ESCWA, AL teaming up to help Arab states realize stability, prosperity

04 / 11 / 2019

By Khaled El Dib - - | Edited by Marwa Nassar

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Rola Dashti said ESCWA is teaming up with the Arab League to help the Arab states realize stability, justice and prosperity.

Addressing the Arab Sustainable Development Week in Cairo, she said the Arab region is the sole area in the world that was slapped by an increase in abject poverty rate over the past six years as 20 percent of Arab populations are suffering from extreme poverty.

About 20 million of Arab children are deprived of education and about 50 million people are suffering from malnutrition, and 51 million from water shortage, she said, adding that the unemployment rate reached 26 percent in the Arab world.

She also touched on the suffering girls in some Arab states in order to get a chance for education.

She also highlighted the huge gap in standards of living between people living in cities and countryside in the Arab region.

She added that the Arab region houses almost 42 percent of people who fled dispute areas worldwide, referring to the conflicts in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya as major challenge.

She underlined the importance of exerting more efforts, noting that despite of all these facts, she is still upbeat about achieving sustainable development.