ESCWA WEEKLY NEWS No. 57

28 January 2020



	First Competition Forum for the Arab Region In a bid to help reducing inequalities and fighting corruption by strengthening competition law and policy across the Arab region, ESCWA, UNCTAD and OECD held their first joint Competition Forum for the region at the UN House in Beirut on 23 and 24 January. The Forum addressed matters of competition and development, including economic growth, institutions’ effectiveness, employment, inclusion and gender equality. The Forum will be an annual knowledge-sharing platform on competition policy and enforcement for the Arab region, bringing together high-level competition officials, policymakers, regulators and civil society. Read more

	Fifth Arab Internet Governance Forum On 22 and 23 January, ESCWA and the League of Arab States (LAS) organized the fifth Arab Internet Governance Forum (IGF) at the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO) headquarters in Cairo. The Forum sought to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on Internet governance among all stakeholders in the region. Discussions covered priority issues related to Internet policies, in line with those highlighted in the Second Arab Roadmap for Internet Governance. Participants addressed challenges including cybersecurity; Internet governance and digital cooperation, meaningful access for inclusion and diversity, as well as digital transformation and Internet economy. Read more

	Future of economic statistics for the Arab region In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ESCWA and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) organized the “High Level Seminar on the Future of Economic Statistics for the Arab Region” on 21 and 22 January, to reach a collaborative regional response to the need for economic statistics that support evidence‐based policymaking. This Seminar is part of a series of regional consultations allowing the region to share regional concerns and priorities and to influence and inform the global design of the system of economic statistics. On the sidelines of the seminar, ESCWA and IsDB signed a contribution agreement to support Arab countries in global value chains statistics and tourism accounts in 2020. Read more

	Second Lebanese workshop on AquaCrop for irrigation water ESCWA organized the second Lebanese national workshop on Aquacrop for irrigation water management from 20 to 24 January in Beirut, as a follow up to the first one held in 2019. The training, conducted in cooperation with ACSAD, sought to strengthen the capacities of Lebanese stakeholders on the use of the tool for assessing irrigation requirements and scheduling specific nationally grown crops. They also discussed how to assess the impact of climate change on crop yields, using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools for extracting climate data from RICCAR and other sources. With this workshop, ESCWA completed the series of trainings on irrigation water management for Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine, as part of its project on “Enhancing resilience and sustainability of agriculture in the Arab region.” Read more


	Did you know... … that the number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018, the highest seen in almost 70 years? Murders of human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists are rising. And less than three quarters of children under 5 years of age worldwide have had their births registered, jeopardizing their individual rights. Eleven Arab countries have suffered at least one episode of major conflict or minor intensity conflicts in the last five years. Globally, the number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018: 42% of those were from the Arab region. Photo credit: Mohamed Ahmed Yousry, Egypt Read more