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Secretary General's Bulletin (ST/SGB/2005/11), 29 April 2005:
Organization of the Secretariat of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Revisions to above bulletin: Para 12.2(g) Bangkok Agreement has been renamed Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA); para 14.2(j) Provide substantive backstopping to APCTT and APCICT (Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development); addition: para 18.1 (e) Asian and Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development
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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.

ESCAP secretariat comprises the Office of the Executive Secretary and eight divisions.

The main legislative organ of ESCAP is the Commission, which meets annually at the ministerial level and reports to the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It provides a forum for all Governments of the region to review and discuss economic and social issues and to strengthen regional cooperation.

The Advisory Committee of Permanent Representatives and other Representatives Designated by Members of the Commission (ACPR), composed of ESCAP members and associate members, meets almost every month to advise and exchange views with the Executive Secretary on the Commission's work. The Commission maintains close cooperation and consultation between the members and the secretariat of the Commission. Three Committees, eight Sub-committees and two Special Bodies guide the Commission's work and make recommendations in accordance with eight subprogrammes (2006-07).