This is to thank you for your warm hospitality yesterday at the meeting of the Rotary Clubs in Kaslik and the dinner that followed.
1) The space you presented to describe key ESCWA findings and priority areas for development in the Arab Countries was in keeping with the true mandate and tradition of partnership within the UN Global Compact. The discussion that followed the presentation indicated the level of interest in your members (and I presume Civil Society in general) to find ways of interacting with ESCWA and UN entities in general--if only as a continuation and "scaling up" of the good work you are already doing on the ground;
2) The strong presence of municipal and local entities at the meeting and their views confirmed the hypothesis that Rotary and other Civil Society members can play an important convening role for civic action at the local level. In this sense, I am particularly thankful for offering us a forum to advance ideas on decentralization and potential Private-Public Partnerships that, while progressive, offer the potential for increased equity in the Arab Countries;
3) You have submitted some specific ideas for future collaboration and I commit to following up with you on this, possibly through the framework that you and I discussed yesterday: the National/Local Compact foreseen to translate the Global one at the national level.
4) In closing, may I kindly ask you to transmit my deep appreciation to Rotary-Kesrouan's President Fouad Boueri and Jounieh Municipality Mayor Antoine Frem for their patronage and attendance at the event.
[...]
Nadim Khouri, PhD
Deputy Executive Secretary
United Nations Economic and Social Commission
For Western Asia UN-ESCWA
Riad El Solh, Beirut, Lebanon