RAB 99 001

League of Arab States (LAS)

RBAS contact

Ghaith Fariz

Project Location

Cairo, Egypt

Starting Date

February 1999

Brief Description

This project will constitute the vehicle for using the combined capacities and resources of the League of Arab States and UNDP for promotion human development in the Arab States. In particular, the project will support the establishment in the League of the Human Development Forum and will finance human development related initiatives that have been identified in consultations between the League and UNDP. UNDP will also cooperate in the MDG arena with capacity building workshops and a regional indicator database.

RAB 99 005

Programme on Governance in the Arab Region (POGAR)

RBAS contact

Adel Abdel Latif

Regional Project Coordinator

Adel Abdel Latif

Project Location

Beirut, Lebanon

Starting Date

January 2000

Brief Description

This project aims to strengthen governance institutions in the Arab States. POGAR is rooted in national needs and was developed at the request of Arab governments. The programme works in partnership with key governance institutions, including legislatures and judiciaries, as well as with civil society organizations and UN sister agencies. It fosters to promote good governance principles and practices, such as: rule of law, participation, and transparency and accountability through rendering policy advice, engaging in institutional capacity building, and testing policy options in pilot projects.

RAB 01 001

Arab Human Development Report

RBAS contact

Rima Khalaf-Hunaidi
Zahir Jamal

Regional Project Coordinator

Nader Fergany
AHDR 2: Maen Nsour
AHDR 3: Moez Doraid

Project Location

Region-wide and RBAS HQ

Starting Date

February 2001

Brief Description

The Arab Human Development Reports aim to promote a fresh analysis of development trends and policies in the region with the goal of building an Arab identity and response around common challenges. The series, co-sponsored by UNDP/RBAS and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), has initially been planned around four reports: the first issue, Creating Opportunities for Future Generations, identifies three cardinal deficits hampering human development in the region: deficits of knowledge, freedom and the empowerment of women. Three subsequent annual reports aim to analyse these policy gaps in depth. Independent teams comprising a distinguished cross-section of Arab authors and intellectuals prepare the Reports. Written by Arabs for Arabs, this series has stimulated an unprecedented policy debate in the region and abroad on the directions Arab countries need to take to launch an Arab Renaissance.

RAB 01 002

Higher Education: Enhancement of Quality Assurance and Institutional Planning in Arab Universities

RBAS contact

Maen Nsour

Regional Project Coordinator

Isam Naquib

Project Location

Amman, Jordan

Starting Date

November 2001

Brief Description

RAB 01 004

Human Development and Human Rights in the Region of Arab States

Joint Project with Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Arab Organization for Human Rights

RBAS contact

Adel Abdel Latif

Project Director

Adel Abdel Latif

Project Location

Beirut , Lebanon

Starting Date

July 2001

Brief Description

The project is building regional capacity to advocate and promote the concept of a human-rights based approach to development. Such an approach is firmly grounded in universal, indivisible human rights guaranteed by international covenants, conventions and treaties. Research activities, the development of a human rights information system, the organization of round tables workshops and publication will help governments and NGOs active in the fields of human rights and development to promote the realization of human rights through sustainable human development in their cooperation with governments. The project will provide opportunities to develop novel approaches to integrate economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development into programming in the country level. The project will also develop specific standards to assess and measure the integration of the right to development in such programming.

RAB 01 005

Basic Education Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study- (TIMSS)

RBAS contact

Maen Nsour

Project Location

New York, USA

Starting Date

August 2002

Participating CO

Six Arab Countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Brief Description

The Arab region needs to develop policies and strategies for improving the quality of education at all levels, beginning with the primary education. The region lacks accurate and reliable data about the effectiveness of its educational institutions. This project will enable six Arab States to collect the necessary data through participation in an on-going multi-national, curriculum-based investigation of primary education (4th Grade) and middle education (8th Grade) in mathematics and science (TIMSS). The study is being conducted by an international consortium of research institutes and government agencies. TIMSS will collect data through tests and questionnaires administered to students, teachers and principals in the participating countries. More than 50 countries are participating in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2003). Following the completion of the TIMSS, educational and research experts from participating Arab states will review the TIMSS report to recommend measures and policies for enhancing the effectiveness of their educational institutions and policies in imparting learning, particularly in mathematics and science at primary and middle levels. Their recommendations will be considered in a UNDP-sponsored ministerial-level meeting to define and agree upon follow-up action(s) necessary at the national and regional levels.

RAB 02 001

Centre for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) Phase II

RBAS contact

Ghaith Fariz

Regional Project Coordinator

Soukeina Bouraoui

Project Location

Tunis, Tunisia

Starting Date

January 2002

Brief Description

The Centre was established in 1993 in response to requests from Arab governments and civil society as well as regional and international organizations. CAWTAR conducts research and field studies on gender issues as well as collect, analyze, and publish data, indicators and statistics on women’s economic social and political conditions. Since its establishment, the Centre has accumulated considerable knowledge and a substantial record of publications. One of the landmarks has been the recent Arab Women’s Development Report on Globalization and Gender. To support its policy analysis and advocacy activities the Centre has forged partnerships with national and regional Arab institutions as well as with international organizations. UNDP’s support to CAWTAR focuses on strategic activities that will make a significant contribution to improving the conditions and status of Arab women. These activities include addressing the expressed regional need for the collection, analysis and sharing of gender-disaggregated data and statistics; raising awareness and building coalitions and capacities to address gender inequality, strengthening the capacity of governments to mainstream gender in the design and formulation of policies.

RAB 02 003

ICT for Development in Arab Region (ICTDAR)

RBAS contact

Moez Doraid

Regional Project Coordinator

Najat Rochdi

Project Location

Cairo, Egypt

Starting Date

October 2003

Brief Description

The programme supports participating Arab countries in the use of Information and Communication Technologies for Human Development. ICTDAR aims to address problems of low uptake and to harness ICT for poverty reduction by focusing on four service lines: a) Awareness raising and stake holders campaigns: activities emphasize sharing best practices and changing people’s thinking on the potential and means for using information, specifically for the human development and the empowerment of the underprivileged. b) Capacity building from the bottom up, including support of ICTs in school curricula, support of development of core curricula of regional relevance, national school nets, teacher and corporate training, extension of ICT training to remote areas, gender inclusion and promotion of Arabic content, etc. c) Pro-poor growth and employment generation: focusing on SMEs interventions that aim at retooling of existing business practices with added ICT emphasis for efficiency, market outreach, innovation and technology adoption. d) Digital initiatives: i.e. demand driven and dynamic poverty reduction interventions, including the provision of information on: prices relevant to low-income buyers and sellers, financial services, health and education, employment opportunities, poverty reduction schemes and social funds activities among others. Partnerships with regional and international public and private institutions are core modalities for this programme.

RAB 02 M01

HIV/AIDS Regional Programme in the Arab States (HARPAS)

RBAS contact

Walid Badawi

Regional Project Coordinator

Khadija Moalla

Project Location

Cairo, Egypt

Starting Date

September 2002

Brief Description

Despite the growing numbers of infected persons, the Arab region continues to be regarded as a low-prevalence area, and as a result there has been general complacency and lack of urgency in dealing with this global epidemic. Most countries in the region still respond to the HIV epidemic within the framework of medical and health sector approaches instead of formulating truly multi-sectoral, results-oriented, target-based national AIDS plans that are coordinated at the highest level of government. Breaking the silence, overcoming denial and acknowledging the gravity of the situation remain key challenges. The objective of HARPAS is to create heightened awareness and build commitment and leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The regional programme strategy thus aims to implement a series of high-priority, catalytic regional intervention that will pave the way for country level follow-up. A crucial feature of this Programme is a comprehensive response towards ‘Breaking the Silence’ by increasing the visibility of the HIV/AIDS epidemic while decreasing the stigma and discrimination associated with it.