Providing an analysis of the global situation in mid-2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, is a difficult task. The outbreak has exerted tremendous pressure on the global economy, the scale of which is still unclear. Consequently, the present report sets out two scenarios: a moderate one projecting that the crisis will end and the economy will rebound in the last quarter of 2020; and a pessimistic one in which the crisis will persist throughout 2020 and continue in the first quarter of 2021.

Within the framework of the activities carried out by the Economic Statistics Section at ESCWA to enhance the capabilities of member states to monitor sustainable development goals, the ESCWA Statistics Division is organizing a workshop on Supply and Use Tables.

Within the framework of the “Regional Initiative for Promoting Small-Scale Renewable Energy Applications in Rural Areas of the Arab Region (REGEND)” project, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), in partnership with the General Commission for Regional Development (CGDR) and the National Agency for Energy Conservation (ANME) in Tunisia, is organizing a capacity-building workshop on “Improving the yield and quality of fruit tree plantings and adopting water-saving irrigation techniques and renewable energy technologies for pumping, irrigation, and water desalination”.
 
This workshop aims to build/enhance the knowledge and the practical capacities of a group of peasants in the region of Chorbane (Governorate of Mahdia, Republic of Tunisia), with regard to improving the yield and quality of fruit tree plantings through the adoption of the best agricultural practices that are compatible with what the region is facing as a result of climate change like water scarcity, by rationalizing the use of the available water resources through using water irrigation saving techniques and renewable energy techniques to desalinate highly saline groundwater and to pump irrigation water. The workshop will provide the participants with theoretical knowledge and practical experience with regards to Water-Energy-Food Nexus, by adopting modern methods of training that integrate theoretical and practical dimensions together through the field school technology.