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Bangkok, Thailand – 8 March, 2018 – To celebrate International Women’s Day, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in collaboration with UN Women Asia and the Pacific and the Embassy of Sweden, hosted the ceremony “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality 2018” as part of the global campaign to promote the key role of the private sector in advancing gender equality and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5. The event included a panel discussion on the “Future of work for women” that featured UN experts, senior researchers and business executives, who highlighted the importance of women’s empowerment for economic prosperity and sustainable development. By ensuring the inclusion and full participation of women across all levels and sectors of economy, the companies can reap significant dividends to grow and sustain their businesses, empower communities and invest in global sustainability. During the event, the business leaders of Thailand signalled their support for gender equality by ringing a bell. SET is one of 59 stock exchanges around the world that hosted a bell-ringing ceremony on the International Women’s Day.
At the invitation of the Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, the seventeenth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC17) will take place in Georgetown, Guyana in January 2019.The meeting will be held at Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) /Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
The Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is inviting representatives of the Civil Society Organizations accredited to the Conference of the Parties (COP) to apply to become observer to the Science–Policy Interface (SPI). The elected person will act as alternate of the current CSO observer to the SPI until the end of 2019 and will become the fully-fledge CSO observer for the biennium 2020 – 2021. Applications together with the necessary documents should be sent to the secretariat (cso@unccd.int) by 6 April 2018 at 24:00 CET. Related documents: Call for a CSO observer to the UNCCD SPI Application form
The UNCCD 2017-2018 reporting process has been launched. Parties will receive training and hands-on experience on how to use the available reporting tools during regional workshops that will take place in the upcoming months. The information for the Parties to the Convention will include such key aspects as monitoring the land-based indicator. In addition, online tutorials and presentations are available for Parties to familiarize themselves with reporting requirements. You can find them on YouTube by following this link. Read more: 2017-2018 reporting process
23 February 2018 – Bangkok, Thailand – Ministers and senior government representatives from Asia and the Pacific, gathered at the regional consultation of the 62nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62), committed to ensuring greater empowerment of rural women and girls to improve their standards of living, food security and livelihoods. The meeting on achieving gender equality recognized that rural women and girls continue to face structural barriers that impact their human rights and prevent them from reaching their full potential. Achieving adequate living standards, women’s economic empowerment, land rights, food security, health care, quality education, resilience and preparedness to deal with disasters and conflicts are among the main challenges faced by rural women and girls in Asia and the Pacific. The meeting has adopted a set of recommendations that will feed into CSW62 – the leading intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women worldwide – to be held at the UN Headquarters in New York from 12 to 23 March 2018. The recommendations reflect the urgent need to strengthen normative and legal frameworks, ensuring coordinated action for the social and economic empowerment and meaningful participation of rural women and girls in society. Delegates further highlighted the importance of establishing innovative financing models and enhancing access to ICT and other technologies. They also stressed the need for improved availability of data and gender statistics to enhance evidence-based policy making. The meeting was organized by UNESCAP, the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and other members of the Asia-Pacific UN Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (TWG-GEEW). For more information, visit www.unescap.org
23 February 2018 – Bangkok, Thailand – Remarkable progress has been made in broadening electricity access globally, however sustained political will and increased public and private finance are urgently needed to provide affordable and clean energy by 2030 to the 1.2 billion people who do not have access to electricity, The Global SDG7 Conference concluded. Recognizing the importance of energy for development, The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) includes targets for access, renewables and energy efficiency. In her opening statement, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Dr. Shamshad Akhtar underlined that while great progress has been made in improving energy access access, continued commitment is needed as Asia-Pacific remains the most energy intensive region in the world. Mr. Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, stressed that achieving SDG7 on energy can unlock vast potential for economic growth in all regions and for all people, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Global SDG7 Conference was co-organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Ministry of Energy, The outcomes of the conference provide input for the the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development scheduled for July 2018 in New York.