UNESCWA is organizing a seminar on the Role of Foreign Aid in Development of the Arab Region on Wednesday, July 12, 2006, at the UN House, Beirut. This comes as part of the Commission’s process of disseminating information and soliciting feedback on pressing developmental issues in the UNESCWA Region. It aims at providing a comprehensive analysis of the impact that development aid can have on achieving internationally agreed-upon development goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in the Arab region.
Invitees to the Seminar include officials from the Ministries of Finance, Economy and Trade, experts in finance and aid, university professors, representatives of international organizations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the International Labor Organization (ILO), and UNESCWA staff members. Participants will have an open floor to discuss and share their views about the issues presented.
The Seminar, which is scheduled to begin at 9:30am, is divided into two sessions. The first session is dedicated to reviewing current literature on the relationship between aid and development – a question that has generated heated debate among both researchers and policymakers during the past years. It also deals with the major trends in development assistance to the Arab countries within the context of Goal 8 of the MDGs (developing a global partnership for development) with emphasis on different types of foreign aid in each of Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The second session will exploit recent panel data to see what they reveal about aid effectiveness in the Arab region. It provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of foreign aid on growth and several human development indicators. It will also propose a set of policy recommendations for making aid more effective in accelerating the progress of Arab countries towards the MDGs. It takes a closer look at development assistance to Arab countries with emphasis on different types of foreign aid. To the extent permitted by available data, special attention will be paid to some assistance programs in each of Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.