ESCWA WEEKLY NEWS No. 66

ESCWA Executive Secretary calls on Arab Governments to establish a regional social solidarity fund

In a statement issued on 25 March, ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti called on Arab Governments to establish a regional social solidarity fund to support Arab vulnerable and least developed countries (LDCs) in providing an emergency response to people’s needs and accelerating relief in cases of food shortages and health emergencies.

The corona virus pandemic has “hit the world and the Arab region hard,” she said. “Our focus has shifted entirely towards urgent action to save lives, repair livelihoods, and mitigate the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19”.

“Let us make this year, 2020, a year for peace in our region. All regional stakeholders and the global community must declare an immediate humanitarian truce and renew efforts to build lasting peace. The blockade on the Gaza Strip must be lifted, as well as sanctions imposed on some Arab countries, with no restrictions on the material necessary to fight the pandemic and protect livelihoods,” she added.

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Shelters for Women Survivors of Violence: Availability and Accessibility in the Arab Region

ESCWA issued recently a study on “Shelters for Women Survivors of Violence: Availability and Accessibility in the Arab Region.”

The study provides a snapshot on the provision of shelter services for women victims of violence in the Arab region. It is based on a desk review and responses from countries on a questionnaire designed to collect data and information on the availability and accessibility of shelters, and on the services they offer.

The study was undertaken in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Arab States Regional Office (ASRO), ABAAD Resource Centre for Gender Equality, and Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE).

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A novel approach to utilize links between SDGs indicators

Links between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) goals, targets and indicators are numerous. There are many attempts to evaluate those links and devise a systematized approach to tackle them.

A recent paper published by ESCWA proposes a framework to assess those numerous links, using panel regression techniques. It reveals both positive and negative links, showing that they can be counted in thousands.

The framework can be used for several purposes, such as relative costing of SDG achievement and impact assessment of different policy options on progress in SDG indicators.

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Did you know...

… that the Corona pandemic threatens delivery of much needed humanitarian aid to 55 million  people in the Arab region?

Around 26 million of those are forcibly displaced (refugees and internally displaced persons). COVID-19 is threatening humanitarian aid, whether in terms of food, water and sanitation, medical supplies or health services.

In addition, countries in conflict cannot mitigate the impact of a COVID-19 outbreak owing to the devastation of health infrastructure and the displacement or migration of many health-care workers.

 Photo credit: Istock/Juanmonino

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