BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services)---The United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is
organizing its fourth session of the Committee
on Socio-economic Measures to Alleviate Poverty in Rural and Urban Areas on
11-13 December 2001 in Bangkok.
The purpose of the Committee is to “review and analyse
the global and regional trends and developments that have an impact on the
poverty situation in the region, with focus on their correlates in both the
rural and urban contexts, and recommend development policy options and programme
strategies”.
The upcoming
Committee Meeting will focus on two main themes.
First, it will review the progress made in the regional implementation of
the Copenhagen Declaration, Copenhagen+5, and the Agenda for Action on Social
Development in the ESCAP Region. In
particular, the review will focus
on progress made and obstacles encountered in the region in alleviating poverty, expanding employment and promoting social
integration with special reference to the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
The second broad theme will deal with some of the emerging
issues in poverty alleviation. In
particular, the Meeting will discuss the opportunities for alleviating rural
poverty through increased application of information and communication
technology (ICT). In addition, it
will discuss the growing phenomenon of urban poverty in the region focusing on
a) income poverty; b) lack of access to social and physical services; and c)
exclusion from power, covering issues of participation and governance.
The Committee Meeting will be inaugurated by H.E. Ms. Ladawan Wongsrivong, Deputy, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Royal Thai Government and Ms. Keiko Okaido, Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP on Tuesday, 11 December 2001.
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