ESCWA WEEKLY NEWS No. 63

ESCWA succeeds in raising funds for road safety

ESCWA received 585,000 USD from the United Nations Road Safety Fund to increase road safety in Jordan and Tunisia. It had provided member States support for their grant applications to the Fund. This led to the selection of 2 projects to be implemented in Arab States, out of the 10 funded projects globally for 2020.

The projects will serve to prompt “transformative actions for safe motorcycles in Tunisia”, and “reduce road deaths and injuries in Jordan through increasing restraint use”.

The selected projects were announced at the third Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, which was held in Stockholm on 19 and 20 February. The Conference also marked the end of the 2011-2020 Decade of Action for Road Safety, and concluded with the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration which called upon States to contribute to reducing road traffic deaths by at least 50% from 2020 to 2030.

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Strengthening cooperation on transboundary waters in the Arab region

In Beirut, ESCWA and its partners held two workshops to strengthen cooperation on transboundary water management in the Arab region, and on monitoring progress in water-related Sustainable Development Goals.

The workshops took place from 3 to 5 March at the United Nations House and were attended by delegations from Arab countries as well as experts. Proceedings included presentations, panel discussions and interactive mini-sessions, during which participants explored the current situation of cooperation on transboundary water management, and existing tools and approaches to stimulate further progress.

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Revisiting Jordan’s agriculture strategy to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

Arab countries, including Jordan which suffers from limited natural resources, face enormous challenges in making progress in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to sustainable agriculture and food security. Against this backdrop, ESCWA and the Ministry of Agriculture of Jordan organized a workshop in Amman, on 3 and 4 March 2020, to revisit the national agriculture strategy so as to achieve those SDGs.

Participants agreed on a list of SDGs on which the Ministry of Agriculture is expected to deliver by 2025. Guidance was provided on ways to integrate them into national agriculture and food security policies. The workshop also tackled the challenges of agricultural marketing and the expansion of innovative production technologies in Jordan.

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Training on economic modeling

ESCWA joined efforts with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to deliver a successful hands-on training on the theories and practical applications of economic modeling to staff from the Tunisian Ministry of Finance.

The training, which took place in Tunis from 2 to 6 March, provided participants with a substantial set of skills to build a country-specific model, allowing for evidence-based economic insights and decision-making. This will enable the Ministry to better weigh available policy options, using rigorous analysis.

Did you know...

… that the Arab region is the most water scarce in the world? Water scarcity is worsening as demand increases beyond sustainable limits, driven by fast-growing populations, economic growth and diversification.

Photo credit: IStock/Joesboy

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