Planning minister meets ESCWA representatives over cooperation

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury on Monday met with the UN Undersecretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Mohammad Hakim and discussed bilateral cooperation.

Fakhoury stressed the importance that Jordan attaches to ESCWA and the exchange of expertise in the fields of sustainable development, a ministry statement said on Monday. 

He also stressed the government's full support to the efforts of ESCWA, commending its constructive role in providing assistance to member states and NGOs through increasing the exchange of expertise and building national capacities in the field of economic growth and social development.

Talks also covered Jordan's efforts to achieve the goals of sustainable development 2030, whereby Jordan presented the voluntary national report at the high-level meeting of the Forum for Sustainable Development in July 2017.

Fakhoury stressed the importance of supporting Jordan's efforts in preparing a detailed plan for the implementation of the roadmap for the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 and in implementing a simulation model with the Jordanian universities to raise public awareness, according to the statement. 

He also highlighted the government's efforts in integrating the executive development programme, national capacity-building and follow-up and evaluation. 

The parties also discussed the issue of poverty in Jordan and the work done in cooperation with ESCWA, the Department of Statistics  and Oxford University to calculate the multi-dimensional poverty indicators.

A report on the multidimensional poverty in Jordan is currently under way, which will be based on the latest surveys, the statement added

Fakhoury also discussed the possibility of ESCWA providing technical support to Jordan in preparing a strategy of poverty and social protection in cooperation with the Planning and the Social Development ministries.

For his part, Hakim outlined the projects of ESCWA, stressing the organisation's keenness to provide all kinds of assistance to Jordan and member states to implement their own sustainable development plans.

He voices ESCWA's support to the adoption of ambitious national work programmes, and commended Jordan's efforts in the face of numerous challenges, including poverty, youth issues and women empowerment, the statement concluded.