This is an adolescent friendly booklet about the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995). It includes a summary of what is included in the Declaration and what this means for the Arab region. Chapter IV of the Declaration talks about the girl child and this booklet provides an overview of what promises are made there and the progress towards these promises in the Arab region in 2019 – 25 years since the Declaration was signed.

The High-Level Seminar is co-organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and hosted by the General Authority of Statistics in Saudi Arabia. It will seek a collaborative regional response to the need for economic statistics that support evidence‐based policymaking within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Beirut, 6 December 2019 (ESCWA)--ESCWA today discussed how public expenditures can be better targeted to achieve social development priorities, using the recently launched Social Expenditure Monitor (SEM) that seeks to align thinking on social policy interventions with national budgets and macroeconomic policy.
 
The workshop held at the UN House in Beirut gathered experts from the region to review a discussion paper on SEM and invite Arab States that have not yet done so to adopt it.
 

Social expenditure Monitor (SEM) is designed as a multipurpose policy tool to support budgeting and fiscal policy choices, among others. SEM can be useful in advancing SDGs through fostering social justice and inclusive development, growth and fiscal sustainability, and producing better statistics.