Arab State Development Reviewed at the High-level Political Forum

The High-level Political Forum at UN Headquarters in New York, 7–16 July 2026, will be a big one for the southwest Asia and North African countries. This year, an unprecedented eight Arab states will be presenting their Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) for consideration: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudia Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Algeria and Somalia will be presenting their second VNR this summer, while Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and UAE will be reporting for the third time. For Egypt, 2026 with be its fourth VNR presentation at the HLPF. Indeed, all the Arab states have been diligent about reporting, consistent with their pattern established across the international system.

International cooperation and assistance, a UN Charter based and other treaty-bound obligation of states, forms a common theme across these states’ Main Messages and VNRs. Gulf states emphasize their contributions to humanitarian aid, while other states stress the importance of UN and bilateral support to their development efforts. Whether from donor or recipient states, all Arab VNRs express dedication to South-South cooperation.

Common to all are the severe challenges of climate change, especially in the context of water scarcity and efforts to conserve, reduce consumption and desalination efforts. Non-fossil fuel-based energy transitions are also common, especially through renewable solar and wind-power alternative, as well as green hydrogen initiatives.

Another common feature of the eight states reporting is the war and political instability across the region, as a whole. This year, such impediments are acute, as the U.S.-Israeli war against Palestine, Lebanon and Iran variously threatens the very existence of states across the region, and actively block the Indigenous Palestinian people from the full emergence of their self-determined state. In muted diplomatic language, the Arab VNRs variously deliver the message that “peace is the indispensable precondition for sustainable development.”

These ambient conditions bring to light the indispensable extraterritorial scope of states commitments and actions to implement the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Once again, the world situation invokes the Agenda’s commitments under paragraph 35, whereby states recognize that sustainable development “cannot be realized without peace and security.” They also “call for further effective measures and actions to be taken, in conformity with international law, to remove the obstacles to the full realization of the right of self-determination of peoples living under colonial and foreign occupation, which continue to adversely affect their economic and social development as well as their environment.”  However, these promises are not backed by specific Goals, Targets or performance indicators.

Other common assertions in the Arab VNRs are commitments to evidence-based governance,” social inclusion and inclusive and sustainable development. Nonetheless, the consensus among the region’s Major Groups and Other Stakeholders (MGOS) is that consultation and participation in VNR processes and policy making, in general, are insufficient to substantiate such democratic claims.

Economic growth seems to be the common criterion for sustainable development in the Arab VNR lexicon, which highlights lessons learned and relearned long ago; i.e., that growth is not enough to qualify as development. The dearth of process and distribution indicators under the SDGs is a lesson to take forward in the looming discussion of the post-2030 development agenda. This year begins deliberation of lessons learnt over the three-quarters of the current Agenda already spent.

In their process of assessing these eight VNRs in 2026, the MGOS in the Arab League countries are gathering messages to deliver to their own country delegations in the HLPF, but also to the wider plenary, about the inventory of conditions still to be met for their societies and governments to realize envisioned sustainable development, leaving no one behind.

Watch the HLPF sessions discussing the Arab state VNRs on UN WebTV at these New York Times:

Algeria: Wednesday, 15 July 2026 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM

Bahrain: Wednesday, 15 July 2026 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM

Egypt: Wednesday, 15 July 2026 @ 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

Jordan: Wednesday, 15 July 2026 @ 10:00 AM - 01:00 PM

Saudi Arabia: Monday, 13 July 2026 @ 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Somalia: Tuesday, 14 July 2026 @ 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Tunisia: Monday, 13 July 2026 @ 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM

UAE: Tuesday, 14 July 2026 @ 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM

Photo: Cover art from background paper Arab cities on the frontline: advancing SDG 11 amid escalating crises (ESCWA 2026). Source: ESCWA.