text: The commission is composed of 53 Member States and nine Associate members, mostly from the Asia and Pacific regions. In addition to countries in Asia and the Pacific, the commission's members includes France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
  The region covered by the commission is home to 4.1 billion people, or two-thirds of the world's population, making ESCAP the most comprehensive of the United Nations' five regional commissions.
  History
  The commission was first established by the Economic and Social Council on 28 March 1947 as the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) to assist in post-war economic reconstruction. Its main mandate was to "initiate and participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for the economic reconstruction and development of Asia and the Far East."
  On 1 August 1974, the commission was renamed to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) by the Economic and Social Council to reflect both the economic and social aspects of the Commission's work, as well as geographic location of its members.
  Scope
  The commission works to address some of the greatest challenges facing the region through results-oriented projects, technical assistance and capacity building to member states in the following areas:
  Macroeconomic policy and development
  Trade and investment
  Transport
  Social development
  Environment and sustainable development
  Information and communications technology and disaster risk reduction
  Statistics
  Sub-regional activities for development