Arab Financing for Development Gateway

Accurate and timely evidence-based assessments are essential to address the cascading polycrises affecting the Arab region. They are also key to supporting structural transformation and bridging persistent financing gaps that hinder sustainable development.

To fully harness niche opportunities and capitalize on diverse financing modes and channels, Arab countries must confront and overcome five major rifts on their path to development:

1. Financing insolvencies: addressing liquidity challenges and enhancing the capacity to meet financial obligations.
2. Funding shortfalls: mobilizing additional resources to fill the gaps in funding critical development projects.
3. Fiscal space constraints: expanding fiscal capacity to enable investments in priority sectors without compromising economic stability.
4. Debt-financing overhangs: mitigating the adverse effects of high debt service burdens that restrict fiscal space.
5. Financing inequalities: promoting equitable access to financing to foster inclusive growth and ensure resilience amidst evolving challenges.

Our approach

ESCWA launched the Financing for Development Gateway initiative to offer policymakers a wide range of empirical and artificial intelligence-powered tools to effectively harness, mobilize, incentivize and manage investments of all types.  

The initiative provides:

• A single comprehensive platform to provide detailed analysis and measures of financing for development and document progress across its channels
• A dedicated Arab multi-stakeholder hub to connect and enrich global, regional, and national financing workstreams and solutions
• Digital solutions to furnish nationally tailored empirical tools and assessments to support financing decisions

The Gateway aims to align Arab economies with their national sustainable development ambitions to secure a sustainable finance trajectory that would eventually turn the region into an arc of prosperity.

Our partners

National Stakeholders:

Ministries of Planning, Economic Development, International Cooperation, Investment, Finance.

Central Banks, Tax Authorities and Administrations; Investment promotion authorities.

Regional and International Partners:

League of Arab States (LAS), Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), Council for Arab Economic Unity, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Union of Arab Banks (UAB), Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Economic Commission the Caribbean and Latin America (ECLAC), United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development (IATF), Tax Justice Network (TJN)

Our activities

The Financing for Development Gateway offers a suite of innovative evidence-based digital tools, delivering integrated fiscal, financial and financing diagnostics. These tools enable data-driven assessments and provide in-depth analyses of the financing landscape to support sustainable development financing at both national and regional levels, promoting informed decision-making and strategic financial planning.  (Related resources: Towards Integrated National Financing Framework  (INFF): Financing the SDGs at the national level; Financing for Development Gateway: Financing is about transforming lives not just economies).