United Nations

UNIS/INF/160
27 July 2006

UNESCWA Executive Secretary Arrives in Vienna, Follows up Commission's Work Programme

VIENNA, 27 July (UN Information Service) -- The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA), Mervat Tallawy, has arrived in Vienna, where she will be following up on the implementation of the Commission's work programme from the United Nations offices at Vienna.

Shortly after her arrival, Ms. Tallawy met with Antonio Maria Costa, Director-General, United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) and Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and discussed with him the ongoing cooperation between UNESCWA and UNODC. During the meeting, Ms. Tallawy expressed her appreciation for the support of UNOV in providing temporary offices and facilities for UNESCWA.

Ms. Tallawy had announced last week that the official headquarters of UNESCWA would remain in Beirut and that the Deputy Executive Secretary, Atef Koborsi, was taking charge of the Commission's work assisted by staff members from all divisions. Accordingly, the UNESCWA website ( www.escwa.org.lb ) can be visited as usual. News from the Commission is updated regularly.

UNESCWA is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations, considered the regional arm of the world body in the Western Asia region. The objective of UNESCWA is to support economic and social cooperation among the countries of the region and promote the development process to achieve regional integration. UNESCWA is composed of 13 members: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

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