Iraq

Arab States

Regional Hub in Amman

UNDP engagement redefined


Sustainable Human Development involves a process of enlarging people’s choices by expanding their capabilities and opportunities in ways that are sustainable from the economic, social and environmental standpoints, benefiting the present without compromising the future.

More specifically, UNDP has defined its agenda for the future around three interconnected challenges:

  • to invest in and amplify the positive momentum of expanded people’s voice and unprecedented participation, brought about by movements towards more inclusive and effective democratic governance across the globe, and access to new technologies and knowledge;
  • to capitalize on this momentum to pursue economic growth and development pathways that can tackle the connected issues of poverty, inequality and exclusion, while ensuring environmental sustainability; and
  • to put in place measures to build resilience to crises and prevent loss of development gains through reducing the likelihood of conflict, and mitigating the risks of natural disasters, including from climate change.

Responding to transition in the region


This new agenda positions UNDP very well to respond to the major transformations that the Arab States region has been undergoing since the beginning of the current decade. The dramatic push for democratic transition and various reform initiatives brought about by pressure from a youthful population that is better educated and connected via modern technology has opened new doors to more inclusive development and infused a new momentum for change to the better.

Yet the region still registers high levels of exclusion and inequality, within and between countries, and suffers serious regression in development gains in some countries, due to persistent and fast expanding conflicts and forced displacement, generating protracted crises.

Aligning support closer to development action


That is why, the Regional Bureau for Arab States established, in 2015, as part of UNDP’s global restructuring effort, its new Regional Hub in Amman, consolidating and expanding its presence in the region through redeploying a wider set of technical resources from Headquarters to the region. Our expanded technical support offerings to Country Offices ensures effective, timely and responsive support focused on UNDP’s realigned programme priorities and tailored to the emerging and changing needs and priorities in the region.

New UNDP


The Strategic Plan 2018-2021 sets out the direction for a new UNDP, optimized to help countries achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Strategic Plan describes how UNDP will better adapt to the range of country contexts in which we work, framed through:
(a) The three broad development settings to which our approach respond;
(b) A series of signature solutions that define the core work of UNDP;
(c) The two platforms through which we will deliver our work
(i) Country support platforms for the Sustainable Development Goals
(ii) A global development advisory and implementation services platform
(d) An improved business model to underpin our efforts

Hub Management

 

Mary Kawar, Hub Manager

Mary Kawar was previously the Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and prior to that, Director for five countries in East Africa for the ILO stationed in Dar Es Salaam. Earlier she held several positions at the ILO’s headquarters in Geneva and the Regional Office for Arab States in Beirut.



She has 30 years of strategy, policy and operational and multilateral cooperation experience in emerging, developing and fragile countries in the Arab Region, Africa and Asia. This includes working in technical areas related to economic and social policy in general, and more specifically on formal and informal employment, social protection, skills development, gender equality, migrant workers and refugee access to work.



Prior to her appointment, she was a Board Member of the Central Bank of Jordan and Director of Tiraz: Widad Kawar Home for Arab Dress – a private museum which preserves and promotes Arab Textile heritage. She was also member of several organisations such as a Senior Policy Associate at the Economic Research Forum of the Middle East, North Africa, Iran and Turkey (Cairo), and member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences Advisory (Beirut). She has published several books, policy guidelines, articles and research papers, and has given numerous presentations at national, regional and global conferences.



Mary holds an MSc and PhD from the London School of Economics, in the areas of social policy and planning in developing countries, and Development Studies. Her first degree was in anthropology from Tufts University, USA.

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