With the support of the Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India, ESCAP’s Transport and Tourism Division has organized meetings in New Delhi for chief executives and members of national freight forwarders and logistics associations as well as professional transport bodies. They will meet on 7 July and 9 July, and they are expected to discuss a range of issues including the international and national regulatory environment in transport, strengthening dialogue between governments and the industry, the impact of rising energy costs, the emergence of dry ports in Asia, and creating sustainable learning pathways for skills development in the industry.

The World Federation of United Nations Associations will hold its 3rd Asia Pacific Model UN conference in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 21-26 July. As with previous conferences in China and India, the conference in Korea will be a simulation of ESCAP’s commission sessions. The UN Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Public Information, Kiyo Akasaka, is expected to attend the conference.

ESCAP will present the Research Programme Consortium on Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts at a forum entitled “Where’s the Power in Women’s Empowerment?” The forum will be held on 4 August in the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok. It will explore fundamental power structures as determinants of men’s and women’s empowerment and disempowerment, which in turn influence equality and access to rights, as well as engender understanding on how policymakers and other stakeholders can support women’s empowerment initiatives as well as to assess development assumptions implicit in the Millennium Development Goals. Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, will chair a panel of speakers, which will include Ms. Yakin Ertürk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women.

Regional Meeting To Exchange National Experiences On Health Financing

ESCAP will hold a regional meeting on “Sustainable health financing strategies to improve access to health care” in Bangkok, from 23-25 July, with the aim of providing a forum to exchange national experiences, not only by Ministries of Health but also by other Ministries, as well UN and donor agencies, on health financing in particular. The meeting is organized as a regional activity for two sustainable health financing projects, inviting six pilot countries as well as other ESCAP member states, other UN agencies and donor agencies.

ESCAP, the UN Children’s Fund and ECPAT International will hold the East Asia and the Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents from 18-19 August at the UN Conference Centre. The meeting, which will provide regional government, civil society and youth stakeholders with an opportunity to assess progress and emerging trends, will primarily focus on reaching agreed targets that can serve as East Asia and Pacific region’s input for the World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, which will be hosted by the Government of Brazil, 25-28 November, in Rio de Janeiro.