The Arab Forum for Sustainable Development organized by ESCWA from 3 to 5 May 2017 in Rabat, Morocco, stressed the importance of peace and stability as a prerequisite for sustainable development in the Arab region.
 
Held under the theme “Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Eradicating Poverty and Promoting Prosperity in a Changing Arab Region,” the Forum agreed

ESCWA held on 8 and 9 May 2017 at the UN House in Beirut an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) to conjure a common scope, definition, working parameters and methodology to qualify and quantify Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) and trade misinvoicing since, to date, there is no multilaterally agreed upon definition of IFFs or an agreed-on methodology for their measurement.
 

UN Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Mohamed Ali Alhakim received the Ambassador of Egypt to Lebanon Nazih El Naggary, on 26 May 2017 at the UN House, Beirut.

Following the meeting, Ambassador El Naggary told the ESCWA Communication and Information Unit (ECIU): “it was a courtesy call, and an occasion to congratulate the Executive Secretary on his assignment as head of ESCWA.”

“Violent extremism walks in when shared society withdraws,” said former Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina and member of “Club de Madrid”  Zlatko Lagumdzija, who paid a visit to the UN House in Beirut on 29 May 2017, and met with Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Mohamed Ali Alhakim. The meeting was attended by ESCWA Deputy Executive Khawla Mattar and Director of ESCWA Emerging and Conflict-related Issues Division Tarek Alami as well as “Club de Madrid” Senior Program Officer Maram Anbar.