.  Such a tool would be instrumental in enabling decision-makers to implement the policies and programmes needed to improve governance.

ESCWA's Unit for Emerging and Conflict related Issues (ECRI) is organizing, in partnership with the Lebanese Economic Association (LEA) and the consultancy firm Marker Global, a regional meeting on "Strengthening Private Sector Resilience under Conflict: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward", from 11-12 November 2008, in Beirut.