Homogeneous analyses of the Arab region tend to portray it as a group of natural resource rich middle- and high-income countries, ignoring the fact that six Arab countries - Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen - are LDCs.  The objective of this work is to provide a brief overview of the main progress and challenges in the area of productive capacity in the LDCs that are member states of ESCWA: Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen.

A group of students visiting Lebanon from various universities in Europe on 6 August called on ESCWA where they were briefed about the UN Regional Commission and welcomed by several of its senior officials.

The students' tour began with a stop at ESCWA’s Library, where they received an overview about its books, publications and documents. The European students also had a chance to see ESCWA's reproduction house where most of the Commission’s publications are produced.