The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia ( ESCWA ; Arabic : الإسكوا ) is one of five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council . The role of the Commission is to promote economic and social development of Western Asia through regional and subregional cooperation and integration.
24-671: The Commission is composed of 21 member states , all from the regions of North Africa and the Middle East . The Commission works closely with the divisions of the Headquarters in New York and United Nations specialized agencies , as well as with international and regional organizations. Some of its regional partners include: the League of Arab States , the Gulf Cooperation Council and
48-711: A federation or confederation . Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states , neither organization ever speaks of "member states". The WTO has simply "members" (see WTO members ), and the IMF refers to its members as "member countries". The oldest global member state based organization is the International Telecommunication Union , which joined
72-464: A false and defamatory report in the name of the UN, it is appropriate that the person resign." She had assisted in appointing Falk to write the report, and defend its contents. Israel described her as an anti-semite . "A few weeks ago ... together with our American friends, we made clear that Rima Khalaf, an anti-Semite, a promoter of BDS , will not be tolerated in the halls of the UN", Israel's ambassador to
96-519: A former UN human rights investigator for the Palestinian territories, and Virginia Tilley , professor of Political Science at Southern Illinois University. It criticised Israel's law of return for Jews. 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
120-891: A request from the UN Secretary General António Guterres to withdraw a report that accused Israel of establishing an apartheid regime . Khalaf holds a BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut and a Master's in Economics and a Ph.D in System Science from Portland State University in the United States of America. Rima Khalaf Hunaidi held several high-ranking ministerial positions in Jordan, including: In her capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and head of
144-598: 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 AFP . The UN Secretary-General António Guterres had distanced himself from the report and the document was removed from UN website on Friday, March 17, 2017. The report Executive Summary
168-604: The Arab States . She was the founder of the pioneering Arab Human Development Report . The first Report in the series, entitled "Creating Opportunities for Future Generations", received the 2003 Prince Claus Award. The third Report, entitled "Towards Freedom in the Arab World", received the King Hussein Leadership Prize in 2005. Khalaf is a regular contributor to regional and international policy forums concerned with
192-749: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation . The Commission was first established by the 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. Its main mandate was to "initiate and participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for
216-706: The United Nations System as a Specialized Agency of the T1088 after the creation of the UN. In history: Rima Khalaf Rima Khalaf Hunaidi ( Arabic : ريما خلف ; born 1953, in Kuwait ) is a national of Jordan who served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) from 2010 to 2017. She resigned from this position in March 2017, rather than comply with
240-416: The UN saying the UN had pressured her to withdraw a report published by ESCWA , co-authored by Richard Falk , accusing Israel of establishing "an apartheid regime". The UN Secretary-General António Guterres requested the removal of the report from the UN website after previously distancing himself from it. United States UN ambassador Nikki Haley , commenting on the resignation, said: "When someone issues
264-707: The UN, Danny Danon , told attendees at the UN. However, Khalaf has dismissed previous Israeli allegations of anti-Semitism and has stood by the report. Khalaf received the League of Arab States award for "the Most Distinguished Arab Woman in the Field of International Organizations" in 2005 and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the American University of Cairo in 2009, in recognition of her "important regional initiatives in education, women's rights, civic engagement and economic growth". In December 2009,
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#1733085977499288-607: The United Arab Emirates (2008), Qatar (2010), Mauritania (2013), and Kuwait (2020). In June 2021, Egypt announced that female judges would take seats in Public Prosecution and State Council in October that year. 33°53′41″N 35°30′08″E / 33.8946°N 35.5021°E / 33.8946; 35.5021 Member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of
312-459: 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 $ 27.4 million. Additionally, since 2014, the Commission has received $ 7.1 million in voluntary contributions to help implement national and regional activities. The Commission has four main budgets: the regular budget,
336-404: The demographic character of Israel to the point of eliminating it as a Jewish state". 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. The report itself said it had established on the "basis of scholarly inquiry and overwhelming evidence, that Israel
360-583: The economic reconstruction and development of Western Asia." 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. The following are all member States of the Commission: The Commission's headquarters have been located in the Central District of Beirut, Lebanon since 1997. Prior to this,
384-540: The headquarters moved between multiple cites. The first headquarters of the Commission were located in Beirut from 1974–1982. They then moved to Baghdad , Iraq, from 1982–1991. Finally, they were located in Amman , Jordan, from 1991–1997 before moving back to Beirut. The following is a list of the Executive Secretaries of the Commission since its foundation: The budget of Commission comes mainly from contributions from
408-639: The ministerial economic team, Khalaf promoted economic reform in Jordan while working on promoting social development through building human capital , alleviating poverty and strengthening social safety nets. Khalaf held the position of Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS) at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from 2000 to 2006. She led important regional initiatives on education , knowledge acquisition and economic growth in
432-670: 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 fulfill its mandate as laid out in the Strategic Framework. In 2017, the regular budget was $ 19.9 million. The regular programme of technical cooperation line item works to support member states in formulating sustainable socioeconomic development policies. In 2017,
456-686: The regular programme of technical cooperation budget was $ 2.3 million. The development account line item helps fund capacity building projects at national, subregional, regional and interregional levels. In 2017, the development account budget was $ 1.9 million. 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, extra budgetary projects budget
480-411: The situation of women in the judiciary system, in which only three countries had not appointed female judges yet, including Oman, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. Other countries which already had female judges were: Iraq (1959), Morocco (1961), Algeria (1962), Sudan (1965 or 1976), Lebanon and Tunisia (1966), Yemen (1971), Syria (1975), Palestine (1982), Libya (1991), Jordan (1996), Egypt (2003), Bahrain (2006),
504-908: The state of development in the Arab world. She participated in a number of international commissions chief among them are the High Level Commission on the Modernization of the World Bank Group Governance (2008–2009), and the International Advisory Group for Managing Global Insecurity (2007–2008). Ms. Khalaf also served as the Chairperson of the Advisory Board of the United Nations Democracy Fund (2006–2007). She
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#1733085977499528-512: Was $ 3.2 million. On March 15, 2017, UNESCWA released a report accusing Israel (not a UNESCWA member state) of being an " apartheid regime " due to Israel's relations with Palestinians both inside and outside Israel. The report was officially withdrawn and removed from UN websites after criticism from the Secretary-General who said it had been issued by ESCWA without approval. The document was co-authored by Richard Falk , professor of International Law and Practice Emeritus at Princeton University and
552-606: Was a visiting scholar at Harvard University during the spring semester of 2009-2010. Also in 2008-9 Khalaf served as the chief executive officer of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation . Khalaf served at the United Nations as Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) from 2010 to 2017. On 17 March 2017, Rima Khalaf announced her resignation from her position at
576-530: Was also deleted from the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL). On March 17, 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. In 2019, ESCWA reported regarding
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