The meeting of the Economic and Social Council of the Arab League (AL) kicked off Wednesday at the level of senior officials, at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the pan-Arab body.
The meeting was chaired by Leila Mokhtari, the Director of Follow-up on Regional Trade Agreements and Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Export Promotion of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, and attended by Ambassador Dr Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Malki, the Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Economic Affairs Sector at the League of Arab States. The meeting comes in preparation for the ministerial session of the Council scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.
In his address to the meeting, Malki stressed the importance of strengthening joint Arab economic and social action, expressing his confidence in the ability of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, chair of the current session, to continue supporting the work of the Economic and Social Council and to follow up on the implementation of its decisions.
At the same time, Malki praised the management of the meetings of the previous session by Tunisia and its clear keenness to support the Council’s work.
He explained that the Economic and Social Committees had, over the past three days, examined the items on the agenda of the Council’s meeting with the aim of reaching outcomes that contribute to developing Arab economic and social action. He noted that draft resolutions presented to senior officials had been prepared in order to be submitted to the ministers at their meeting scheduled for Thursday.
Mokhtari said that the meeting addressed a number of issues, most notably the economic and social file to be presented to the Council of the League of Arab States at the summit level during its 35th ordinary session, scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia, as well as follow-up on the implementation of the decisions of the previous session No. (116) of the Economic and Social Council, in addition to reviewing the activities of the General Secretariat between the two sessions (116–117).
She added that the meeting addressed a proposal to establish the Arab Network for the Social and Solidarity Economy, regulations for the Population Excellence Award for the Arab region, and the enhancement of Arab international cooperation in social and developmental fields, in addition to reviewing reports and decisions of the relevant ministerial councils and specialized committees.
The meeting also discusses ways to support and rehabilitate centers affiliated with the Ministry of Social Development in the West Bank in the State of Palestine, as well as a report on the implementation of the Arab Observatory for Women’s Economic Development, within the framework of supporting women’s empowerment and enhancing their role in sustainable development, she added.
