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What’s
Ahead @ ESCAP |
| www.unescap.org |
December
2006 |
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Tsunami/multi-hazards
warnings system to be inaugurated in Sri Lanka
On
the second anniversary of the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami, UNESCAP
Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su will join Sri Lanka’s
Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe,
in inaugurating a community-based
tsunami and multi-hazards early warning system in Hikkaduwa,
Sri Lanka. The project, a joint UNESCAP-Sri Lanka initiative funded
by the Republic of Korea, focuses on multi-hazard preparedness and
comprehensive risk reduction, which links national and regional capacities.
UNESCAP’s contribution includes three warning towers for voice and
siren, to be located in Hikkaduwa, Kumanai, and Jaffna, Sri Lanka,
as well as training of personnel. The project aims to support ongoing
efforts by Government of Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Road Map
for Disaster Risk Management,’ launched in May 2006, which emphasizes
the establishment of the National Early Warning Centre of Sri Lanka. |
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 Key
Economic Developments and Prospects in the Asia-Pacific Region
set for launch
The
Socio-Economic Analysis Section of UNESCAP’s
Poverty and Development Division will launch Key
Economic Developments and Prospects in the Asia-Pacific Region 2007
at a press conference on 12 December. The publication provides
a forward looking analysis focusing primarily on the principal policy
issues and challenges likely to confront Governments in the region
over the near term. The 2007 edition will analyze the region’s
current economic growth, advise policy makers of region key economic
issues to be watched closely, and provide an outlook for the new year.
The publication will be available on UNESCAP’s
website after the launch. |
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Fighting poverty as obligation, not charity theme of 2006 Human Rights
Day
The Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and
UNESCAP will commemorate International
Human Rights Day on 11 December with a programme highlighting
the core link between poverty and human rights. The programme with
feature messages from various UN and Thai Government officials, a
panel discussion on this year’s theme, Fighting Poverty:
a Matter of Obligation, Not Charity, and a film festival showing
short films on human rights. The annual observance of Human Rights
Day worldwide commemorates the day in 1948 when the UN General Assembly
adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |
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 Trade
and Investment Division to hold trade facilitation seminar for SPECA
countries
UNESCAP’s
Trade and Investment Division, in collaboration with the Ministry
of Economy and Trade of the Republic of Tajikistan, will conduct a
seminar
on trade facilitation for Central Asian countries in Dushanbe
from 12-13 December. The meeting will focus on a number of trade-related
issues related to WTO negotiations as well as regional trade agreements,
among other things. On 14 December a one-day inaugural meeting
of the Special
Programme for Central Asia Project Working Group on Trade
will be organized by UNESCAP and its sister organization, the UN
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The Working
Group aims to increase the capacity of Central Asian countries to
develop regional trade integration and facilitation policies, and
increase their competitiveness in regional and global markets. Launched
in 1998, the UN Special
Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) is jointly
supported and implemented by the UNESCAP and UNECE. Its members are
Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. |
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 62nd
Commission to resume on 21 December, determine venue for 63rd session
UNESCAP’s
62nd Compassion will resume in Bangkok for a
one-day session on 21 December to determine the duration,
date and venue for the sixty-third session. Once delegates have met
at the UN Conference Centre, the UNESCAP secretariat will submit the
Commission’s recommendation to the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC) for consideration and approval
at its resumed session in early 2007. The 62nd Commission previously
met in Jakarta, Indonesia from 6-12 April 2006. |
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 Workshop
to focus on compilation of international merchandise trade statistics
The
UN’s New
York-based Statistics Division (UNSD) and UNESCAP’s
Statistics Division will conduct an international workshop
on the country practices in the compilation of international merchandise
trade statistics for South and South-East Asian countries. The workshop,
scheduled in Bangkok from 12-15 December, will review the replies
to the Questionnaire on the National Compilation and Dissemination
Practices and discuss current recommendations on international merchandise
trade statistics contained in International Merchandise Trade Statistics
Concepts and Definitions (IMTS, Revision 2). The effort is part of
UNESCAP’s ongoing work to improve the statistical capabilities
of its members by strengthening national statistical infrastructure
and promoting improvement in data quality, international comparability,
and the appropriate use of new techniques. |
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Special
Observances and Meetings |
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| The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the United Nations. The information contained herein may be freely reproduced. What’s Ahead @ ESCAP is published monthly by the United Nations Information Services Bangkok. Tel: +(66-2) 288-1861-66 • Fax: +(66-2) 288-1052 • E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org | |||