New York: Europe and the Arabs

A UN official at the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) said that the occupation and situations of conflict and instability in 9 Arab countries, which include about 40% of the population of the Arab region, constitute a very major obstacle to achieving the sustainable development goals, not only in those countries but in the region. All of Arabic.
In an exclusive interview with United Nations News, Jana Al-Baba, responsible for the coordination group for work on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals at the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), warned that there are several factors that place Arab countries suffering from conflicts “in a vicious circle.” You can get out of it easily, and make it unable to restore the path of development, which affects many generations, not just the present generation.
However, there are two basic common denominators in the various cases of countries suffering from conflicts in the region or their repercussions, according to what the Pope said.
The UN official said that the first of these aspects is the issue of displacement and asylum, as there are about 9 million refugees in the region living in difficult conditions, and they also affect the groups or communities that host them, in addition to 19 million internally displaced people.
She added, "Gaza today is the biggest example, as there are more than two million displaced people living in very painful conditions that we all know."
The Pope explained that the second common denominator that these countries suffer from due to conflicts is the collapse of institutions, “because these wars, most of which last for a decade or more, have weakened the capacity of public institutions and emptied them of competencies and their ability to provide public services, including education and health, as well as security throughout their territories.” ".
Messages of the Arab Forum for Development
In early March, ESCWA organized the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development for the year 2024. The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed, said in her speech at the opening session of the forum that challenges such as those facing the region remind us that “there cannot be sustainable development without peace.” ".
The ESCWA official said that the Arab countries affirmed during the forum their commitment to the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan, and came up with a number of messages that would strengthen that plan in times of multiple crises.
She added that whatever these difficulties, “the 2030 Plan and its goals remain the compass and road map towards a better future for current and future generations.”
She said that the forum came out with a number of messages and recommendations, including recommendations on how to manage social protection programs to ensure justice for current and future generations, invest in food sovereignty at the regional level, adopt nature-based solutions to adapt to climate change, and combat corruption within public administrations. But the most prominent messages were those related to the Summit on the Future.
The Pope also referred to the call to raise our voice in order to strengthen the representation of the countries of the South in general and the Arab countries in particular in global financial institutions, and to reform the international financial structure to ensure the ability of developing countries to obtain financing when they need it most, especially for example in cases of crises.
Focus on what is possible
The Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Ms. Rula Dashti, said in her speech before the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development that they stand united, not only to work to achieve sustainable development and growth, “but also to chart a future in which the aspirations of any child are not buried under the rubble of conflicts, and in which the large number of neglected people do not exist.” 187 million in the Arab region is just a number, but rather an essential pillar of our journey towards prosperity, peace and sustainability.”
ESCWA Sustainable Development Officer, Jana Al-Baba, said that the 2030 plan was originally developed in order to preserve human rights without anyone being neglected or left behind, and to achieve gender equality and equality among countries.
In order to achieve these goals, the Pope stressed that ESCWA is adopting a two-pronged approach that it also encourages countries to adopt.
She added that the first part "is to focus on what is possible, meaning that we must not achieve the plan or enter into all of its objectives at once, but rather focus on what is possible and what allows us to maximize the return despite the limited resources available to us."
The second part, according to the Pope, is anticipating the future, and that “we always keep our eyes on the future in a strategic way to seize new opportunities on the one hand, and also to prepare for any challenges whose features may be beginning to appear.”
The pace of progress is very slow
In March 2024, ESCWA issued a report on progress towards the sustainable development goals in the Arab region, in which it said that the implementation of the 2030 plan faced many challenges and obstacles.
The official in the group coordinating work on the 2030 plan and the sustainable development goals at ESCWA said, “The report enabled us to discern some worrying trends on more than one level. The pace of progress is of course very slow.”
She pointed out that if this pace continues, the Arab region will need 60 years to reach the set goals, while there are only 6 years remaining until 2030.
She pointed out that, for example, high-income countries such as the Gulf countries will be able to achieve five goals, and this is in the best case scenario, while the Maghreb countries may be able to achieve two goals by 2030, while the Levant countries and the least developed countries will not be able to achieve any of the goals.
She warned that "poverty is moving in a completely opposite direction. Instead of eliminating extreme poverty, its rate has doubled from 9.5% in 2015 to 20% in 2023."
She also touched on what she described as the “biggest concern” for the Arab region, which is how to adapt to climate change, noting that 83% of the countries in the region suffer from water stress, and there is an increase in climate disasters and extreme weather phenomena With the implications for health, food production and more.
Investments and repairs
The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations also said in her speech before the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development that despite everything, “there are signs of hope.”
This hope is what ESCWA always clings to, according to what Jana Al-Baba confirmed to us, who said that they see this hope in the serious efforts made by all Arab countries of all levels and levels of income.
She pointed to the huge investments in the field of renewable energy, as it is expected that the region’s production capacity in the field of renewable energy will rise by 33 gigawatts until 2026 throughout the Arab region.
She also talked about the existence of great efforts to bridge the digital divide and digital transformation, as the percentage of Internet users increased from about 38% in 2015 to more than 70% in 2020, meaning that it almost doubled.
She said that they also monitored major reforms in the field of social protection, as “ESCWA monitored more than 150 reforms to these policies in 2021 alone towards expanding coverage to include different groups at risk, and also to correct and improve the efficiency of these systems.”
It is expected that the Arab Sustainable Development Report 2024, which is issued by ESCWA every four years, will be published at a later date.