The United Nations Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), a regional institute of ESCAP, will organize five events in October. APCICT launched the first Russian version of the “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders” (Academy) in Tajikistan on 30 September and is holding the Russian Academy workshop until 2 October. The second workshop is planned for Kyrgyzstan from 5 to 7 October. The Academy course includes a comprehensive ICT for development curriculum and over a dozen partners that are working with APCICT to customize and roll out the Academy at the national level. The third Academy is being organized by the Pacific Island Forum and the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and will take place from 12 to 23 October with government officials from Pacific island States taking part in an intensive e-government training in the Republic of Korea. APCICT will deliver Academy sessions on e-government and ICT project management. The fourth course will take place from 22 to 29 October in Bohol, Philippines, and about 50 senior officials will be trained on the Filipino version of the Academy to be delivered by APCICT’s partner, the Career Executive Service Board under its regular Executive Leadership Programme. Lastly, APCICT will organize with ESCAP’s Social Development Division the Regional Workshop on the Enhancement of ICT Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities, from 13 to 15 October in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

ESCAP in collaboration with the Demographic Institute, Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia, is organizing a Sub-Regional Seminar on Ageing Readiness in South-East Asia and South Asia, from 7 to 8 October in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Seminar will bring together experts on ageing from nine countries as well as representatives from UN agencies and NGOs. The aim is to take stock of the current outlook on ageing and examine different policy contexts in which to respond to the needs and challenges of older persons. The Seminar will discuss issues related to the economic well-being, social support mechanisms and health of the elderly. The gender dimension will be emphasized to identify disparities in the living situation and needs between older women and men.

ESCAP and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of Singapore are jointly organizing a High-Level Expert Group Meeting on Responding to the Global Financial Crisis: Revisiting the Role of Monetary and Financial Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region, from 8 to 9 October in Singapore. The purpose of the meeting is to gather a group of experts including policymakers and academics to address the issues of financial market stability and monetary policy in the aftermath of the current crisis, the second financial and economic crisis to hit the region in a decade. The meeting, in particular, will discuss ways in which the region can move from crisis resilience to crisis resistance by strengthening regional financial cooperation.

ESCAP will organize in Bangkok two Subregional Workshops on Strengthening ICT Policies and Applications to Achieve MDGs and WSIS Goals in South East Asia and the Pacific and in South Asia and Central Asia. The first one on South East Asia and the Pacific will be held from 10 to 20 October, and the other on South Asia and Central Asia will be held from 21 to 22 October. The two workshops will review the current status of ICT access among Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in achieving the goals of the World Summits on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They will also examine technological, policy and financial options, taking into account emerging technologies. The workshops will be attended by ICT policy and decision makers from the target countries, while representatives from India, China and Republic of Korea will share their experiences. Based on ESCAP analysis, the meetings will discuss a possible regional cooperation framework and new modality in involving private companies in the effort to expand ICT access to unconnected and under-serviced areas of these target countries.

The fifth session of the UN Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (UNAPCAEM) Technical Committee will take place from 14 to 16 October in Los Baños, Philippines. The objectives of the Technical Committee are to discuss the Centre’s work Plan for 2010, and to convene an Expert Group Meeting on Application of Green Agricultural Machinery for Sustainable Agriculture in the Asia-Pacific Region. During the meeting, APCAEM’s “Study Report on the Development of Agricultural Machinery in the Asia-Pacific Region” will be shared to provide a macro analysis of the economic and social condition of the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the field of agriculture and agricultural machinery and a country needs assessment focusing on the application of agricultural machinery. The meeting is expected to be attended by 27 Asia and Pacific countries.

ESCAP’s Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division, in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Ministry of Transport and Communication of Tajikistan and the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX) is organizing the Regional Workshop for Knowledge-hubs in Central Asia and Neighbouring Countries, from 21 to 23 October in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The Workshop is an activity of the ongoing United Nations Development Account Project on “Knowledge networks through ICT access points for disadvantaged communities.” The Workshop will assess how knowledge-hubs and telecentre networks in Central Asia: (i) benefit from information and knowledge sharing and networking; (ii) contribute to sustainable and inclusive development paradigm including for e-government, e-business, e-agriculture and other e-applications in relatively under-developed areas; (iii) share best practices on programmes at different levels and relevant policies and institutional experiences; and (iv) contribute to understanding of how resources can be mobilized and make them sustainable within the current development challenges. In addition, the Central Asia Tele-centre Network (CATN), hosted by the International Research and Exchange Board (IREX), will also be launched. The meeting will be attended by the representatives of knowledge-hubs/telecentre stakeholders including managers of the telecentre programmes and networks such as CATN and relevant Government agencies from Central Asian and neighbouring countries and relevant international/regional organizations, private sectors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

ESCAP will support the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in the organization of the Ministerial Meeting for Disability in the Pacific in Rarotonga, Cook islands, 21-23 October 2009. The Ministerial Meeting on Disability will (i) review progress on the implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action and Biwako plus Five; (ii) review ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; (iii) review and discuss government and civil society organisation partnership arrangements at the regional and national level; and (iv) consider the Pacific strategy on disability for endorsement. In this context, ESCAP will organize a ministerial panel to discuss the relationships between these regional and global commitments, and national planning.

ESCAP and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are jointly organizing the Regional Workshop on Community e-Centres for Rural Development, from 29 to 30 October in New Delhi, India. The workshop will examine the achievements of the project on ‘Empowering Rural Areas through Community e-Centres” that is being carried out by ADB and ESCAP under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme, with funds provided by the Japan Fund for ICT (JFICT). The project’s goal is to empower communities and improve the quality of life in rural areas in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal through increased accessibility of information and communication technology (ICT) and the associated ICT applications by establishing community e-centres. The meeting will gather senior officials and resource speakers from the four SASEC participating countries, ICT-related ministries and organizations involved with ICT strategy and policy and telecentre development projects in other countries of Asia and the Pacific region, as well as representatives of international/regional organizations to facilitate the exchange of experience, good practices and lessons learned on CeC.