On the sidelines of the UN Day celebrations (24 October), a panel discussion was organized for the regional launch of the Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia. In order to shed light on the precious natural resources and promote dialogue between countries sharing water resources, ESCWA and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) have prepared the Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia.

The project on “Promoting Food and Water Security through Cooperation and Capacity Development in the Arab Region” aims at the development of an institutionalized national and regional monitoring mechanism through an overall assessment of existing national food security policies and strategies in each Arab country. A comparative analysis of these policies was undertaken to establish an enhanced regional food security monitoring system that is tailored according to regional specificities and responds to current and projected priority concerns of the Arab region.

The conference will review progress in implementing Cairo declaration since 2013, focusing on linkages and synergies between the Declaration and the 2030 Agenda.

Civil registration and vital statistics play a key role in facilitating the monitoring of progress in the SDGs where they serve as a denominator for a wide range of demographic goals and indicators. These statistics are a source of continuous and up-to-date information on birth, death and population statistics. Arab countries have civil registration systems, but some are unable to produce vital statistics according to international standards and recommendations.