IOM and the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western
Asia (UNESCWA) have signed an agreement, the first between the two
organizations, aimed at closer collaboration between the two
organizations.



The agreement will allow among other things, the exchange of
information and documentation on issues of mutual relevance as well
as the carrying out of joint projects.



The agreement was signed by UNESCWA Executive Secretary, Mervat
Tallawy and IOM Director General, Brunson McKinley in parallel with
the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meetings taking
place in Geneva.



Established in 1973, UNESCWA is composed of 13 Arab countries from
Western Asia: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman,
Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the
United Arab Emirates and Yemen. It aims to support economic and
social cooperation in the region and promotes the development
process in order to achieve regional integration. It also seeks to
harmonize the policies of member countries in various sectors, as
well as to unify databases, statistics and information and prepare
and distribute these to users. In addition, it conducts analytical
studies and implements field projects aimed at serving various
social strata, including women and children, the elderly and those
with special needs.



As the leading international organization for migration, IOM acts
with its partners in the international community to assist in
meeting the growing operational challenges of migration management,
advance understanding of migration issues, encourage social and
economic development through migration, and uphold the human
dignity and well-being of migrants. With 118 Member States, IOM
works with migrants and governments to provide humane responses to
migration challenges.



For further information, please contact:



Jemini Pandya

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 22 717 9486

E-mail: "mailto:jpandya@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">jpandya@iom.int



or



Nabil Abu-Dargham

UNESCWA

Tel: + 961 3 428 438

E-mail: "mailto:dargham@un.org" target="_blank" title="">dargham@un.org