The United Nations ESCAP Pacific Operations Centre (EPOC) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) are organizing the ‘Pacific High Level Dialogue on Mauritius Strategy of Implementation +5’ from 8 to 9 February in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The main objective of the meeting is to review the progress made in addressing the vulnerabilities of small island developing States through the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and to identify the way forward for further addressing the vulnerabilities of these States. The meeting will finalize a regional synthesis report prepared by ESCAP, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and other regional partners. The report will be presented to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) at its 18th session in May 2010. CSD-18 acts as the Preparatory Committee to the high-level review meeting scheduled during the 65th General Assembly later this year. Pacific SIDS Governments as well as UN organizations and specialized agencies have been invited to participate in the meeting in Port Vila. Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP will be a keynote speaker at the meeting.

ESCAP, in collaboration with Japan's Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the City of Kitakyushu, is organizing the Kitakyushu Initiative for a Clean Environment: Fifth Meeting of the Kitakyushu Initiative Network, from 10 to 11 February in the Japanese City. The meeting is expected to be attended by mayors, representatives and experts from local governments, national ministries/agencies/institutes, international organizations, academia, media and the general public. As the Kitakyushu Initiative is coming to an end, the objectives of the meeting are to: a) share the main outcomes of the Kitakyushu Initiative activities, especially environmental improvement achieved by the member cities; b) confirm the outcomes of the environmental commitments expressed by 12 cities during the 4th Kitakyushu Initiative Network Meeting in June 2007; c) discuss the applicability of models and mechanisms identified through the Kitakyushu Initiative activities; d) discuss the roles and impacts of the Kitakyushu Initiative, as well as inter-city networks in general; and e) discuss recommendations for a framework for a new inter-city network incorporating the lessons learned by the Kitakyushu Initiative activities.

ESCAP and UN partners, in collaboration with the Asia Development Bank, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the University of the South Pacific and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, will hold the Pacific Conference on the Human Face of the Global Economic Crisis from 10 to 12 February in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The Conference, to be hosted by the Government of Vanuatu, will bring together more than 200 high-level officials from 16 Pacific Island Countries, experts from UN agencies, regional organizations, donor agencies and academia. The Conference will address ways in which countries and their development partners can lessen the impacts of the global economic crisis in the region and build resilience for future crises. The Conference will also identify the impact of the crisis on the most vulnerable people, including children, youth, women, people with disabilities, as well as the urban and rural poor. The three key themes of the conference are: (i) measures to protect the poor and vulnerable and address the issues they face; (ii) the need for inclusive economic growth, social protection and green growth; and (iii) sustainability to tackle future crises. The outcome of the Conference will be reported to the Pacific Forum Leaders at their 2010 Meeting. Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, will be the keynote speaker at the meeting.

The 37th session of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) will be held in Phuket, Thailand, from 15 to 19 February. The session will review the 2009 tropical cyclone season, coordinate activities with the ESCAP programme on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and the WMO Tropical Cyclone Programme, and plan the work programme of the Panel for 2010 and beyond. Participants will come from the eight member countries of the Panel: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The PTC is a regional body jointly established by the WMO and ESCAP in 1973. Its main objective is to promote measures to improve tropical cyclone warning systems in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, including dissemination of technical information on tropical cyclone research and forecasting operations to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of tropical cyclone-related disasters. The Panel develops activities under three main components: meteorology, hydrology, and disaster prevention and preparedness.

The regional partnership of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) forged since 2004 to support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Asia and the Pacific region is jointly launching its latest report on 17 February in Manila, the Philippines. The report, Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10, will be jointly presented by Noeleen Heyzer, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP; Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB Vice President and Ajay Chhibber, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. The launch will be followed by a panel discussion on vulnerability and social protection as well as a Theme Workshop for the 2010 MDG Report.

The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development — a regional institute of ESCAP (APCICT-ESCAP), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the National Information Society Agency (NIA) of the Republic of Korea will be jointly organize national consultation workshops in Mongolia, the Philippines and Viet Nam as part of the project on “Improving Public Services through Information and Communication Technology (ICT).” The first national workshop will begin in the Philippines from 22 to 25 February to discuss detailed requirements of the project outcomes, namely e-Government Maturity Model, ICT project guidebook and sector-specific e-Government roadmaps. To support its capacity building initiatives, APCICT will launch a Briefing Note Series that aims to provide at-a-glance information of key ICT for development (ICTD) issues for policymakers. The first set of the eight Briefing Notes focuses on policy considerations drawn from the eight modules of the Academy-APCICT’s core curriculum. All knowledge resources will be available on the e-Collaborative Hub at http://www.unapcict.org/ecohub.