The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Background:
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region. With a membership of 62 Governments, 58 of which are in the region, and a geographical scope that stretches from Turkey in the west to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati in the east, and from the Russian Federation in the north to New Zealand in the south, ESCAP is the most comprehensive of the United Nations five regional commissions. It is also the largest United Nations body serving the Asia-Pacific region with over 600 staff. Established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, ESCAP seeks to overcome some of the region’s greatest challenges. It carries out work in three main thematic areas:
• Poverty reduction;
• Managing globalization;
• Tackling emerging social issues.
ESCAP focuses on issues that are most effectively addressed through regional cooperation, including:
• Issues that all or a group of countries in the region face, for which it is necessary to learn from each other;
• Issues that benefit from regional or multi-country involvement;
• Issues that are transboundary in nature, or that would benefit from collaborative inter-country approaches;
• Issues that are of a sensitive or emerging nature and require further advocacy and negotiation.
Tourism related programs:
• Tourism and Poverty Alleviation: The eradication of extreme poverty and hunger tops the list of the Millennium Development Goals. With its huge potential to offer labour intensive jobs and small-scale business opportunities particularly to women and unskilled youth, tourism offers the Asia-Pacific region an effective tool to achieve this goal.
• Tourism and the Asian Highway: Facilitating travel along the Asian Highway for tourism purposes could clearly make a contribution to economic development, increased social interactions and better understanding among a great number of Asian countries. Progress on the Asian Highway project has had a varied paced development over the last 40 years, but since the late 1980s, the demand for reliable and efficient transport by road to facilitate tourism and trade has been growing. Countries linked by the Asian Highway share a wealth of historical and cultural heritage and unspoiled natural beauty. These countries could join hands in promoting tourism along the highway, which in turn would provide excellent opportunities to strengthen regional cooperation and contribute to social and economic development. However, lack of information to clearly designate attractions along the highway and lack of awareness in many tourist markets are still hampering countries’ efforts in this regard. Yet, the potential for the Asian Highway to expand opportunities for regional and international cooperation remains strong and ESCAP is pursuing its effort in this area, which started in mid-1990s when a questionnaire survey was conducted by the secretariat. The survey highlighted opportunities and obstacles encountered by various countries and suggested actions that might be taken at national and regional levels to promote tourism along the Asian Highway. More recently (December 2003), the secretariat published the “Asian Highway Handbook”, which provides brief technical information on the status on the Asian Highway routes and major tourist attractions in 32 Asian countries.
• The Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism Development in Asia and the Pacific Phase II (PASTA 2006-2012) and Regional Action Programme: To provide a forum to consider major issues related to sustainable development of tourism, the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on Sustainable Tourism Development was held in Bali, Indonesia in December 2005. The Meeting reviewed achievements resulting from the implementation of Phase I (1999-2005) of the Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism Development in the Asian and Pacific Region. The Meeting adopted the Bali Declaration on Sustainable Tourism Development, including Phase II (2006-2012) of the Plan of Action and its Regional Action Programme for Sustainable Tourism Development. The Commission, at its 62nd session, welcomed the outcome of High-level Intergovernmental Meeting and adopted resolution 62/3 on the implementation of the Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism Development in Asia and the Pacific, Phase II (2006-2012) and the Regional Action Programme for Sustainable Tourism Development. In response to the request contained in the resolution, a regional study on the role of tourism in socio-economic development was prepared by the secretariat. In order to facilitate the monitoring of the Plan of Action, a suggested reporting form has been developed for each section of the Plan. Within the framework of the Plan of Action and its Regional Action Programme, a series of regional, subregional and national seminars and meetings are being implemented by the secretariat. These activities are assisting countries in the region in achieving sustainable growth in tourism by strengthening policy development capabilities and enhancing regional cooperation.
• Network of Asia-Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism (APETIT): As a consequence of the rapid growth of tourism, the need to develop and train the required human resources in various segments of the tourism industry has been widely recognized. Closer cooperation among countries of the region is one way to effectively overcome some constraints related to human resources development, since individual countries possess certain strengths and expertise that could be usefully shared with other countries.
The Asia-Pacific region has seen increasing need for a platform to exchange information and expertise on human resources development for the tourism sector since early 1990s. A regional network to strengthen institutional links among tourism training institutes was considered the most practical mechanism to meet this demand.The secretariat of UNESCAP established the Network of Asia-Pacific Education and Training Institutions in Tourism (APETIT) in 1997 to promote regional cooperation in human resources development for tourism. Currently, 252 education and training institutes and national tourism organizations in 45 countries and areas are participating in its activities. Our efforts in this area is also reflected in the implementation of the Plan of Action for Sustainable Tourism Development in Asia and the Pacific, Phase II (PASTA 2006-2012) which put human resources development as one of its thrust areas. www.apetit-network.org
Contact
The United Nations Building
Rajadamnern Nok Avenue
Bangkok 10200 Thailand
T: (66-2) 288-1234
F: (66-2) 288-1000