|
In his 1998 report on the United Nations regional commissions
within the context of a programme for reform of the United
Nations, the Secretary-General reaffirmed the role of the
commissions in exercising "team leadership and responsibility
for coordination and cooperation ... of the relevant economic and
social activities of the United Nations system in their respective
regions". In order to place the regional coordination effort
directly under his aegis, he requested the Deputy
Secretary-General to convene yearly meetings, in each of the
geographical areas, between the regional commissions and all the
United Nations funds and programmes, agencies and entities engaged
in regional and intercountry activities. The purpose of these
meetings is to effect the exchange of information, facilitate
coordination and promote joint action in order to reinforce
synergies and avoid overlapping of activities. The
Secretary-General added that, when warranted, he would delegate
the chairmanship of such meetings to other senior officials,
including the executive secretaries of the regional commissions.
Follow-up activities would be further pursued by the Executive
Committee on Economic and Social Affairs and the United Nations
Development Group.
The Economic and Social Council welcomed the Secretary-General's
efforts to improve coordination within the United Nations system
and endorsed his recommendation of the yearly regional meetings,
to be chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General.
The process was launched during the first semester of 1999 with
the convening of regional meetings at the seats of the five
regional commissions. At each of these meetings, the Deputy
Secretary-General underscored that the purpose was to achieve
greater coherence and coordination among the activities of the
United Nations system at the regional level without creating
cumbersome and costly bureaucratic layers.
The first regional meeting of the Economic and Social Commission
for Western Asia (ESCWA) was held at United Nations House in
Beirut on March 1999 under the chairmanship of the Deputy
Secretary-General. At this meeting, the United Nations Regional
Coordination Group (RCG) for the ESCWA region was established.
Information and documents related to the activities of this
coordination group are posted on this RCG page and will be
periodically updated. The purpose is to facilitate communication,
ensure transparency and enable users from within and outside the
United Nations system to make the best use of the various
capabilities it commands in the region.
Since the functions of the RCG are entrusted to the ESCWA
secretariat, this web page is included as part of the ESCWA web
Site. In addition to the RCG web page, the ESCWA site provides
links to the web Sites of other United Nations entities in the
region, where information and documents related to their
activities can be accessed. These entities, meanwhile, are
encouraged to use the RCG web page to post information of their
own.
|
