United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and integrations among its member states.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
AbbreviationECE
Formation28 March 1947 (1947-03-28)
TypePrimary Organ - Regional Branch
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
Head
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Olga Algayerova
Parent organization
United Nations Economic and Social Council
Websitewww.unece.org
 Politics portal

The commission is composed of 56 member states, most of which are based in Europe, as well as a few outside of Europe. Its transcontinental Eurasian and non-European member states include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United States of America and Uzbekistan.[1]

History

The commission was established by the Economic and Social Council on 28 March 1947 in order to "Initiate and participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for the economic reconstruction of Europe," as well as to "maintain and strengthen the economic relations of the European countries, both among themselves and with other countries of the world."[2]

It was established at the request of the United Nations General Assembly who called on the Economic and Social Council to create the commission, as well as the Commission for Asia and the Far East, in order to "give effective aid to countries devastated by war."[3]

As the commission was established towards the beginning of the Cold War, it faced difficulties in achieving its mandate of economic reconstruction of Europe due to the Iron Curtain. The work of the commission had to concern itself only with questions that were of common interest to East and West, as to not cause confrontation.[4] However, since the fall of the Soviet Union, the United Nation's economic commissions have been expanding their activities in the former Soviet republics.

Member states
Map showing the member states of the commission.

The following are the member states of the commission, along with their date of admission:[1]

Member states
CountriesDate of membership
 Albania 14 December 1955
 Andorra 28 July 1993
 Armenia 30 July 1993
 Austria 14 December 1955
 Azerbaijan 30 July 1993
 Belarus 28 March 1947
 Belgium 28 March 1947
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 22 May 1992
 Bulgaria 14 December 1955
 Canada 9 August 1973
 Croatia 22 May 1992
 Cyprus 20 September 1960
 Czech Republic 28 March 1947
 Denmark 28 March 1947
 Estonia 17 September 1991
 Finland 14 December 1955
 France 28 March 1947
 Georgia 30 July 1993
 Germany 18 September 1973
 Greece 28 March 1947
 Hungary 14 December 1955
 Iceland 28 March 1947
 Ireland 14 December 1955
 Israel 26 July 1991
 Italy 14 December 1955
 Kazakhstan 31 January 1994
 Kyrgyzstan 30 July 1993
 Latvia 17 September 1991
 Liechtenstein 18 September 1990
 Lithuania 17 September 1991
 Luxembourg 28 March 1947
 Malta 1 December 1964
 Republic of Moldova 2 March 1992
 Monaco 27 May 1993
 Montenegro 28 June 2006
 Netherlands 28 March 1947
 North Macedonia 8 April 1993
 Norway 28 March 1947
 Poland 28 March 1947
 Portugal 14 December 1955
 Romania 14 December 1955
 Russian Federation 28 March 1947
 San Marino 30 July 1993
 Serbia 1 November 2000
 Slovakia 28 March 1947
 Slovenia 22 May 1992
 Spain 14 December 1955
 Sweden 28 March 1947
  Switzerland 24 March 1972 (*)
 Tajikistan 12 December 1994
 Turkey 28 March 1947
 Turkmenistan 30 July 1993
 Ukraine 28 March 1947
 United Kingdom 28 March 1947
 United States of America 28 March 1947
 Uzbekistan 30 July 1993

(*) At that moment was not a UN member. Switzerland joined the United Nations in 2002.

Committees and programs

Committee on Economic Cooperation and Integration

This Committee promotes a policy, financial and regulatory environment conducive to economic growth, innovative development and higher competitiveness in the UNECE region, focusing mainly on countries with economies in transition. Its main areas of work are innovation and competitiveness policies, intellectual property, financing innovative development, entrepreneurship and enterprise development, and public-private partnerships.

Committee on Environmental Policy

UNECE's concern with problems of the environment dates back at least to 1971, when the group of Senior Advisors to the UNECE governments on environmental issues was created which led to the establishment of the Committee on Environmental Policy, which now meets annually. The Committee provides collective policy direction in the area of environment and sustainable development, prepares ministerial meetings, develops international environmental law and supports international initiatives in the region. CEP works to support countries to enhance their environmental governance and transboundary cooperation as well as strengthen implementation of the UNECE regional environmental commitments and advance sustainable development in the region.

Its main aim is to assess countries' efforts to reduce their overall pollution burden and manage their natural resources, to integrate environmental and socioeconomic policies, to strengthen cooperation with the international community, to harmonize environmental conditions and policies throughout the region and to stimulate greater involvement of the public and environmental discussions and decision-making.

CEP is the overall governing body of UNECE environmental activities. The Committee's work is based on several strategic pillars:[5]

Committee on Housing and Land Management

In 1947, UNECE set up a Panel on Housing Problems, which later evolved into the Committee on Human Settlements and after the reform in 2005/2006 into the Committee on Housing and Land Management. The Committee is an intergovernmental body of all UNECE member states. It provides a forum for the compilation, dissemination and exchange of information and experience on housing, urban development, and land administration policies; & in areas such as Birmingham, a more fiscal issue-UK.[7]

Inland Transport Committee

The UNECE Transport Division has been providing secretariat services to the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). In addition to acting as secretariat to the World Forum, the Vehicle Regulations and Transport Innovations section serves as the secretariat of the Administrative Committee for the coordination of work, and of the administrative/executives committees of the three agreements on vehicles administered by the World Forum.[8]

Conference of European Statisticians

The UNECE Statistical Division provides the secretariat for the Conference and its expert groups, and implements the statistical work programme of the UNECE. The Conference brings together chief statisticians from national and international statistical organizations around the world, meaning that the word "European" in its name is no longer an accurate description of its geographical coverage. The Statistical Division helps member countries to strengthen their statistical systems, and coordinates international statistical activities in the UNECE region and beyond through the Conference and its Bureau, and the Database of International Statistical Activities. The Statistical Division develops guidelines and training materials on statistical methodology and practices, in response to demands from member countries. It works with different groups of specialists from national and international statistical organizations, and organizes meetings and on-line forums for statistical experts to exchange experiences on a wide range of topics. The UNECE Statistical Division also provides technical assistance to South-East European, East European, Caucasus and Central Asian countries.

The division also provides:

  1. Free on-line data on the 56 UNECE member countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America in both English and Russian, on economic, gender, forestry and transport statistics.
  2. A biennial overview of key statistics for member countries: UNECE Countries in Figures.
  3. A set of wikis to support collaboration activities and disseminate information about good practices.

UNECE conducted the Fertility and Family Survey in the 1990s in 23 member states, with over 150,000 participants, with hundreds of resulting scientific publications.[9] This activity has hence continued in the form of the Generations and Gender Programme.[10]

United Smart Cities (USC)

The United Smart Cities program is a joint effort between UNECE)and the Organization for International Economic Relations (OiER).[11]

Numerous private business entities and other international and European agencies support the program, including Environment Agency Austria (EAA), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), UN-Habitat, and the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP). The program promotes areas of strategic smart city policy and development. The key focus areas as detailed by the program are:

  1. Urban mobility
  2. Sustainable housing
  3. Clean energy
  4. Waste management
  5. Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Executive secretaries
Years Country Executive secretary
1947–1957  Sweden Gunnar Myrdal
1957–1960  Finland Sakari Tuomioja
1960–1967  Yugoslavia Vladimir Velebit
1968–1982 Janez Stanovnik
1983–1986  Finland Klaus Sahlgren
1987–1993  Austria Gerald Hinteregger
1993–2000  France Yves Berthelot
2000–2001  Poland Danuta Hübner
2002–2005  Slovakia Brigita Schmögnerová[12]
2005–2008  Poland Marek Belka[13]
2008–2012  Slovakia Ján Kubiš[14]
2012–2014  Bosnia and Herzegovina Sven Alkalaj[15]
2014  Denmark Michael Møller (acting)[16]
2014–2017 Christian Friis Bach[17]
2017–present  Slovakia Olga Algayerova[18]

Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
LanguageEnglish
Publication details
History1982-2007
Publisher
Standard abbreviations
ISO 4Stat. J. U. N. Econ. Comm. Eur.
Indexing
CODENSJUED4
ISSN0167-8000
LCCN84642632
OCLC no.900948641
Links

From 1982 to 2007 the IOS Press published the Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on behalf of the UNECE.[19][20]

See also

References
  1. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (24 August 2016). "Member States and Member States Representatives". United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. United Nations. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. United Nations Economic and Social Council Session 4 Resolution 36. Economic Commission for Europe E/RES/36(IV) 28 March 1947. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. United Nations General Assembly Session 1 Resolution 46. Economic reconstruction of devastated areas A/RES/46(I) 11 December 1946. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (n.d.). "History". United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. United Nations. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. "UNECE Homepage". www.unece.org.
  6. - EPR Programme
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 8, 2009. Retrieved September 28, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 26, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Fertility and Family Survey (FFS)". unece.org. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  10. "Fertility and Family Survey (standard country tables), FFS". edac.eu, the European Data Center for Work and Welfare. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  11. "United Smart Cities (USC) - United Nations Partnerships for SDGs platform". sustainabledevelopment.un.org. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  12. "Secretary-General Appoints Brigita Schmögnerová as New Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Europe". UNECE.
  13. "Secretary-General appoints Marek Belka of poland as Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Europe". UNECE.
  14. "Secretary-General appoints Ján KUBIŠ of Slovakia to head United Nations Economic Commission for Europe". UNECE.
  15. "EXCOM welcomes Executive Secretary". UNECE.
  16. "Acting Director-General of UNOG Michael Møller takes on functions of Acting Executive Secretary of UNECE". UNECE.
  17. "The Secretary-General appoints Christian Friis Bach of Denmark as the next Executive Secretary of UNECE". UNECE.
  18. "Algayerova Appointed to Head UN Economic Commission for Europe". TASR.
  19. "Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe". EconBiz. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  20. "Publications: STATISTICAL JOURNAL of the UNECE". UNECE. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
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