The Arab Vision 2045

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

Summary

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) |Sep. 15, 2026

Arab Vision 2045: Realizing hope through thought, will and action, issued jointly by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the League of Arab States (E/ESCWA/OES/2023/1/Rev.4), sets a regional roadmap to 2045 that responds to global megatrends and pressing regional challenges such as conflict, climate change, and water and food insecurity; it provides a cooperative framework built on six pillars, measurable targets and flagship initiatives, and calls on governments, civil society and the private sector to mobilize around joint projects that drive integration, sustainable development and shared prosperity.

Key Insights

The Vision consolidates six interlinked pillars—security and safety; justice and equity; innovation and creativity; prosperity and balanced development; diversity and dynamism; and cultural and intellectual renewal—into a single, mutually reinforcing framework, as depicted in Figure 3 on page 14.
The document sets ambitious quantified 2045 targets across key performance indicator tables, for example raising Internet use to at least 95 percent, increasing research and development spending to 3 percent of GDP, reducing youth unemployment to 8 percent or less, lifting manufacturing value added to 16 percent or higher, and achieving universal adult literacy alongside an E‑Government Development Index score of 0.8 or above.
Flagship proposals include transitioning to Education 4.0 (Figure 4 on page 37), establishing rapid emergency relief and early recovery mechanisms for conflict-affected States, financing regional water and food security and adopting integrated water–food–energy management, accelerating clean energy deployment and grid interconnection towards an Arab Common Market for Electricity, and strengthening cybersecurity through national strategies and the Council of Arab Ministers of Cybersecurity.
The Vision advances connectivity and digital transformation through shared infrastructure and standards, including national and regional Internet Exchange Points and a regional cloud under the Arab Digital Agenda 2023–2033 (page 40), pan‑Arab railway links and corridors, and exploration of an Arab digital currency to facilitate trade and financial inclusion while preserving central bank sovereignty, as illustrated in the diagram on page 45.
A renewed social contract underpins measures for inclusive justice—strengthening social protection and universal health coverage, ensuring judicial independence and digital access to justice, protecting refugees’ rights to safe, voluntary return, and affirming the Palestinian people’s rights to return and self‑determination consistent with international law (page 30).

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