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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:
E-mail:
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