Given the important uses of purchasing power parities (PPPs) in the formulation of economic policies and in monitoring Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Western Asia has been working towards the regular production of PPPs by constructing a continuous annual PPP time series and establishing the International Comparison Program (ICP) as a permanent element within the regular statistical work programs, an initiative which has granted the region a leading position within the global ICP community.

On 11 March 2020, WHO announced that Covid-19 outbreak can be characterized as a pandemic. Although the epicenters of the pandemic are currently in the United States and Europe, majority of Arab countries are heavily affected by the virus. In the region, impacts of the Covid-19 crisis are expected to be devastating given prevalent poverty and informality, conflicts and displacement, shrinking oil revenues as well as other factors.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA), the Arab States Regional Office for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and the Swedish Institute in Alexandria held regional consultations on estimating the economic cost of violence against women, on 24 and 25 October 2017, at the Swedish Institute in Alexandria, Arab Republic of Egypt. The regional consultations were organised for Arab National Women Machineries and National Statistics Offices in the Arab region.

Within the framework of the “Regional Initiative for Promoting Small-Scale Renewable Energy Applications in Rural Areas of the Arab Region (REGEND)” Project, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), in partnership with the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD), and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Jordan (MEMR) is organizing a capacity-building workshop on “Good Agriculture Practices for Enhanced Energy Sustainability”.
 
This workshop will build the scientific and technical capacities of REGEND’s beneficiaries, on good agriculture practices through a simplified scientific and distinctive approach integrating lectures, exercises, and practical training in the field.