What’s Ahead @ UNESCAP: A look at upcoming meetings and events in December 2012

What’s Ahead @ ESCAP

UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

www.unescap.org		December 2012
SIAP to convene the 8th Session of its Governing Council in Bangkok The Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) will hold the 8th Session of its Governing Council from 6 to 7 December in Bangkok, Thailand. During the annual session the Governing Council will review the administration and financial status of SIAP and its implementation of work. The Governing Council of SIAP comprises representatives from 9 countries -Japan, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Republic of Korea and Thailand.

ESCAP to Hold High-level Meeting on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics in Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok The High-level Meeting on the Improvement of Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) in Asia and the Pacific will take place from 10 to 11 December in Bangkok, back-to-back with the Committee on Statistics (12 to 14 December). The High-level Meeting will be hosted by ESCAP and the World Health Organization (WHO), and is being co-organized with 18 additional partners. Participants from over 45 countries will include senior representatives of the statistics, health and civil registration sectors, as well as non-government organizations. The objective of the High-level Meeting is to review the political, institutional and resource challenges facing member States in improving their CRVS systems with the aim of reaching consensus around the key actions needed to enhance these systems in Asia and the Pacific through a draft Regional Strategic Plan. Importantly, the High-level Meeting will open on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day (10 December), providing the opportunity to highlight the association of human rights and civil registration and vital statistics.

Expert Group Meetings on Rethinking Macroeconomics and Green Jobs for Youth The Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division of ESCAP will organize the annual Expert Group Meeting on Macroeconomic Outlook and Challenges in the ESCAP Region on 11 December 2012 at the United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok. This year’s meeting will critically evaluate the macroeconomic policy framework of the last three decades which emphasized the stabilization role of the macro policies to the neglect of their developmental role. It will also call for rebalancing of macroeconomic policy framework and argue for targeted expenditure in key areas, such as generation of employment, that are fundamental for inclusive and sustainable development. This meeting will be followed by an expert group meeting on “Green Jobs for Youth” from 12 to 13 December 2012, organized in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. This meeting attempts to gain a better understanding of the challenges in creating green jobs as well as identify promising initiatives and examples of green jobs for youth employment creation within Asia and the Pacific.

Meeting of Partners for Statistics Development in Asia-Pacific to be held in Bangkok The 4th Meeting of Partners for Statistics Development in Asia-Pacific will take place in conjunction with the 3rd Session of the Committee of Statistics of ESCAP on 12 December 2012, from 17:30-19:00 hours, at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok. At the meeting, the partners will be updated on the progress of work in various strategic areas of partners’ collaboration including economic statistics, agricultural and rural statistics, high-level event on civil registration and vital statistics, and social statistics. The partners will also discuss how they can better engage in and support different regional initiatives. The Partnership is a regional network of international, regional and sub-regional organizations and bilateral donors concerned with the statistical development in Asia and the Pacific. The main purpose of the partnership is to improve the combined impact of capacity building activities through enhanced coordination, synergy and complementarity among partners.

ESCAP High-level Intergovernmental Forum to Review Major Regional Initiatives to Improve Official Statistics ESCAP will convene the third session of the Committee on Statistics, the highest regional intergovernmental forum on statistics development, from 12 to 14 December at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok. The Committee session will that consider and make decisions on a number of issues of strategic importance that are crucial in shaping the statistical systems of the region in years to come in order to meet the information needs of governments and civil society. For deliberation and decision at the session are major regional programmes to improve economic statistics, agricultural and rural statistics, and civil registration and vital statistics. Top government statisticians will also consider a proposed core set of social statistics to be used as a guide for capacity development efforts as well as the region’s future work on environmental statistics. In addition, the Committee will deliberate on the establishment of a regular forum to continue dialogue and collaboration, in order to create a more adaptive and cost-effective information management environment for national statistical offices in the face of the flood of data that is created by the interaction of vast networks of mobile phones, computers and sensors – known as Big Data. The Committee will also debate and decide on regional contributions to the post-2015 development agenda in response to demands for broader measures of social and economic progress. The Committee on Statistics will also organize a side-event on ICT statistics on 14 December from 10 to 12 am. It will be the first time that the issues related to the measurement of ICT are brought to the attention of the Committee on Statistics of ESCAP.

8th Governing Council Session of the Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization to be convened in Bangkok ESCAP’s Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization (CSAM) (formerly known as the United Nations Asian and Pacific Centre for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery) based in Beijing, China, will hold its 8th Governing Council Session on 13 December at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok. The Meeting will report on the activities undertaken by the Centre in 2012, share the report of the Eighth Session of the Centre’s Technical Committee, seek guidance on moving the Asia-Pacific Network for Testing of Agricultural Machinery (ANTAM) towards formal establishment in 2013, and discuss the Centre’s proposed work plan for 2013 and programme of work for 2013-2014. It is expected that the Session will be attended by nominated representatives from Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. CSAM has a renewed mandate to promote sustainable agricultural mechanization and green agro-technology transfer for food production in the Asia-Pacific region and has been positioned to spearhead regional efforts to address the emerging challenges of climate change and regional sustainable development.

8th Governing Council Session of the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology ESCAP’s Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) based in New Delhi, India, will hold its 8th Governing Council Session on 14 December at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. The Meeting will review the activities undertaken by the Centre in 2012 and those planned for 2013 and discuss relevant administrative matters. Proposals for strengthening the financial base of the Centre, particularly to meet the increased costs of personnel and infrastructure, will be tabled this session. It is expected that the Session will be attended by nominated representatives from Bangladesh, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

ESCAP to Hold an Expert Group Meeting on Inclusive and job-enhancing trade: Asia-Pacific opportunities ESCAP’s Trade and Investment Division will organize an Expert Group Meeting on “Inclusive and job-enhancing trade: Asia-Pacific opportunities”, at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok on 14 December. The Expert Group Meeting is organized in the context of the Trade and Investment Division's programme of analytical work and the preparation of the Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2013, which is a background document for a session of the Committee on Trade and Investment (to be held in November 2013). The event will bring together distinguished policymakers, academics, analysts and practitioners from a wide range of countries to discuss the latest findings and issues relevant for making trade an instrument of inclusive, equitable and stable development. The event will provide an opportunity for the Division and the secretariat to sharpen understanding of the mechanisms by which trade is linked to sustainable poverty reduction and fairer distribution of income.

ESCAP to Launch the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2012: Year-end Update ESCAP will launch the Year-end Update of ESCAP’s annual flagship publication, the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2012 on 14 December at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand. The key message of the Update is the need to undertake well-targeted fiscal and monetary policies directed to productive and social sectors of the economy with high employment intensity and to enhance regional cooperation. Besides contributing to sustained economic growth, such coordinated and well-designed policies at both national and regional levels can also contribute to food and energy security, disaster risk reduction and climate change mitigation while advancing developmental aspirations of Asia-Pacific countries.

The 16th session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee on the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development ESCAP will organize the 16th session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) on the Regional Space Applications Programme for Sustainable Development (RESAP), 17-18 December 2012, Bangkok. The ICC session will review and deliberate on the operational modalities of the Regional Cooperative Mechanism on Disaster Monitoring and Early Warning, Particularly Drought (the Mechanism), including the secretariat arrangements. It will also discuss on the survey and questionnaire prepared to access the needs and capacities to update the regional space capacities compendium. In consideration of the ESCAP Resolution 68/5 on “Asia-Pacific Years of Action for Applications of Space Technology and the Geographic Information System for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development, 2012-2017”, this year’s ICC will have an added focus on deliberating, formulating and endorsing the Plan of Action for the implementation of the Resolution for the next 5 years.

Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting on the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action to be organized in Cambodia ESCAP in cooperation with the Government of Cambodia will jointly organize the Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting on the Implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) from 17 to 19 December in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The meeting will bring together key stakeholders of the IPoA who are directly involved with the implementation of the IPoA. Member governments, experts dealing with LDC issues, the UN system, relevant regional organizations, development partners and a broad spectrum of civil society representatives from Asia and the Pacific will also be invited to attend the meeting. The main objective of the Regional Meeting is to review the progress made and challenges encountered by Asia-Pacific LDCs in implementing the IPoA since its adoption in May 2011. Based on the discussion in the meeting, a draft forward looking Outcome Document on the Implementation of the IPoA will be adopted. The draft Outcome Document will form the basis of a document which will be submitted to the Special Body on LDCs and LLDCs during the 69th annual ESCAP Commission session during 25 April to 1 May 2013 as part of the biennial review of the IPoA by member States. For further information:http://www.unescap.org/pdd/calendar/CSN-AP-RegionalMeeting-IPoA-SiemReap-Dec2012/index.asp.

Intergovernmental Meeting on Asia-Pacific Years of Action for Applications of Space Technology and the Geographic Information System for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development, 2012-2017, to be Held in Bangkok Intergovernmental Meeting on Asia-Pacific Years of Action for Applications of Space Technology and the Geographic Information System for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development, 2012-2017 to be organized on 18-20 December 2012, Bangkok. Towards the implementation of the ESCAP Resolution 68/5 on “Asia-Pacific Years of Action for Applications of Space Technology and the Geographic Information System for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development, 2012-2017”, the Intergovernmental Meeting, kindly co-organized with ESCAP by the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) of Thailand, will consider, finalise and adopt a Plan of Action for the next 5 years. The Resolution and this meeting would adopt the plan to enhance efforts at the national and regional levels to broaden and deepen the contribution of space technology and the GIS to addressing issues related to disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management as well as environment and development by increasing relevant activities at the national, subregional and regional levels.

North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation Meeting to be Held in China The East and North-East Asia Office of ESCAP, as the NEASPEC Secretariat, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China will co-host the 17th Senior Officials’ Meeting on the North-East Asian Subregional Programme for Environmental Cooperation (NEASPEC) from 20 to 21 December in Chengdu, China. The Meeting will review and discuss implementation of the Rio+20 outcomes and the potential role of NEASPEC in facilitating subregional activities as well as implementation of the ongoing and new programmes of NEASPEC, including projects on transboundary air pollution, nature conservation, mitigation of dust and sandstorms and eco-efficiency partnership.

Symposium on Economic Growth and Employment Creation in South Asia to be Organized in India The South and South-West Asia Office of ESCAP, together with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Institute for Human Development (IHD) are organizing a Symposium titled “Economic Growth and Employment Creation in South Asia: Perspectives for an Inclusive Growth Agenda” on 21 December in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. The Symposium will be held at the 54th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics convened under the auspices of Banaras Hindu University. The main objective of the Symposium is to deliberate on the key challenges faced by South Asian countries in achieving inclusive growth with decent employment and to provide a perspective for policy and action. The Symposium is expected to bring together senior academics and heads of think-tanks from countries in South Asia, including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.


Special Observances and Meetings
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) United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification (2010–2020) Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-2020) United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (2011-2020) Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2011-2020) International Year of Family Farming 2014 International Year of Crystallography 2014 International Year of Water Cooperation 2013 International Year of Quinoa 2013 International Year of Sustainable Energy for All 2012 International Year of Cooperatives 2012 International Year of Sustainable Energy for All 2012 World AIDS Day, 1 Dec International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 Dec International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 Dec International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, 5 Dec International Civil Aviation Day, 7 Dec International Anti-Corruption Day. 9 Dec Human Rights Day, 10 Dec International Mountain Day, 11 Dec International Migrants Day, 18 Dec International Human Solidarity Day, 20 Dec



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