INFO

Created in 1973

Member since July 2016

https://www.unescwa.org/

CORE ACTIVITIES ON E-COMMERCE AND THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) supports its 20 member States in their efforts to ensure prosperity and equality. By analysing regional and national economic, social and environmental trends in the light of global United Nations agendas, ESCWA provides Arab countries with policy recommendations that build on a thorough analysis of facts and commonalities. It also underscores the benefits of integration and creates regional public goods, including knowledge, data, tools and capacity.

ESCWA acts as:

The voice of the region: bringing people together for deliberation, coordination, consensus-building and advocacy.
The think tank of the region: supporting quality data collection and analysis through innovative research for forward-looking, evidence-based policymaking
The adviser to the region: providing capacity-building and technical advisory services, and informing strategies and policies to strengthen national development efforts
The provider of support for the 2030 Agenda in the region: guiding member States in their efforts to implement the SDGs.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

How does ESCWA’s work and activities specifically touch upon e-commerce and the digital economy?

Since 2017, ESCWA has launched several initiatives on ICT for development and regional integration to align the action lines of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) with the SDGs.

ESCWA conducts national and regional digital development reviews to assist member States in monitoring the development of their information societies and their digital development agendas. It has created, for this purpose, a comprehensive conceptual framework for digital development structured in five clusters:

National, regional and international strategic frameworks;
Infrastructure, governance and legal environment;
Digital economy, employment and trade;
Digital transformation and social inclusion;
Culture and media.

ESCWA has also co-led the development of a comprehensive Arab Digital Agenda (ADA), developed as part of the project "Advancing Digital Cooperation and Development - Arab States Action Programme" (ADCD-ASAP), with the aim of encouraging dialogue and collaboration among various stakeholders and experts on critical issues pertaining to digital development and digital cooperation.

ESCWA, in partnership with the League of Arab States (LAS), holds regular and inter-sessional Arab Internet Governance Forum (ArabIGF) meetings to keep pace with internet issues and developments pertinent to the Arab region.

Building Inclusive Digital Futures: A National Policy Template

Digital inclusion is essential to ensuring that all people, including underserved and marginalized groups, can benefit from digital transformation.

To support Arab countries in advancing this goal, ESCWA is preparing a National Digital Inclusion Policy Template under the Arab Digital Inclusion Platform (ADIP). The template is intended to help policymakers adapt practical policy frameworks to national priorities and promote more inclusive digital development.

ESCWA | Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Building Inclusive Digital Futures: A National Policy Template

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