View source for United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

{{short description|Specialized body of the United Nations}}
{{Infobox United Nations
| image         = United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Logo.svg
| image_size    = 130px
| name          = United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia
| map           = 
| map_size      = 130px
| map_caption   = 
| type          = Primary Organ {{endash}} Regional Branch
| abbreviation  = ESCWA
| leader_title  = Head
| leader_name   = Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia <br /> {{flagdeco|Kuwait}} [[Rola Dashti]]
| status       = Active
| formation    = {{start date and age|1973|8|9|df=yes}}
| headquarters = [[Beirut]], Lebanon
| website      = [https://www.unescwa.org www.unescwa.org]
| parent_organization = [[United Nations Economic and Social Council]]
| subsidiaries = 
| footnotes    = {{portal-inline|Politics|size=tiny}}
}}
The '''United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia''' ('''ESCWA'''; {{langx|ar|الإسكوا}}) is one of five [[United Nations Economic and Social Council#Regional commissions|regional commissions]] under the jurisdiction of the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council]]. The role of the Commission is to promote [[Economic development|economic]] and [[Social change|social]] development of Western Asia through regional and subregional cooperation and integration.

The Commission is composed of 21 [[member states]], all from the regions of [[North Africa]] and the [[Middle East]].<ref name="Members">{{cite web |url=https://www.unescwa.org/sites/www.unescwa.org/files/uploads/escwamss.pdf |title=ESCWA Member Countries in Alphabetical Order as Designated by the United Nations |author=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |date=n.d. |website=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |publisher=United Nations |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>

The Commission works closely with the divisions of the [[United Nations Secretariat|Headquarters]] in New York and [[United Nations specialized agencies]], as well as with international and regional organizations. The [[League of Arab States]], the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]] and the [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] are among its regional partners.<ref name="About ESCWA" />

== History ==
The Commission was first established by the [[United Nations Economic and Social Council]] on 9 August 1973 as the ''United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia (ECWA)''. The Commission was the successor to the ''United Nations Economic and Social Office in Beirut (UNESOB)'', which was absorbed into the framework of ECWA.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100023801 |title=United Nations Economic and Social Office in Beirut (UNESOB) |author=Union of International Associations |date=n.d. |website=Union of International Associations |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref> Its main mandate was to "initiate and participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for the economic reconstruction and development of Western Asia."<ref>{{UN doc |docid=E-RES-1818(LV) |body=E |session= |type=R |resolution_number=1818(LV) |title=Establishment of and Economic Commission for Western Asia |date=9 August 1973 |accessdate=23 December 2018}}</ref>

On 26 July 1985, in recognition of the social component of its work, the Commission was renamed to the ''United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)'' by the Economic and Social Council.<ref>{{UN doc |docid=E-RES-1985-69 |body=E |session=1985 |type=R |resolution_number=69 |title=Amendment of the terms of reference of the Economic Commission for Western Asia: change of name of the Commission |date=26 July 1985 |accessdate=23 December 2018}}</ref><ref name="About ESCWA">{{cite web |url=https://www.unescwa.org/about-escwa |title=About ESCWA |author=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |date=n.d. |website=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |publisher=United Nations |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>

== Member states ==
[[File:United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Member States.svg|thumb|350px|A map showing the member states of the Commission]]
The following are all member states of the Commission:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Member States|url=https://www.unescwa.org/about/member-states|access-date=11 July 2024|website=www.unescwa.org}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{flag|Algeria}}
* {{flag|Bahrain}}
* {{flag|Djibouti}}
* {{flag|Egypt}}
* {{flag|Iraq}}
* {{flag|Jordan}}
* {{flag|Kuwait}}
* {{flag|Lebanon}}
* {{flag|Libya}}
* {{flag|Mauritania}}
* {{flag|Morocco}}
* {{flag|Oman}}
* {{flag|Palestine}}
* {{flag|Qatar}}
* {{flag|Saudi Arabia}}
* {{flag|Somalia}}
* {{flag|Sudan}}
* {{flag|Syria}}
* {{flag|Tunisia}}
* {{flag|United Arab Emirates}}
* {{flag|Yemen}}
{{div col end}}

== Locations ==
[[File:UNbeirut.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The Commission's Headquarters are located in Beirut.]]

The Commission's headquarters have been located in the [[Beirut Central District|Central District]] of Beirut, Lebanon, since 1997. Prior to this, the headquarters moved between multiple cites. The first headquarters of the Commission were located in Beirut from 1974 to 1982. They then moved to [[Baghdad]], Iraq, from 1982 to 1991. Finally, they were located in [[Amman]], Jordan, from 1991 to 1997 before moving back to Beirut.<ref name="About ESCWA" />

== Executive secretaries ==
The following is a list of the Executive Secretaries of the Commission since its foundation:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ask.un.org/faq/22205 |title=Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) |author=Dag Hammarskjöld Library |date=24 August 2018 |website=Dag Hammarskjöld Library |publisher=United Nations |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Term
! Name of Executive Secretary
! Home Country
|-
| 1974–1985
| [[Mohammad Said Al-Attar]]
| {{flagcountry|North Yemen}}
|-
| 1985–1988
| [[Mohammad Said Al-Nabulsi]]
| {{flagcountry| Jordan}}
|-
| 1989–1993
| Tayseer Abdel Jaber 
| {{flagcountry| Jordan}}
|-
| 1993–1995
| Sabbaheddin Bakjaji
| {{flagdeco|Syria}} [[Syrian Arab Republic]]
|-
| 1995–2000
| [[Hazem El Beblawi]]
| {{flagcountry| Egypt}}
|-
| 2000–2007
| [[Mervat Tallawy]]
| {{flagcountry| Egypt}}
|-
| 2007–2010
| [[Bader Al-Dafa]] 
| {{flagcountry| Qatar}}
|-
| 2010–2017
| [[Rima Khalaf]]
| {{flagcountry|Jordan}}
|-
| 2017–2018
| [[Mohamed Ali Alhakim]]
| {{flagcountry|Iraq}}
|-
| 2019–present
| [[Rola Dashti]]
| {{flagcountry|Kuwait}}
|}

== Funding ==
The budget of Commission comes mainly from contributions from the United Nations, but also from donations from governments, regional funds, private foundations and international development agencies. In 2017, the total budget of the Commission was US$27.4 million.<ref name="Annual Report">{{cite web |url=https://www.unescwa.org/publications/annual-report-2017 |title=ESCWA Annual Report 2017 |author=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |date=2018 |website=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |publisher=United Nations |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref> Additionally, since 2014, the Commission has received $7.1 million in voluntary contributions to help implement national and regional activities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unescwa.org/work-us/donors |title= Donors |author=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |date=n.d. |website=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia |publisher=United Nations |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>

The Commission has four main budgets: the regular budget, the regular programme of technical cooperation (RPTC), the development account and the extrabudgetary projects account:

# The ''regular budget'' line item is voted on by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] on a biennial basis and provides the Commission with resources fulfil its mandate as laid out in the Strategic Framework. In 2017, the regular budget for ESCWA was $19.9 million.<ref name="Annual Report" />
# The ''regular programme of technical cooperation'' line item works to support member states in formulating sustainable socioeconomic development policies. In 2017, the regular programme of technical cooperation budget for ESCWA was $2.3 million.<ref name="Annual Report" />
# The ''development account'' line item helps fund capacity building projects at national, subregional, regional and interregional levels. In 2017, the development account budget for ESCWA was $1.9 million.<ref name="Annual Report" />
# The ''extra budgetary projects'' line item supports economic and social development under the seven subprograms of the Commission: Economic Development and Integration, Gender and Women Issues, Governance and Conflict Issues, Natural Resources, Social Development, Statistics and Technology for Development. In 2017, the extra budgetary projects budget for ESCWA was $3.2 million.<ref name="Annual Report" />

== Themes and programs ==

=== Implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ===
The ESCWA launched the ''Climate/SDGs Debt Swap–Donor Nexus Initiative'' in December 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Climate/SDGs Debt Swap - United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia |url=https://www.unescwa.org/debt-swap |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=www.unescwa.org |language=en}}</ref> It is directed at [[debt relief]] and at enhancing fiscal space of (middle-income) countries.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=van Driel |first=Melanie |last2=Biermann |first2=Frank |last3=Kim |first3=Rakhyun E. |last4=Vijge |first4=Marjanneke J. |date=2023 |title=The UN Regional Commissions as Orchestrators for the Sustainable Development Goals |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/gg/29/4/article-p561_7.xml |journal=Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=561–590 |doi=10.1163/19426720-02904006 |issn=1075-2846 |doi-access=free}} [[File:CC-BY_icon.svg|50x50px]]  Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [[ccorg:licenses/by/4.0/|Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License]]</ref> This mechanism systematizes debt swaps, which allow creditors to convert debt-serving payments into domestic investments for indebted countries. Debtors thereby invest in climate or [[Sustainable Development Goals|SDG]]-related programs, while creditors may claim higher amounts of [[official development assistance]] or [[climate finance]] without expanding their budgets.<ref name=":2" /> 

=== Women in the judiciary system ===
In 2019, ESCWA reported regarding the situation of women in the judiciary system.<ref name=":0">ESCWA (2019) [https://www.unescwa.org/publications/women-judiciary-arab-states-removing-barriers-increasing-numbers Women in the Judiciary in the Arab States: Removing Barriers, Increasing Numbers]. United Nations publication issued by ESCWA, Beirut, Lebanon</ref> The report found that "the number of female judges has significantly increased in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, the State of Palestine, Morocco and Tunisia". However, "women’s presence remains marginal in most other Arab States".<ref name=":0" /> At that time, two countries had not appointed female judges yet: [[Oman]] and [[Somalia]]. 

Other countries which already had female judges were: Iraq (1959), Morocco (1961), Algeria (1962),<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CptMAQAAIAAJ&q=Belmihoub+Aziz |title=Mideast Mirror |date=July 1962 |language=en}}</ref> Sudan (1965<ref>{{Cite book |last=والمحاماه |first=مركز العربي لإستقلال القضاء |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DUxAQAAIAAJ |title=المرأة والقضاء: أعمال حملة المركز بشأن تمكين المرأة المصرية من تولي القضاء |date=2006 |publisher=المركز العربي لإستقلال القضاء والمحاماه، |language=ar}}</ref> or 1976), Lebanon and Tunisia (1966), Yemen (1971), Syria (1975), Palestine (1982), Libya (1991), Jordan (1996), Egypt (2003), Bahrain (2006), the United Arab Emirates (2008), Qatar (2010), Mauritania (2013),<ref>{{cite web |date=2019 |title=Women in the Judiciary in the Arab States: Removing Barriers, Increasing Numbers |url=https://www.unescwa.org/sites/www.unescwa.org/files/publications/files/women-judiciary-arab-states-english_0.pdf |website=ESCWA |page=25}}</ref> and Kuwait (2020).<ref>{{cite web |date=4 September 2020 |title=Kuwait: First female judges sworn in |url=https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-first-female-judges-sworn-in-1.73630800 |website=Gulf News}}</ref> In June 2021, Egypt announced that female judges would take seats in Public Prosecution and State Council in October that year.<ref>{{cite web |date=3 June 2021 |title=Female judges to take seats in Public Prosecution, State Council in October |url=https://egyptindependent.com/female-judges-to-take-seats-in-public-prosecution-state-council-in-october/ |website=Egypt Independent}}</ref>

== Controversies ==

=== Israel-Palestine report controversy ===
On 15 March 2017, UNESCWA released a report accusing Israel (not a UNESCWA member state) of being an "[[Israel and apartheid|apartheid regime]]" due to Israel's relations with Palestinians both inside and outside Israel.<ref name="UNESCWA20170315">{{cite news|url=https://www.unescwa.org/news/escwa-launches-report-israeli-practices-towards-palestinian-people-and-question-apartheid|title=ESCWA Launches Report on Israeli Practices Towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid|publisher=United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia|date=15 March 2017|access-date=10 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.unescwa.org/sites/www.unescwa.org/files/publications/files/israeli-practices-palestinian-people-apartheid-occupation-english.pdf| title=Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid - ESCWA Report| publisher=The United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) | date=March 15, 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170316054753/https://www.unescwa.org/sites/www.unescwa.org/files/publications/files/israeli-practices-palestinian-people-apartheid-occupation-english.pdf |archive-date=March 16, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The report was officially withdrawn and removed from UN websites after criticism from the [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|Secretary-General]] who said it had been issued by ESCWA without approval.<ref name="TOI20170317a">{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-chief-requests-report-accusing-israel-of-apartheid-be-pulled-from-web/|access-date=17 March 2017|date=10 December 2017|work=Times of Israel|agency=AFP|title=UN chief orders report accusing Israel of 'apartheid' pulled from web}}</ref>

The document was co-authored by [[Richard Falk]], professor of International Law and Practice Emeritus at Princeton University and a former UN [[human rights]] investigator for the Palestinian territories, and [[Virginia Tilley]], professor of Political Science at Southern Illinois University.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-report-idUSKBN16M2IN Israel imposes 'apartheid regime' on Palestinians: U.N. report]. [[Reuters]],  March 16, 2017.</ref> It criticised Israel's law of return for Jews.<ref name="TOI20170317a" /> Falk and Tilley wrote: "Israel defends its rejection of the Palestinians' return in frankly racist language: alleging that Palestinians constitute a 'demographic threat' and that their return would alter the demographic character of Israel to the point of eliminating it as a Jewish state".<ref>{{cite news|last=Eglash|first=Ruth|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/16/is-israel-an-apartheid-state-this-u-n-report-says-yes/|title=Is Israel an 'apartheid' state? This U.N. report says yes|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=16 March 2017|access-date=10 December 2020}}</ref>

[[Rima Khalaf]], United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, had said it was the first to accuse Israel of being a [[racist]] state which had established an apartheid system.<ref name="UNESCWA20170315" /><ref name="BBC20170317">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39310154|title=UN's Rima Khalaf quits over report accusing Israel of apartheid|work=[[BBC News]]|date=17 March 2017|access-date=10 December 2020}}</ref> The report itself said it had established on the "basis of scholarly inquiry and overwhelming evidence, that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid". Israel has condemned the report. "We expected of course that Israel and its allies would put huge pressure on the Secretary-General of the United Nations so that he would disavow the report, and that they would ask him to withdraw it," Khalaf said to [[Agence France Press|AFP]].<ref name="BBC20170317" />

UN Secretary-General [[António Guterres]] distanced himself from the report<ref name="TOI20170317a" /> and the document was removed from UN website on Friday, 17 March 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/head-of-un-body-resigns-as-anti-israel-report-is-withdrawn/|date=17 March 2017|access-date=10 December 2020|work=Times of Israel|title=Head of UN body resigns as her group's anti-Israel report is withdrawn}}</ref> The report's [[Executive Summary]] was also deleted from the [[United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine]] (UNISPAL).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/0FE292B1F4A5971A852580E5004987A8 | title=Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid - ESCWA Report Executive Summary (15 March 2017) | publisher=The United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) | date=March 15, 2017| access-date=March 18, 2017}}</ref>

On 17 March, Khalaf submitted her letter of resignation to Guterres. Following the strong response from Israel, she wrote: "It is only normal for criminals to pressure and attack those who advocate the cause of their victims." She continued to stand by the report.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-un-israel-report-resignation-idUKKBN16O253|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317182651/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-un-israel-report-resignation-idUKKBN16O253|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 17, 2017|title=Senior U.N. official quits after 'apartheid' Israel report pulled|work=Reuters|date=17 March 2017|access-date=10 December 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[United Nations System]]
* [[United Nations Economic Commission for Africa]] (overlapping membership)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.unescwa.org/ Official website]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific}}
[[Category:United Nations Development Group]]
[[Category:United Nations Economic and Social Council|Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia]]
[[Category:United Nations Secretariat|Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1973]]
[[Category:Development economics]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Beirut]]
[[Category:1973 establishments in Lebanon]]
[[Category:International organisations based in Lebanon]]
[[Category:Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the United Nations]]
[[Category:Politics of Asia]]