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In half of countries in Europe, North America and Central Asia with data, the belief that it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife is becoming more widespread.  This worrying trend stands out among the findings of the recent review of progress in the UNECE region towards priorities defined in
Meeting for the first time since the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) was created in 1998, the Heads of State and Government of SPECA participating States adopted the Baku Declaration. The declaration endorses a roadmap for the digitalization of multimodal
With the wider European region facing the impacts of several overlapping crises, including the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ripple effects of the war in Ukraine and other conflicts in the region, speakers at a high-level regional population conference in Geneva today stressed that
Italy and Kazakhstan have committed to reinforce action to uphold human rights to water and sanitation for all by joining the UNECE/WHO Europe Protocol on Water and Health, at the milestone UN Water Conference in New York.   Hungary, as Chair of the Protocol, also shared its commitment to help
In the face of multiple intersecting crises in the region, UNECE member States must redouble efforts to avert a further crisis of sustainable development, according to the SDG status report released today.   The report, Growing Challenges for Sustainable Development:
The fifth UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation 2023 has been launched by  the five United Nations Regional Commissions and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The 2023 edition consists of 60 measures, including two new sets of measures on “
UNECE is launching an expanded version of the Portal on Standards for SDGs, which allows users to identify standards which can contribute to the realization of individual Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Portal has been updated from 1,600 standards mapped across five SDGs to 20,000
Taking concerted action on gender equality and inclusion within standards development processes is an important and necessary means of ensuring the adequacy of standards to address sustainable development challenges. UNECE, with its longstanding history as a convenor of national, regional, and
The transition to sustainable energy has been at the forefront of energy policy in many countries in the recent years. This process has become ever more important in the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and with a strong rebound of GHG emissions in 2021 after some reduction in 2020 when the
The Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES), UNECE’s statistical decision-making body, has released new guidance for measuring the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on women and men. From the moment that countries began imposing restrictions in a bid to flatten the curve of the
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the European Investment Bank, the financial investment arm of the European Union, have signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen joint efforts to promote economic cooperation, cohesion and to support countries in the
Despite decades of discussions on the challenges and intersections between gender and transport, progress has been slow in implementing a gender perspective in transport policies. This has been problematic, for example, in urban planning which fails to recognise the different travel patterns 
Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals at the urban level is crucial to deliver on the 2030 Agenda, stresses UNECE in a new report that advocates for a “cities-based” and “people-smart” approach to sustainable development.   With cities today as the driving force in economic, social,
More robust monitoring and measuring systems are required to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a UNECE report on Measuring and Monitoring progress towards SDGs that uses a “nexus” approach to chart a course for more “joined up” activities.  High-quality statistics
Statistical guidance released today will help countries delve into one of the harder-to-see aspects of gender equality: the distribution of power and decision-making within households.  All the major international policy frameworks on gender equality recognize the fundamental role of equality
Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and women-led MSMEs in particular, have been especially vulnerable to the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. However, the crisis has also caused a dramatic shift in the business-as-usual approach and paved the way for innovations, green growth, and
According to a new study published by the UNECE and FAO, altogether almost 4.3 million people work across the forest sector of North America, Europe and Central Asia; predominantly in Europe (51 percent), the United States and Canada (29 percent), the Russian Federation (14 percent) and Turkey (5
On 6 -7 November 2014, over 500 stakeholders from UNECE member States’ governments, civil society, academia, international organizations and the private sector came together at the Palais des Nations to review the progress and setbacks of the past 20 years in the implementation of the Beijing
In the lead up to the 20th anniversary commemoration of the landmark Beijing Platform for Action, considered the most comprehensive agenda on women’s rights, UNECE has undertaken a review of the implementation of the Platform by its Member States. The results of this review will be the focus of
Women in the UNECE region have the highest labour market participation in the world, but they lag behind men in setting up and running their own businesses. Gender gaps are even more pronounced in high-growth sectors and innovative-based enterprises despite women’s outnumbering men in tertiary