Annual Report 2020: Solidarity in the Face of Adversity

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ESCWA Publication: E/ESCWA/OES/2021/1

Country: People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, Kingdom of Bahrain, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republic of Iraq, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, State of Kuwait, Lebanese Republic, State of Libya, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Kingdom of Morocco, Sultanate of Oman, State of Palestine, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Federal Republic of Somalia, Republic of Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Republic of Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Republic of Yemen

Publication Type: Reports & studies

Cluster: Climate Change and Natural Resource Sustainability, Gender Justice, Population and Inclusive Development, Shared Economic Prosperity, Statistics, Information Society and Technology, 2030 Agenda and SDG Coordination, Governance and Conflict Prevention

Focus Area: 2030 Agenda, Climate change, Financing for development, Gender equality, Governance & enabling environment, Inclusive development, Future of employment, Macroeconomics, Natural resource sustainability, Population dynamics & migration

Initiatives: AWARENET, Arab Open and Innovative Government, Islamic finance, Arab Forum for Sustainable Development, Artificial intelligence & big data, Transport statistics, Promoting renewable energy investments, Arab information society, Innovation policies, Cyber Legislation

SDGs: Agenda 2030

Keywords: Covid-19, Sustainable development, Solidarity, Social justice, Social integration, Social development, Regional commissions, Partnership, Governance, Food security, Financing, Economic development, Climate change, Armed conflicts, Activities

Annual Report 2020: Solidarity in the Face of Adversity

December 2021

2020 will forever be remembered as one of the most challenging years of recent history. Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic took millions of lives and did significant damage to our collective well-being. Almost every country in the Arab region underwent a lockdown, which in some instances lasted upwards of six months, endangering people’s livelihoods.

Economies also plunged into a deep recession. Supply chains were halted. Transportation networks were closed. Millions of civilians lost their jobs and those who are most vulnerable - refugees and internally displaced persons, recipients of humanitarian aid, women, persons with disabilities, older persons, young people and workers in the informal sectors - were hit the hardest.

It is often in the face of such profound and universal adversity that the human spirit shines brightest, and that is what we witnessed throughout 2020. Across the Arab region, member States supported each other as well as non-member States in as many ways as they could, with the exchange of needed medical supplies as well as guidelines and frameworks for how to deal with the pandemic.

The ESCWA Annual Report 2020 presents the extensive, courageous, and creative work we did at ESCWA throughout 2020 to help member States navigate the year’s relentless and unpredictable challenges while staying on task with achieving the SDGs.