Today, conflict in the Arab region and its spillover effects, climate change, food and energy insecurity, technological disruption and economic shocks are not confined to borders or sectors, and they move much faster than institutional responses. In New York, ESCWA Executive Secretary Rania Al-Mashat took part from 21 to 25 September in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and several side events where she emphasized the need to strengthen regional cooperation to advance peace, energy and water security, economic stability, gender equality and human dignity. She also discussed cooperation in several bilateral meetings with senior officials from the Arab region and the United Nations.
"Even though the crisis affects countries, it doesn't affect them equally. In the Arab region, nine out of the twenty-two countries are either in crisis, in conflict, or emerging conflict. So, this means that the impact is even more significant," she pointed out in an intervention at the UNGA high-level event "From Shock to Resilience: Supporting Countries Through Compounding Crises". "National solutions are useful, but regional solutions also provide the scale. Nonetheless, there is a need for investment in these regional solutions. Connectivity is not an infrastructure choice; it's really a resilience choice," she added.
Energy and regional connectivity
In an Energy Opportunity Forum event titled "Building Abundant Energy in the Global South", Al-Mashat underscored that energy abundance meant reliable, affordable and sustainable energy that supports households, public services and productive sectors across the Arab region. She emphasized closing access and finance gaps while using regional connectivity and integrated industrial planning to turn energy investment into broader development.
She also took part in a panel under the Nizami Ganjavi International Center high-level meeting on Rebuilding Trust, Cooperation and Global Stability for a Shared Future, tackling "Energy, Security and Climate: Managing the Triple Transition". She underscored that achieving a just energy transition in the Arab region required balancing development, energy security, affordability, sustainability and climate resilience.
In a similar context, the ES also addressed a UNDP high-level dialogue on "Regional Convergence for Energy, Trade and Connectivity: Turning Regional Cooperation into Resilience, Investment and Strategic Integration", and stressed that the Arab region already had a substantial infrastructure, complementary resources, financial capital and human potential. "The challenge is to translate these assets into functioning regional systems that deliver resilience, investment and shared prosperity," she said.
Al-Mashat also took part in an ECOSOC "Water as a Strategic Imperative: From Global Challenges to Collective Action" event, convened by Senegal and the United Arab Emirates, co-hosts of the 2026 UN Water Conference. She stressed that water security was a strategic imperative linking peace, resilience, prosperity, food and energy security, and sustainable development. She also highlighted Arab regional priorities and recommendations ahead of the 2026 United Nations Water Conference in Abu Dhabi.
Empowering youth and women
In a World Economic Forum (WEF) roundtable discussion on "Reimagining Paths to Good Jobs in the Intelligent Age", Al-Mashat shed light on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in reshaping already fragile pathways into work across the region, where youth unemployment, skills mismatches, informality and unequal access limit economic security. Presenting AI as an opportunity to augment work rather than replace it, she said: "There are three practical priorities for the region: build the skills, build the first rung, and protect the transition."
Invited to speak at a Foreign Policy roundtable discussion titled "Her Power: Leadership and Democracy: Power, Representation, and Global Change", the ES addressed women's economic empowerment as key to closing the persistent gender gap in the region. "While there has been educational progress, female labour force participation in the region remains particularly low," she said. "Our challenge in the region is to ensure that women and girls' education becomes opportunity, their opportunity becomes economic independence, and their participation translates into greater voice in the decisions that shape our economies and societies," she added, while highlighting that one of the main barriers to women's employment was the unequal distribution of care responsibilities, particularly unpaid care work.
Financing for development
At a UNDP high-level side event organized with Morocco on "Financing the Future", the Executive Secretary argued that financing development in the region was constrained by a major resource gap, rising debt pressures, weak retention of private capital, and limited fiscal space. She proposed a response that combines stronger domestic resource mobilization, better-quality investment, international financial architecture reform, and coordinated country and regional action.
