What’s Ahead @ UNESCAP: A look at upcoming meetings and events in November 2010

What’s Ahead @ ESCAP

UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

www.unescap.org		November 2010
ESCAP Transport Committee to Discuss Regional Connectivity The Second Session of the ESCAP Committee on Transport will be convened from 1 to 3 November at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. The Session will bring participants from across the Asia-Pacific region to discuss strategic guidelines for promoting regional connectivity. The Session will focus on topical issues including the development of an intergovernmental agreement on dry ports, transport issues of concern to archipelagic and island developing countries, and strengthen inter subregional cooperation.

Transport Experts to Discuss Development of Regional Dry Port Network The ESCAP Transport Division will organize, in conjunction with the Second Session of the ESCAP Committee on Transport, a Regional Expert Group Meeting on the Development of Dry Ports along the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway Networks from 1 to 3 November at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. The meeting will bring together more than 60 experts from 30 countries to discuss institutional, regulatory, technical as well as operational issues related to dry port development. Participants will also share experiences and lessons on dry port development and operation.

ESCAP, WTO to Organize Seminar on Agricultural Trade Liberalization for Policymakers ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division, in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO), will organize the Regional Seminar on Agreement of Agriculture and Agriculture Negotiations in Hanoi, Viet Nam from 1 to 3 November. The main purpose of the seminar is to enhance understanding of policymakers and negotiators from Asia-Pacific on issues related to multilateral liberalization of trade in agriculture. Nearly 40 participants will be briefed on the current state of play in agriculture trade negotiations under the ongoing Doha Development Round. Special sessions will emphasize regional interests as well as trends in market access for agricultural goods under Millennium Development Goal 8.

UN Organizes a Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Maldives, the Ministry of Economic Development, Maldives and the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will organize a Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the UN Global Compact from 1 to 2 November in Maldives. The Forum is part of the ESCAP project Investors for Development (I4D) which seeks to increase business contribution to sustainable development. The Forum will aim to formulate a framework to address CSR in the context of Maldives. More than 60 participants including companies, educational institutions, NGOs, and government officials have confirmed their participation.

UN ICT Capacity Building Hub and Partners to Review Flagship Programme The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT) will organize the Second Academy Partners Meeting to review its flagship capacity building programme for government leaders from 3 to 6 November in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The meeting will bring together 30 Academy Partners from 21 Asia-Pacific countries to discuss the current state and future plans of the Academy which works to equip government leaders with ICT skills and knowledge to fully leverage ICT for socio-economic development (ICTD). Subsequently, APCICT, will organize the Consultative Workshop Turning Today’s Youth into Tomorrow’s ICTD Leaders from 7 to 9 November in Incheon, Republic of Korea. To be held in conjunction with a regional conference of the Asia Economic Community Forum (AECF), the workshop will bring 79 policymakers and experts in the field of tertiary education from 29 countries in the region to enhance ICTD (information and communication technology for socio-economic development) curricula in the Asia-Pacific region. The event is a preliminary step in APCICT’s Strengthening ICTD Education in Institutions of Higher Learning project, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of ICTD in tertiary education through advocacy to policymakers, governments and relevant partners in the Asia-Pacific region. The Consultative Workshop is an official event of AECF, a forum of Asian and world leaders to explore Asia’s identity and discuss the region’s future economic direction.

Development Seminar to Examine Impacts of Population Aging on Economic Growth As part of ESCAP Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division’s Development Seminar Series, Dr. Amonthep Chawla from Thailand Development Research Institute will make a presentation on "Population Changes, Intergenerational Transfers and the Macroeconomy: The National Transfer Accounts (NTA) Approach" on 8 November at ESCAP Secretariat in the MPDD meeting room. The presentation will provide details on the use of the NTA to analyze macroeconomic impacts of the demographic transition and population aging. The presenter, an expert on NTA, was an instructor in a number of training workshops held in Asia, Africa and the USA and published his research in various journals including Asian Population Studies and Asia-Pacific Population Journal. For more details, see Asian Population Studies and Asia-Pacific Population Journal and http://www.unescap.org/pdd/SeminarSeries/Chawla_8Nov10/index.asp.

Regional High-Level Expert Group Meeting to Discuss Flood Risk Reduction in Pakistan ESCAP, in partnership with the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Pakistan and the Government of Pakistan, will organize a Regional High-level Expert Group Meeting to Rreduce Flood Disaster Risk in Pakistan in Islamabad, Pakistan from 9 to 10 November. The meeting will provide a venue to share information on recent assessments of the Pakistan floods, including the one ESCAP and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) will conduct in which participants will discuss early warning and preparedness perspectives, exchange information and experiences on flood disaster risk reduction strategies by inviting regional experts, and help identify regional cooperation opportunities. Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Executive Secretary of ESCAP will be present at the meeting together with the Hon. Minister of Finance, Government of Pakistan. The UNCT will be represented by the UN Resident Coordinator and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will represent the Government of Pakistan. The outcome of the meeting will focus on integrating disaster risk reduction into recovery and reconstruction plans and will be fed into the country’s recovery and reconstruction plan supported by the UNCT.

ADB President Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda to deliver the fourth ESCAP Distinguished Persons Lecture on “Regional Economic Cooperation and Connectivity in Asia-Pacific” ESCAP announces that Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), will deliver a Distinguished Person Lecture on “Regional Economic Cooperation and Connectivity in Asia-Pacific” on 11 November at 1030 hours at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. The lecture will discuss the importance of a deeper degree of economic integration across the region, which will contribute to creating more business and employment opportunities, sustaining growth, raising standards of living and reducing poverty. Mr. Kuroda has been serving as the President of the Asian Development Bank and the Chairperson of ADB’s Board of Directors since 2004. Prior to joining the ADB, Mr. Kuroda was Special Advisor to the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. During his distinguished career with the Japanese Ministry of Finance that spanned nearly four decades, Mr. Kuroda helped steer the Asian nations through the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and under his leadership as Vice Minister of Finance, he helped establish the Chiang Mai Initiative, a network of currency swap agreements. He is also author of several books on monetary policy, exchange rates, international finance policy coordination, international taxation, and international negotiations. For further details and online registration: http://www.unescap.org/pdd/distinguished_persons_lectures/kuroda/kuroda.asp

ESCAP Training on Sustainable Development for Bangladesh Corporations ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division, in collaboration with the Global Compact Local Network (GCLN), Bangladesh and Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) Centre, will organize a training course titled “Embedding Global Compact and Sustainability into Your Organization” from 22 to 24 November in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The training, part of the ESCAP Investors for Development (I4D) project, is designed to give hands-on knowledge to companies in Bangladesh on the implementation and reporting of the UN Global Compact. Participants are expected to produce a draft strategy and action plan to implement the ten principles of the Global Compact in their business operations, as well as a draft Communication on Progress (COP). Staff in Bangladeshi companies who are responsible for implementing CSR and sustainability strategies, will attend.

ESCAP Meeting to Discuss Strategies to Promote Ecoefficiency in Water Infrastructure Development The Environment and Development Division of ESCAP, in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), is organizing the Third Regional Workshop on Eco efficient Water Infrastructure Development for Green Growth in Asia and the Pacific from 23 to 25 November at the United Conference Centre in Bangkok. The workshop will discuss the strategies/action plans on how to promote eco efficiency in water infrastructure in the region and to strengthen regional partnerships and networking for eco-efficient water infrastructure development in the region.

ESCAP ICT Committee to Consider Cutting Edge Contributions of ICT in Bridging Economic and Social Divides The Second Session of the ESCAP Committee on Information and Communications Technology will be organized at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok from 24 to 26 November. The Committee will review the latest ICT developments, with particular attention to the astounding role of the mobile revolution in accelerating economic growth and social progress. The Committee will also consider emerging challenges related in particular to the slow diffusion of broadband technologies which threatens to recreate the digital divide characteristic of the early phase of the IT revolution. A VIP Forum on Information and Communications Technology for Development and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Asia and the Pacific, comprising high-level panelists from member States, industry, and academia will share views on dynamic ICT developments, address policy challenges and propose areas for regional cooperation. During the session, ESCAP will launch the Asia-Pacific Gateway on DRR and Development, a web portal that aims to enhance information and analysis sharing, but more specifically to promote mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction into development planning processes, including ICT policy development. The Committee meeting will be preceded by an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on Strengthening ICT Policies and Regional Cooperation from 22 to 24 November to review latest regional findings on 1) ICT connectivity and the regulatory environment; 2) emerging trends in new ICT applications in key socio-economic sectors; and 3) areas for regional cooperation.

UN Regional Agricultural Engineering Centre to discuss Strategic Plan The United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (UNAPCAEM) will hold its Sixth Session Technical Committee on 1 December Kuala Lumpur (Putrajaya), Malaysia. This year’s session will be preceded by a two-day facilitated strategic planning workshop, scheduled from 29 to 30 November. The two events are co-hosted by the Mechanization and Automation Research Centre of the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI). Seventeen participants and observers from as many countries are expected to attend the Workshop to discuss and provide inputs to the Centre’s draft strategic plan. The Workshop will review the Centre’s past performance, analyze its current financial and human resource situation, discuss its programme of work and identify core areas for future work. The resulting draft strategic plan, to be presented to the UNAPCAEM Governing Council in January 2011, is expected to strengthen UNAPCAEM’s role as a knowledge hub for innovative agro-technologies to promote poverty reduction and environmentally sustainable agriculture in the Asia-Pacific region.

Special Observances and Meetings
International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa (2001-2010) Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010) United Nations Literacy Decade: Education for All (2003-2012) Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (2005-2014) United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) International Decade for Action: Water for Life (2005-2015) Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions (relating to the Chernobyl disaster) (2006–2016) Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017) International Year of Youth (IYY): Dialogue and Mutual Understanding (August 2010 -2011) United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification (2010–2020) International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (6 November) World Science Day for Peace and Development (10 November) World Diabetes Day (14 November) International Day for Tolerance (16 November) World Philosophy Day (18 November - Third Thursday in November) World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Day (19 November) Universal Children’s Day (20 November) Africa Industrialization Day (20 November) World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (21 November - Third Sunday in November) World Television Day (21 November) International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November) International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29 November)



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