The ICTD of UNESCWA organized a workshop on "Cyber legislation and its implementation in the ESCWA Region," In Beirut, during 15-16 December 2008, which addressed the region's experiences in cyber legislation and its development in some countries, in addition to the potential utilization of the cyber legislation template prepared by ESCWA for national cyberspace laws.  The workshop resulted in a proposed list of actions that focus on building capacity and call for the formulation and development of laws in such a way that promotes the harmonization of cyber legislations in the region.

 The workshop included national experiences in cyber legislations, from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, in addition to an analytical study on the laws of the virtual cyberspace in the Gulf region.  The laws related to computer crimes in Bahrain were presented, together with the handling of information technology crimes according to the Lebanese laws.  Attended by 18 participants from ten ESCWA member countries (Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen), including legal consultants and researchers, judges and lawyers, in addition to ICT and cyberspace experts and representatives of the Ministries of Communications and Justice, and non-governmental organizations concerned in cyberspace legislation matters.

 The workshop continues the work of ESCWA on cyber legislation that started in 2007 with the preparation of a study on "Models for Cyber Legislation in ESCWA member countries" (E/ESCWA/ICTD/2007/8), and was followed by the preparation of a cyber legislation template as a tool for national cyber legislations.