This year’s International Women’s Day will be commemorated by the United Nations system in Thailand in two parts, namely: (1) a commemorative ceremony on 8 March; and (2) a special substantive session featuring a panel presentation on 25 March. The global theme for International Women’s Day is “Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all”. Both events will be held in the United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) in Bangkok. For the 8 March ceremony, a commemoration of the day by UN system staff will feature the reading of the Secretary-General’s message as well as a performance and screening of a film. For the 25 March event, the Thematic Working Group for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (TWG-GEEW) Task Force on International Women’s Day is planning to organize a special panel presentation and discussion on the theme “Women Speak Up! Voices from the Informal Sector” with a keynote address by a prominent women’s leader and other speakers from Government, civil society and grassroots organizations. The panel discussion will be followed by a reception and exhibition of UN agencies and non-governmental organizations.

India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT) and ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division will be hosting a workshop on lessons for policy makers in the area of trade, investment and regional integration in New Delhi, India from 11 to 12 March 2010. The aim of the workshop is to disseminate the most recent research conducted by Indian researchers affiliated with ARTNeT and to provide a forum for information exchanges on trade, investment and regional integration between Indian policy makers and researchers.

ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division will organize a one-day workshop for the country representatives of the Global Compact Local Networks (GCLNs) on 14 March, back-to-back with the Global Compact Asia-Pacific Regional Conclave 2010: “Enhancing Enterprise Value through the Global Compact” in New Delhi, India. The event is part of an ESCAP project entitled Investors for Development (I4D), which aims to increase the contribution of business to sustainable development. The key objective of the workshop is to enable the Local Networks to effectively select and recruit business leaders as future GCLN Business Champions. The meeting will be attended by GCLN Focal Points and selected Global Compact signatory companies from 17 Asia-Pacific countries namely Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Australia.

ESCAP, with the support of the Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO) of the Republic of Korea, is organizing a Regional Workshop on Strengthening Institutional Capacity to Support Energy Efficiency in Asian Countries from 24 to 26 March in Bangkok. The Workshop is expected to assist developing countries in Asia, specifically 23 countries from Central, South and South-East subregions in enhancing the capacities of their energy efficiency institutions. The Workshop will focus on the current status of energy efficiency institutions, their frameworks and challenges towards sustainability of their institutions. It will also discuss national and subregional perspectives on institutional barriers for effective implementation of energy efficiency policy, and the challenges to overcome these barriers. The workshop will also identify effective institutional arrangements and conditions to strengthen institutional environment to support energy efficiency policies. Representatives from three subregional energy centres – ASEAN Centre for Energy, Eurasian Economic Community, and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – as well as representatives from KEMCO and many other international organizations are expected to participate in the Workshop.

The Expert Group Meeting on Sustainable Transport Development will be organized by ESCAP’s Transport Division from 29 to 30 March at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok. The meeting forms part of a joint project of ESCAP and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) entitled “Eco-efficient and Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in Asia and Latin America.” The project seeks to promote the application of eco-sufficiency as a key criterion for sustainable infrastructure development. The Meeting, focusing on Eco-efficiency in Freight Transportation and Logistics, will provide the experts with an opportunity to share information and experience on good practices in urban freight transportation, as well as to consider and propose a set of indicators for planning and development of sustainable freight transportation, and to consider strategies and policy guidelines on eco-efficient sustainable freight transportation.

ESCAP will conduct a Training of Trainers Course on Integrated Water Resources Management as a Basis for River Basin Organisations Management from22 to 26 March in Yangon, Myanmar. The Training Course will be hosted by the Department of Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of Myanmar. The training course will focus on key functions essential for sustainable management of water resources. These key functions represent the core responsibilities of a water management agency. The training course is particularly targeted at the staff of river basin organizations (RBOs) within the region. Participants are expected to be experienced managers and/or trainers (with experiences and/or responsibility in training and/or RBO management) and are expected to take this training forward at the local or regional level and/or to use the knowledge in management of their respective RBO. The workshop will use adult learning tools, focusing on participants by sharing their own experiences, and guided by the introduction of new conceptual approaches and tools. There will be a combination of short lectures, practical exercises, group work and discussion. The course will be supported by training materials developed by Cap-Net. Content will also be generated by other partners and course participants. Participants are expected to bring in experiences with the application of water resources management for adaptation to climate variability.