Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
Nearly 65% of adults in the Arab region remain excluded from formal financial systems, according to a new report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). The Annual SDG Review 2025 paints a sobering picture of persistent financial exclusion that is undermining the region’s ability …
Waste disposal sites across Jordan pose serious risks to the environment and to public health if not managed safely. Municipal waste decomposing in open landfills also takes an environmental and socio-economic toll on neighbouring communities. While the Government of Jordan is planning to reduce the number of operational landfills and …
The Comparative Study on Empowering Women in Water Diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region has been elaborated with the aim to identify the similarities and the differences in the challenges female water experts face across the five countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine), and to identify …
The National Energy Strategy 2020–2030 presents the evolution of the energy sector under its vision for stimulating demand, achieving efficiency and improving electricity system flexibility. This Renewables Readiness Assessment (RRA) highlights key actions for the short and medium-term that could create more conductive conditions for renewable energy development. It aims …
This report predicts that unless immediate and bold action is taken by the international community to beat back the catastrophic effects of COVID-19 on refugee education, the potential of millions of young refugees living in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities will be further threatened. The data in the …
This paper summarizes the core environmental challenges in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region. It is an adapted and extended version of the Environmental Outlook for the West Asia Region, published following the conference “Environmental challenges in the MENA region: The long road from conflict to cooperation”.There are multiple understandings …
When the Jordanian army went shopping for land in northern Sudan in late 1999, its scouts came across what appeared to be a food-growing paradise. The terrain was vast, flat, and fat with nutrients. The water it could draw from the nearby Nile was almost embarrassingly bountiful. And local officials …
Developing nations are now driving the world’s gradual shift towards renewable energy, and India has become one of the leaders of the pack. With increased investments and clean energy installations, as well as the world’s largest renewables auction market, India ranks 2nd after Chile in the 2018 Climatescope (pdf) report …
Even a small increase in global warming will have profound impacts on communities, new ACT report finds. Climate change experts from the ACT Alliance network have published a report assessing the threats posed by climate change on the sustainable development goals (SDG) and disaster risk reduction. The report finds that …
This study assesses the potential for manufacturing renewable energy components in Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. All three countries possess strong market potential, combined with existing industrial assets and a degree of prior experience with renewable-based power generation. All three, furthermore, have adopted ambitious national targets and support …
Many refugees would like to buy low-carbon stoves and lights but poor access in camps and a lack of funding is forcing them to rely on “dirty and expensive” fuels, a report said on Tuesday. Millions of refugees worldwide struggle to access energy for cooking, lighting and communication and often …
This compilation of case studies is the product of water integrity action plans developed and enforced during implementation of the Regional Capacity Building Programme on Water Integrity for the MENA region. The Programme works to improve transparency and accountability practices in water resources management across the MENA region, including in …
Across 71 emerging markets a total of 34 GW worth of new solar capacity came online in 2016, an increase of 54% year-over-year and has more than tripled in three years, according to new figures from Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s annual Climatescope survey. New solar capacity is a big deal …
The electricity sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is in the grip of an apparent paradox. Although the region continues to hold the world’s largest oil and gas reserves and has been able to maintain electricity access rates of close to hundred percent in most of its …
Hydrologists and climate scientists have just calculated the future of one of the world’s most celebrated waterways, the River Jordan. Their conclusion is that the outlook is poor – and getting poorer. If humans continue to burn fossil fuels at an ever-increasing rate, then rainfall will diminish by 30%, average …
This book proposes a simple framework for understanding the political economy of subsidy reform and applies it to four in-depth country studies covering more than 30 distinct episodes of reform. Five key lessons emerge. First, energy subsidies often follow a life cycle, beginning as a way to stabilize prices and …
In the latest publication of the project Middle East North Africa Sustainable ELECtricity Trajectories (MENA-SELECT), the authors Boris Schinke and Jens Klawitter (Germanwatch) together with Maurice Döring (BICC), Nadejda Komendantova (IIASA), Jenan Irshaid (IIASA) and Joanne Bayer (IIASA) develop criteria and indicators for conducting a sustainability assessment of different electricity …
Land degradation is occurring rapidly at a time of growing need for fertile soil and healthy ecosystems. Multi-scale solutions that ensure economic and environmental sustainability are needed. Scientific advances have been driven by UNU-INWEH which between 2012 and 2016 has been responsible for the scientific coordination of the global Initiative …
This study presents some lessons from a selection of IUCN interventions in dryland areas that have adapted to a greater or lesser extent to the conditions of drylands, notably focusing on water management to deal with scarcity and variability. The study is intended as a means of capturing lessons learned …
This Synthesis Report provides an overview of the main water integrity risks in Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Palestine. It also identifies the capacity gaps that must be addressed to reduce these risks. Based on these findings, a set of policy recommendations to improve national water governance and integrity in …
