Amman, 10 December 2019 – A new report that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) launched today, observes that women and girls have benefited from reforms affecting core aspects of their lives as specific provisions within penal, labour, family and nationality codes have been revised and updated, in some Arab countries over the past decade.

Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, more than 400 Arab ministers of environment, as well as concerned officials and dignitaries will gather tomorrow in the Second Session of the Arab High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development (AFSD) to set their priorities for regional and international cooperation on the growing number of environmental challenges facing the Arab region.

The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Nadim Khouri called for the need to take advantage of available opportunities to improve food security in the region through trade and foreign investments to ensure benefits for all. The call came in a statement delivered today by Khouri at the opening session of the international conference entitled “A Food Secure Arab World: A Roadmap for Policy and Research,” jointly organized by ESCWA and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and held at the UN House in Beirut.

President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) Ola Awad today commended the signature of a memorandum of understanding between PCBS and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), at the UN House in Beirut. Awad said “the objective of this agreement between PCBS and ESCWA is the implementation of a survey to assess the impact of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza strip in 2014, and the socioeconomic living conditions of Palestinian households in the West Bank and the Gaza strip.