High-Level Side Events for UNDP Arab States at the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly

September 3, 2026
Event
High-Level Side Event on Financing the Future: Partnerships between public and private actors to invest in development

Building on Morocco’s experience as a regional hub for investment partnerships, UNDP is organizing with Morocco a high-level side event that will focus on how stronger, SDG-aligned public-private partnerships can accelerate development financing across Africa, drawing on comparative lessons from other regions and country typologies.

Event
Digital transformation for human development: Bahrain’s journey and the future of inclusive digital economies

Derasat collaobrates with UNDP to convene a high-level side event on the margins of the UN General Assembly to present emerging findings from the NHDR and discuss the policy choices, institutional capabilities and partnerships needed to ensure technological progress translates into tangible development outcomes. Bringing together senior government representatives, UN leaders, policymakers and technology and knowledge institutions, the dialogue will position Bahrain’s experience within wider regional and global discussions on digitalization, AI and human development, ahead of the report’s full national launch in December 2026.

Event
Desert landscape with sandy foreground and rugged mountains; a gas station with a white canopy.
Regional convergence for energy, trade and connectivity: turning regional cooperation into resilience, investment and strategic integration

UNDP is collaborating with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretariat-General to organize a high-level dialogue builds on the outcomes of the GCC-UNDP Regional Roundtable on Connectivity, Strategic Convergence and Investment Resilience convened in Riyadh in June 2026, which brought together government representatives from all GCC member states, regional institutions, development partners and private sector stakeholders to explore opportunities for advancing regional connectivity, resilience and investment across the Arab States region.
Event
Blue UNGA 81 banner featuring UN logo and Knowledge as a Crisis text with event details.
Knowledge as a crisis compass

UNDP and MBRF are collaborating to organize a side event during UNGA to discuss how the Knowledge Project's tools, from the Global Knowledge Index to the Future Skills Academy, can help societies anticipate shocks, protect people, and move beyond crisis towards long-term resilience and sustainable development.

Event
UNDP_IQ_Stabilization
From Stabilization to sustainable development: investing in Sinjar's future

The Government of the Republic of Iraq is collaborating the government of Germany, and UNDP to organize a high level event in UNGA to reflect the Government of Iraq's vision to transform one of the country's most affected districts into a model of integrated, area-based development and of blended financing.