ESCWA launched the digital Arabic content (DAC) competitions for 2013 between June and September in each of Palestine, Yemen and Lebanon under the slogan “Thinking digital? Let’s innovate in Arabic”. The competitions aimed at selecting the best and most innovative ideas in the field of DAC. They were launched in cooperation with the Palestine Information and Communication Technology Incubator (PICTI) in Palestine, the Science and Technology Centre at the University of Aden in Yemen, and Berytech in Lebanon.

UNESCWA is implementing a capacity building project aiming at enhancing renewable energy (RE) investments in member countries in the context of climate change mitigation.

26 June 2013 saw the mutual signing at LAS headquarters in Cairo, of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Ms. Rima Khalaf, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States (LAS), Mr. Nabil Al Arabi. The new MoU aims to develop and build on decades of cooperation between ESCWA and LAS, which has grown progressively since the signing of the original MoU between the two organizations in 1983.

ESCWA national and regional workshops aim to improve the fairness, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of fiscal policy consolidation and tax administration, including by broadening the tax base and continuing efforts to integrate the informal sector into the formal economy in line with country specific circumstances.