Date: 10 December 2020

The League of Arab States, the Government of Japan and UNDP will co-host a policy roundtable to provide an overview of the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Arab region and policy implications for development efforts.

Discussions will build on analyses undertaken by the League and current research conducted by UNDP based on its Regional Socioeconomic Impact Assessment and the forthcoming policy paper series exploring in-depth critical socio-economic themes and sectors.

Thematic analyses cover: regional macroeconomic trends; vulnerabilities in the tourism and construction sectors; remittance flows; labour markets; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; gender dimensions; multi-dimensional poverty; food security; and social protection systems.

Analyses also record lessons learned from across the region, taking into consideration the impacts of the pandemic on achieving the SDGs in the region.

Following the success of the first Arab-Japan Political Dialogue in September 2017, the League of Arab States, Japan and UNDP tri-partite partnership launched a series of policy roundtables in September 2019. Those roundtables aim to establish a policy dialogue platform encompassing common priorities and concerns to support a sustainable path in the Arab region.

Respectively, the first two roundtables focused on: Education and Human Development, and Socioeconomic responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Third in this series, the upcoming policy roundtable will explore ways to address specific sectorial challenges and build forward better, capitalizing on COVID-19 recovery efforts to boost progress towards the achievement of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.

Read more Arab States Experts Roundtable: COVID-19 Recovery an opportunity to accelerate SDGs achievement in the Arab States