UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 79th Session (Bangkok)

The 79th Session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific will be held at the United Nations Conference Centre ESCAP Hall in Bangkok, from 15 to 19 May 2023.

This is an in-person event and all participants who appear in the letter of credentials are requested to register online at indico as soon as possible but no later than 21 April 2023. Only the names of duly accredited and registered participants will be included in the list of participants.

The theme of the session is “Accelerating climate action in Asia and the Pacific for sustainable development”, and this annual session will be an opportunity to strengthen regional cooperation on climate change.

For more information about the 79th Session of UNESCAP for Asia and the Pacific, please visit their website.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org.

Remembering Past Massacres: Honoring the Legacy & Resilience of the Victims

Dear ecumenical friends,

The WCC/CCIA (Commission of the Churches on International Affairs) series of regional webinars focussing on REMEMBERING PAST MASSACRES: HONORING THE LEGACY AND RESILIENCE OF THE VICTIMS will take us this time to the Pacific. We hope you’ll join us! Please share in your networks.

Date: Monday 18 October 2021

Time: 9:00 – 10:30 AM CEST (i.e. 8AM Lagos, Nigeria / 2PM Bangkok, Thailand / 7 PM Suva, Fiji / 8PM Nakualofa, Tonga)

Speakers:

Rev. James Bhagwan, General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches
Danity Laukon, University of the South Pacific Marshall Islands
Taaitulagi Tuioti, Methodist Church in Samoa
Rev. Billy Wetewea, Protestant Church of Kanaky New Caledonia

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_auNIo99OSg2-BSipSLGTMA

Learn more via Twitter or Facebook.

Objectives of the webinar:

This series of regional webinars is organized by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in collaboration with the WCC Spiritual Life. It is part of the many virtual events organised this year to mark the 75th anniversary of the CCIA. Realizing that several of these massacres have lost relevance over the years, or are simply forgotten, the purpose of these regional webinars is to reflect on how these fallen heroes and heroines are remembered and honoured today. Each webinar will be a moment of lament and will explore among others, the following questions:

How do we recognised these tragedies, and celebrate the survival, resistance, resilience, and heroes of these communities?
How do we honour their martyrdom?
What is done to prevent them from falling into amnesia or denial?
How do we memorialise these tragedies?
How do we transcend these past massacres and move towards healing?
How do we ensure that future generations learn from the past, ensuring that history will not be repeated?
What of reparations to descendants of these victims?
Are monuments sufficient even though they can be perceived as a reminder of trauma, and as memorials of symbolic reparations?

We offer these regional webinars in the hope that we will be empowered to elicit a promise and a pledge to ensure the non-recurrence of such human atrocities even as we celebrate the legacy of those who have survived these massacres.

Dates of regional webinars:

27 August 2021: Africa
27 September 2021: Spanish-speaking Americas
11 October 2021: Asia
18 October 2021: Pacific
18 November 2021: Middle-East
6 December 2021: Europe

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

77th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific (ESCAP)

The seventy-seventh session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) will be held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok and via videoconferencing from 26 to 29 April 2021 under the theme, “Building back better from crises through regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific.”

The theme study for the 77th Commission session analyses the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic in countries of Asia and the Pacific, takes stock of action so far, and sets out a policy agenda for building back better grounded in regional cooperation and centered around four critical interconnected areas: broadening social protection, investing in a sustained recovery, strengthening connectivity and supply chains; and mending a broken relationship with nature.

Meeting at the ministerial level, the members of the Commission will discuss and decide on important issues pertaining to inclusive and sustainable economic and social development in the region and make recommendations to its subsidiary bodies and to the Executive Secretary. The proceedings will include regional perspectives, initiatives and subregional cooperation for scaled up actions in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and take stock of its socioeconomic impact.

The Commission will also review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific, consider issues vital to the inclusive and sustainable development of least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and Pacific island developing States, and discuss management issues such as the proposed programme plan of ESCAP for 2022.

Credentials and Registration:

Each delegation is required to submit a letter of credentials, duly signed by the appropriate authority of the respective Government or organization, at the earliest convenience and no later than 16 April 2021 to oes.unescap@un.org. Only delegates who appear on the credentials will be recognized in the list of participants.

Once letter of credential has been submitted, all participants are requested to register online as soon as possible.

Only the names of duly accredited and registered participants will be included in the list of participants. For more information, please email the Office of the Executive Secretary at oes.unescap@un.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

Pacific