science

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia rather than just read about it. In short: 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.

Key takeaways

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. The Commission is composed of 21 member states, all from the region 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. The League of Arab States, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are among its regional partners.

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. Its main mandate was to "initiate and participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for 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.

Member states

The following are all member states of the Commission:

Locations

The Commission's headquarters have been located in the 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.

Executive secretaries The following is a list of the Executive Secretaries of the Commission since its foundation:

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. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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.

Themes and programs

Implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The ESCWA launched the Climate/SDGs Debt Swap–Donor Nexus Initiative in December 2020. It is directed at debt relief and at enhancing fiscal space of (middle-income) countries. 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 SDG-related programs, while creditors may claim higher amounts of official development assistance or climate finance without expanding their budgets.

Women in the judiciary system In 2019, ESCWA reported regarding the situation of women in the judiciary system. 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". 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), Sudan (1965 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), and Kuwait (2020). In June 2021, Egypt announced that female judges would take seats in Public Prosecution and State Council in October that year.

Controversies

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

In research: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1973 establishments in Lebanon, Development economics, International organisations based in Lebanon, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in simple terms?

Why does United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.