The main goal of establishing of a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is to provide recommendations on strategies, as well as substantive and methodological guidelines for achieving goals in the area of population and social statistics. In its first meeting, the TAG focused on ensuring that all countries in the region have the capacity to deliver a core set of population and social indicators needed for the SDGs among other planning and monitoring purposes.

Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are constantly evolving outpacing detection at every corner. IFFs undermine the rule of law, distort macro-economic stability, and raise severe security complications for the Arab region. These flows constitute substantial leakages to domestic public revenues that could have otherwise been harnessed to finance national and regional efforts devoted to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This paper will provide an overview of the short- and long-term impacts of conflict in the region and identify the interconnections and self-reinforcing cycles amongst these.
 
The paper will link this dire situation in many Arab States with implications for reaching the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Coherent and well-financed development planning and policy implementation is vital to the success of the SDGs.
 
This paper aims to monitor the impact of conflict on the development of the Arab countries, and how these conflicts affect the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda.