- The Arab region bears a disproportionate share of the world's conflicts, humanitarian crises and human suffering.
- Breaking the cycle of conflict and avoiding a prolonged state of "neither war nor peace" is essential.
- Achieving peace in the Arab region is not merely a regional concern; its implications extend beyond geographical borders.
- Protracted conflict causes long-term development setbacks and cumulative damage to education, livelihoods and institutional capacities.
- Institutional recovery is essential to sustaining reconstruction and restoring the economic and productive capacities of conflict-affected countries.
- The Arab region needs an integrated economic system, including development corridors, to support recovery and reintegrate conflict-affected economies.
- Sustainable peace and prosperity require resilient institutions, stronger regional connectivity and deeper economic integration.
Beirut-Manama, 1 November 2026--Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), presented a vision for the reconstruction of conflict-affected areas across the Arab region and the implementation of a new economic agenda that goes beyond reconstruction as a process of repairing what has been damaged. Instead, she called for achieving genuine prosperity as a strategy for regional security.
This came during her participation in the plenary session entitled "A New Economic Agenda - From Reconstruction and Development to Prosperity", held as part of the 22nd edition of the 2026 Regional Security Summit, the Manama Dialogue. The event is organised by Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in the Kingdom of Bahrain, bringing together discussions on security, defence and foreign policy issues in the Middle East and their international implications.
The ESCWA Executive Secretary stressed that security in the Middle East can no longer be defined solely in terms of deterrence and military balances. Rather, it should be measured by the ability of societies and economies to recover, invest, trade and create jobs. She noted that achieving sustainable peace and prosperity requires resilient institutions, stronger regional connectivity and deeper economic integration.
She explained that reconstruction and sustainable rebuilding require institutional recovery in the post-conflict phase, with the process of rebuilding grounded in three key elements: restoring economic and productive capacities; rebuilding effective and accountable institutions; and reconnecting conflict-affected economies to regional markets and infrastructure networks.
Al-Mashat outlined a vision for sustainably addressing the repercussions of conflicts across the Arab region, emphasising the need to tackle their devastating and far-reaching consequences. She explained that the Arab region bears a disproportionate share of the world's conflicts, humanitarian crises and human suffering. In 2025, 40% of conflict-related deaths worldwide occurred in the Arab region. Furthermore, one in every three people globally who require humanitarian assistance lives in the region, while the number of people in need across the Arab region increased from 76 million in 2025 to 81 million in 2026.
The ESCWA Executive Secretary therefore emphasised that reconstruction alone cannot deliver sustainable prosperity in conflict-affected areas without addressing the devastating and long-lasting consequences of conflict. Protracted conflict causes long-term development setbacks and cumulative damage to education, livelihoods and institutional capacities.
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat stressed the importance of breaking the cycle of conflict and avoiding a prolonged state of "neither war nor peace", both of which are essential conditions for achieving development and prosperity. She explained that lasting peace requires simultaneous action at the national, regional and global levels, noting that achieving peace in the Arab region is not merely a regional concern, as its implications extend beyond geographical borders.
She also highlighted the importance of placing social and economic prosperity at the heart of the security agenda as an indispensable pillar. High unemployment, weak public services and exclusion can create fertile ground for armed groups to exploit in conflict-affected countries. Accordingly, the economic agenda must link macroeconomic stability with tangible improvements in people's lives through employment opportunities, housing, education, healthcare and digital access.
The ESCWA Executive Secretary further underscored the importance of "strengthening regional connectivity as a strategic pillar of economic resilience and recovery". She explained that the Arab region needs an integrated geoeconomic system encompassing trade corridors, ports, energy connectivity, digital infrastructure and food security routes. This would create integrated regional economic corridors rather than isolated projects, enabling conflict-affected economies to recover and reintegrate into the regional economic system.
She also emphasised the need to advance regional economic integration through coordinated investment, regulatory cooperation and productive linkages. This requires greater regional coordination to ensure that national connectivity initiatives complement one another through trade facilitation, regulatory harmonisation and more efficient cross-border procedures.
Al-Mashat added: "Regional energy connectivity offers significant opportunities to strengthen energy security and economic resilience. Expanding electricity trade, integrating renewable energy and improving the reliability of regional grids can reduce vulnerabilities while supporting economic diversification and recovery. Investments in connectivity should therefore generate economic value beyond transit and logistics services. Their success should also be assessed based on their contribution to regional value chains, industrial development, private investment, employment and economic opportunities for neighbouring countries, including those affected by conflict."
The ESCWA Executive Secretary recommended exploring the establishment of a "Regional Prosperity Compact" focused on several key areas, including decent work and skills development programmes; connectivity through coordinated investments in transport, energy and communications corridors; and regional coordination through the establishment of a permanent platform bringing together governments, development banks and private-sector investors to coordinate project implementation and address bottlenecks.
She concluded by stressing that the challenge facing the Arab region today is to demonstrate that development without regional integration remains incomplete, and that institutional development and shared prosperity are essential conditions for achieving peace. New economic corridors, underpinned by regional integration, are key to ensuring that conflict-affected economies are not left behind in the recovery and development process.
Watch the full speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJNAzMKFkR0.
