This issue disseminates population census data and comparable national data on registered vital events (births, deaths, marriages and divorces) in the ESCWA region, with complementary analysis. To optimize accuracy, data have been checked for consistency against national, regional and international sources and for comparability purposes, rates have been computed using the World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision prepared by the United Nations Population Division.

The study Prospects for South-South Cooperation in the ESWA Region reviews the current status of cooperation between ESCWA member countries and explores potential areas for future collaboration. The experience of countries in other developing regions has demonstrated that South-South cooperation has the potential to play an important role in the generation of employment, the alleviation of poverty and the attainment of inclusive, sustained economic development through technical assistance, knowledge exchange and technology transfer.

This booklet represents the main outcome of the project "Toward more gender-responsive Millennium Development Goal (MDG) monitoring and reporting in the Arab region" that was implemented by the ESCWA in cooperation with United Nations agencies in the Arab region. The project aimed at forging a common understanding among stakeholders on ways to engender quantitative monitoring and reporting on the MDGs, particularly the identification of priority regional gender issues and the development of gender-sensitive measurements in Arab countries.