As part of ongoing efforts to develop a comprehensive and coherent Arab framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance, and building on a series of consultations organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the League of Arab States on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Global Digital Compact tracks, Government representatives, UN officials, international and regional experts, and stakeholders from the private sector and academia, met today in Cairo to consolidate the region's priorities, messages, and practical proposals on AI governance.
The consultations, held under the patronage of Raafat Hindi, Minister of Communications and Information Technology in Egypt, were organized by ESCWA in cooperation with the League of Arab States and in partnership with the Ministry. Discussions focused on key issues, including the opportunities and social, economic, ethical, cultural, linguistic, and technical implications of AI; bridging capacity and access gaps; advancing open-source software, data, and models; building safe and trustworthy AI systems; protecting human rights; and strengthening transparency, accountability, and human oversight.
The consultations are particularly significant as they address AI not only as a technical issue, but also as a transformative force affecting policymaking, institutional development, competitiveness, rights protection, and trust in the digital space. They will further contribute to shaping the global dialogue on AI governance ahead of its first session in Geneva on 6-7 July 2026, including deliberations on its architecture, outcomes, and effectiveness.
The meeting further reflects the ESCWA strategic role in information society policy, digital development, and digital cooperation, and forms part of its 2026 work related to WSIS tracks and the Global Digital Compact, following UN General Assembly resolution 80/173, which extended the WSIS process to 2035 and aligned it with the Compact's implementation.
It also represents the second regional contribution from the Global south, in which ESCWA has participated during April and May 2026 on the global dialogue on AI governance, following the African regional dialogue organized by the UN Economic Commission for Africa in cooperation with ESCWA, in Addis Ababa on 27 April 2026.
