Conventional wisdom, based mainly on surveyed household income distribution statistics, suggests that inequality is generally low in Arab countries. At the same time, little attention has been devoted to social inequalities, whether in terms of outcomes or opportunities. This column introduces a forthcoming report, which offers a different narrative: based on the largest research project on the subject to date and covering 12 Arab countries, the authors argue that the region is caught in an inequality trap.

Cooperation between ESCWA, UN Environment, and the League of Arab States has led to the development of a draft “Implementation Framework for the Environmental Dimension of the 2030 Agenda”. The draft framework proposes means of integrating the environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into national development plans and policies in the Arab region.

In September 1995, the United Nations organized the Fourth World Conference on Women. The conference, held in Beijing between September 4 and 11, has been hailed as the most significant one to date in the struggle for gender equality. It unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action.

UN-ESCWA Executive Secretary Bader Omar AlDafa said Thursday that Arab states have achieved uneven results in 2006 in globalization. “Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Arab states has reached a record score of USD$62 billion and an average growth of 36 percent. This growth reflects the efforts exerted by most Arab states to lure FDI,” AlDafa said during a press conference held at the UN-House on the occasion of launching the “Annual Review of Developments in Globalization and Regional Integration in Arab countries 2007”.