United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Mohamed Ali Alhakim headed to New York to take part in the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development held between 10 and 19 July 2017 and other side-line events.

            During last Friday visit paid by ESCWA Executive Secretary Mohamed Ali Alhakim to the Lebanese Minister of State for Women's Affairs Jean Ogassapian, the two sides discussed the possibility of setting a framework aimed to increase the technical cooperation provided by ESCWA.

The policy brief examines existing institutions in the Arab region and their role in holding various actors including the State and third parties accountable for discrimination against women in the public and private spheres.

2017 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
 Session Two: Implementation at the regional and sub-regional level
 
Statement by Mr. Mohamed Ali Alhakim

This paper employs MIRAGE global CGE model to assess the implication of the implementation of a 5 percent Value added tax in the six GCC countries starting from 2018. The modelling simulation shows that the introduction of VAT could generate a considerable revenue in GCC countries.

In this report, ESCWA proposes an integrated outlook based on three economic levers set by economic theories and best practices.