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United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

UNECE provides a regional forum for cooperation among its 55

member countries in Europe, North America and Central Asia.

Working to forge tools of economic cooperation, it brokers interna-

tional agreements to define standards for trade, transport and

environment; supplies statistics as well as economic and environ-

mental analysis; promotes sustainable energy, industry and enterprise

development throughout the pan-European region; and raises aware-

ness and promotes a dialogue on mainstreaming gender into

economic policies and ICT. The UNECE also provides related capac-

ity building and technical assistance, where high priority is given to

assisting its member countries with economies in transition.

In November 2004, UNECE, jointly with ESCAP, UNDP and

the Secretariat of the UNICT Task Force, supported the organi-

zation of a conference on the Information Society in Central Asia

and Regional Cooperation in ICT for Development, which was

hosted by the Government of Kyrgyzstan. To address the gender

digital divide, a publication on access to financing and ICT for

women entrepreneurs was prepared. It includes good practices

and policy recommendations to be considered by governments

and other stakeholders in the process of mainstreaming gender

into ICT policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

In early 2005, to promote public participation in environmen-

tal decisions, the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention

adopted Recommendations on the more effective use of electronic

information tools to provide public access to environmental infor-

mation, which give practical effect to the conclusions of the first

phase of the WSIS relevant to the promotion of environmental

democracy. In May 2005, the theme of ICT for Development was

included in the UNECE-ESCAP Work Plan in Support of the UN

Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia. Then, on

30 June and 1 July 2005, the UNECE, together with the Greek

Government, the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and

United NAtions Development Programme held a WSIS Thematic

Meeting and South-East Europe Ministerial Conference as part of

the joint preparations of the countries of South-Eastern Europe

for the WSIS meeting in Tunis.

Implementation strategies to exploit the benefits of ICT are

being developed by UNECE in areas such as:

• Trade, where standards and tools for electronic business and

trade facilitation are being developed, including a project for

UN electronic trade documents (UNeDocs) and standards

for the electronic exchange of administrative and trade data

• Electronic data reporting/dissemination, management of statis-

tical information systems, data editing, disclosure control,

registers for business demographics and social statistics

• Environmental governance, where electronic tools are being

developed to strengthen public access to environmental infor-

mation and encourage digital democracy

• Intelligent transport systems, vehicle safety devices and

computerized transport documents

• Support for SMEs on the efficient use of ICT and their partic-

ipation in the Information Society

• Measures to support a gender-sensitive Information Society.

These actions are aimed at encouraging and providing opportuni-

ties for people to participate more in the knowledge-based economy

and promoting an enabling environment of legislation, regulation

and policies throughout the North American and European region.

Website:

www.unece.org

E-mail:

info.ece@unece.org

In support of the WSIS process, UNECE brought together all stakeholders at

the Pan European Regional Ministerial Conference on WSIS in November

2002 in Bucharest, Romania. UNECE was instrumental in developing a

Ministerial Declaration, which was adopted by the meeting, as well as a set of

principles and priorities for the Information Society providing a substantive

input to the WSIS process. UNECE also played a lead role in organizing a

round table on gender and ICT, which contributed to strengthening the

gender perspective. The Information Economy Report, E-Policy Development

in Transition Economies 2002-2003, was also launched at WSIS Geneva to

assist Member States in developing and implementing e-strategies, e-policies

and e-regulatory frameworks for a knowledge-based economy.

One aspect of the UNECE’s work is the promotion of dialogue on mainstreaming gender into economic policies and ICT