Provision of affordable and quality social services such as health, education and social protection is a key concern in Arab countries. Provision of these services has traditionally been considered as the domain of the State. However, this has been subject to change globally and in the Arab region.  Increased privatization efforts and technical as well as regulatory innovations have enabled non-state actors to contribute to the provision of basic social services. Some countries in the region have deliberately designed policies to allow private participation in some social sectors.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Mohamed Ali Alhakim called for enhancing cooperation between the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission (LAEC), affiliated to the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), in many projects “as we can benefit from the expertise of the Commission in the implementation of common mechanisms and programs related to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to the issues of climate change and their impact on nature and people.”
 

Under the overall umbrella of pushing forth the Sustainable Development Agenda, and precisely, innovation, in the Arab region, ESCWA gathered more than 60 experts from its member countries and from selected developed countries in its Beirut-based headquarters to discuss “Mechanisms to Advance Innovation for Inclusive Sustainable Development in the Arab Region.”
 

This meeting falls under component 4 of the project “Enhancing the assessment capacity of the status of food security in the Arab countries”