Site map | Search | Contact Us

UNESCAP home

Office of the
Executive Secretary


Information Resources



Press releases

UNESCAP News Bulletin

UN Focus newsletter

UN Asia-Pacific News

Newsy events for your diary

Right to Development


Email Webmaster | Legal Notice

 

History


Shanghai ......Sala Santitham, Bangkok

Established in 1947 in Shanghai, China, as the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) to assist in post-war economic reconstruction, the Commission moved its headquarters to Bangkok in January 1949. The name was changed in 1974 to reflect both the economic and social aspects of development and the geographic location of its member countries. UNESCAP's mandate was broadened in 1977 by the General Assembly. The regional commissions have since then been the main UN economic and social development centres within the five different regions.

Strengthened by 50 years of experience as a regional think-tank, UNESCAP's activities are more and more concentrated on spreading the growth momentum from its more dynamic member countries to the rest of the region. The ultimate challenge lies in bringing some 830 million of the region's poor into the economic mainstream, enabling everybody to achieve a better standard of life as envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations.

Back to UNESCAP Home Back to UNIS