Over the past few years, many Arab countries have witnessed popular uprisings in which ordinary men and women have demanded freedom, social justice and dignity.

Upon a request for support through Technical Cooperation from the League of Arab States (LAS), ESCWA jointly with the LAS conducted between 22 and 24 October 2013 a regional training workshop on “Capacity Development for Climate Change Negotiations for the Arab Countries” in Amman, Jordan.

In an effort to learn from the experience of other countries, ESCWA, in cooperation with the Embassy of Finland in Lebanon, welcomed Drs.

ESCWA convened a workshop on “Applying the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Methodology in the Arab Region,” from 11 to 13 May 2014 at the United Nations House in Beirut.

ESCWA launched in partnership with the League of Arab States a technical material on "Disability in the Arab Region: An Overview".

The Internet penetration rate in the Arab region registered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.9 per cent during the period 2005-2012 which is higher than the world average of 12.4 per cent.

ESCWA launched the digital Arabic content (DAC) competitions for 2013 between June and September in each of Palestine, Yemen and Lebanon under the slogan “Thinking digital? Let’s innovate in Arabic”. The competitions aimed at selecting the best and most innovative ideas in the field of DAC.