DCO and ESCWA Sign MoU to Advance Digital Economy and Responsible AI in Arab Region

The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO)  and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)  signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation on digital economy development and responsible and inclusive artificial intelligence.

The MoU was signed by UN Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rania Al-Mashat and Digital Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Deemah AlYahya. The signing comes just three months after a meeting between the two organizations’ Principals on 23 June, reflecting the rapid progress from strategic alignment to a formal cooperation framework and their shared readiness to translate ambition into practical implementation.

Across the Arab region, countries are accelerating digital transformation, investing in advanced technologies and strengthening the capabilities needed to build competitive, inclusive and resilient digital economies. With its growing innovation ecosystems, ambitious national strategies, expanding pool of digital talent and increasing leadership in artificial intelligence, the region has the potential not only to benefit from the global digital transformation, but also to help shape the global digital and AI agenda. This partnership will support countries in scaling successful approaches, translating national progress into wider regional impact and bringing the region’s perspectives, experience and innovation more prominently to global discussions.

The partnership brings together the ESCWA regional policy expertise, analytical methodologies, intergovernmental mechanisms and the Arab Digital Agenda with DCO’s Member State-driven digital economy mandate, cross-regional reach, policy intelligence and diagnostic tools, implementation platforms, and an ecosystem of public, private and financing partners. Through these complementary capabilities, the two organizations will work to connect regional frameworks with practical country-level implementation.

Cooperation will initially focus on two practical workstreams. The first will advance digital economy development, including policy implementation, institutional capacity-building and investment readiness. The second will focus on responsible and inclusive AI readiness, combining diagnostics, policy support, capacity-building and peer learning.

“A signature is a beginning, not an achievement. This memorandum does not stand alone. It comes with a joint action plan setting out where we will work together over the coming years, and our intention is to agree a concrete calendar of activities for 2027 before the end of this year. That is the test of whether a partnership is real: not what it declares, but what it schedules,” she added. “Work begins where our strengths genuinely meet.”

– Rania Al-Mashat, Under-Secretary-General, UN, Executive Secretary, ESCWA

“ESCWA’s member countries are building some of the most ambitious digital economies in the world, and their talent and innovation deserve a stronger voice in how the rules for data and AI are written. By pairing ESCWA’s regional depth with DCO’s tools for turning strategy into delivery, we will support governments in moving faster on investment, skills and responsible AI. As Lebanon, Palestine and Syria join the DCO, we will bring these countries’ perspectives to the Global Digital Compact review and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance with evidence, experience and results to share.”

– Ms. Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General, DCO

The cooperation comes at a timely moment as global discussions on digital and AI governance continue to evolve, including the high-level review of the Global Digital Compact during the 82nd session of the United Nations General Assembly and the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in New York in May 2027. DCO and ESCWA will work to strengthen readiness, evidence and policy dialogue, enabling countries across the region and developing economies more broadly to contribute proactively and effectively to relevant global discussions.

The scope for cooperation is also expanding alongside DCO’s growing membership. In addition to DCO’s eight current Arab Member States, the Organization’s expansion includes Lebanon, the State of Palestine and the Syrian Arab Republic, extending the reach of the MoU and creating further opportunities for practical cooperation and implementation across the Arab region.