Transcript ECE Presentation - The UN Regional Commissions

The Dialogue of the Executive Secretaries with the
Second Committee on Inter-regional Cooperation: An
Enabler for the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Mr. Sven Alkalaj
United Nations Under-Secretary-General
Executive Secretary
Economic Commission for Europe
United Nations, New York
October 31, 2013
Strengthened inter-governmental
cooperation will be essential for
addressing the Pan-European
regions' economic, environmental
and social challenges.
– Countries must increase their bilateral
cooperation
– Institutional structures need to be enhanced that
can better facilitate cooperation within regions,
between regions and globally
The recent history of the
region has presented unique
challenges
‒ In eastern Europe disintegration accompanied the transition
from planned economies to market economies
‒ Much has been achieved over the last two decades
‒ 11 former economies in transition are now members of the
European Union
‒ All of non-EU south-east European economies are in CEFTA
and have Stabilization and Association Agreements with EU
‒ Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union progressively
moving towards economic union
‒ EU is negotiating Partnership and Cooperative Agreements
with many former Soviet Union economies
‒ UN SPECA strengthening cooperation in central Asia
‒ EU-Canada and EU-US trade and investment agreements
ECE programmes and activities address core
developmental challenges faced by middle
income countries, these have been shared and
replicated with other regions
Examples: Environment, Statistics, Transport
– National Policy Dialogue on Water
– ECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary
Watercourses and International Lakes
– Environmental Performance Reviews
– ECE Statistics programme in developing statistical standards,
manuals, guidelines, and recommendations
– The ECE Transport Division administers a large number of legal
instruments to facilitate transport activities regarding border
crossing facilitation, road traffic and road safety, the design of
road vehicles, and the transport of dangerous goods
•
Euro-Asian Transport Links
ECE programmes and activities address core
developmental challenges faced by middle
income countries, these have been shared
and replicated with other regions
Examples: Trade, PPPs, SPECA, Innovation, Housing, etc.
‒ Guides for Trade facilitation implementation, Development and
operation of single windows, Design of regulatory systems
‒ Public-Private Partnerships: the ECE International PPP Center
of Excellence
‒ UNDA SPECA project on adopting green technologies
‒ Innovation Performance Reviews
‒ Global Energy Efficiency 21 programme
‒ ECE Real Estate Market Advisory Group
‒ Non-ECE states participate in ECE Working Parties on
Agricultural Standards, Centre for Trade Facilitation and
Electronic Business, and Expert Group on Resource
Classification.
Inter-regional
cooperation
The ECE does not work on social issues, particularly
poverty and inequality and our Member States could
possibly benefit from programmes developed in the
other regional commissions
Any discussion of inter-regional cooperation must
address the global partnership for development
–This partnership under the MDGs has been inadequate
in a number of areas and more attention will be
needed towards creating measurable goals for the
post-2015 agenda to ensure accountability
The Dialogue of the Executive Secretaries with the
Second Committee on Inter-regional Cooperation:
An Enabler for the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Thank you!
Please visit: www.regionalcommissions.org
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