This report analyses the causes and consequences of the uneven progress made by ESCWA member countries towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by providing a detailed examination of the MDG targets and their associated indicators through the prism of a gender lens.



This study reviews the progress achieved by ESCWA member countries in implementing the recommendations contained in the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, Mexico, March 2002), during the last six years with a focus on 2008.

The national machineries for the advancement of women undertake a catalyst role in the integration of a gender perspective in all government programmes and policies. They also follow up on the implementation of those policies and measure their impact on women status.

The rapid pace of advancement in information and communications technology (ICT) and the increasing ICT application possibilities in the economic, social and cultural fields are accompanied, on the one hand, by exacerbating technological risks concocted by hackers abusing the global transnational

Although the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) do not include a clear energy-related goal, it would not be possible to achieve those goals without providing reliable and affordable energy services.

The post-colonial socio-political landscape of the ESCWA region has witnessed a seemingly endless chain of conflict, fragile peace and constantly heightened levels of political tension, all of which have had negative ramifications for governance and socio-economic development in the region.