Kingdom of Bahrain

A two day workshop on Youth Policies and Strategies in the context of the MDGs for the Gulf States is held in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Young People in Bahrain find their Voice with the National Youth Strategy.

The National Youth Strategy for the Kingdom of Bahrain was launched today at a ceremony held under the patronage of His Highness the Crown Prince and BDF Commander-in-Chief Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa at the Gulf Hotel. The National Youth Strategy was developed by UNDP in collaboration with the General Organisation for Youth and Sports (GOYS) on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and represents a national declaration and commitment to the priorities, direction, and practical support that the country intends to provide for the development of its young men and women. During the ceremony, speeches were made by GOYS President Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa and UNDP Programme Analyst Ali Salman, and the Strategy document was officially handed over to Shaikh Fawaz by GOYS Strategy Director Ms. Amal Al-Dossary. The launching ceremony was attended by H.E. Dr. Nada Haffadh, Minister of Health, and H.E. Dr. Fatima Al-Balooshi, Minister of Social Affairs, along with other government officials, civil society members, youth NGOs, media representatives, and the Bahraini youth involved in the development of the Strategy.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today between the Supreme Council for Women and UNDP at a signing ceremony that was held at the UN House in Manama. The MoU was co-signed by H.E. Mrs. Lulwa Saleh Al-Awadhi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Women, and Dr. Khaled Alloush, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative, with the purpose of enhancing cooperation between the Council and UNDP as part of the Council’s plan to upgrade the political participation of women in the country in the upcoming 2006 municipal and parliamentary elections. The ceremony was attended by members of the Supreme Council for Women, UNDP staff, and media representatives.

A meeting was held today at the UN House in Manama between UNDP and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Arab World Regional Office (AWR), which was organized by the Bahrain Family Planning Association (BFPA) in collaboration with UNDP Bahrain. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of future technical cooperation between IPPF-AWR and UNDP, particularly between BFPA and UNDP, and was attended by members of the IPPF’s Executive Committee for the Arab Region and Dr. Tawfiq Naseeb, President of the BFPA.

A press briefing was held on 5 April 2005 at the UN House in Manama to discuss and disseminate the contents of the Arab Human Development Report 2004, which was launched the same day in Amman, Jordan by Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher and Prince Turki Ben Talal Ben Abdul Aziz, president of the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations, along with other dignitaries and officials. The briefing was attended by journalists and representatives from all the major local newspapers in the country. Press clippings in Arabic and English.

The third Arab Human Development Report, calling for greater freedom and good governance in the Arab world, was welcomed at a launch ceremony here today by Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher and Prince Turki Ben Talal Ben Abdul Aziz, president of the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations, along with other dignitaries and officials.
The Arab Human Development Report 2004, the third of a four-part series, was written by an independent group of leading Arab scholars and intellectuals, and was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme together with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND). The authors call for urgent and sweeping political reforms throughout the Arab world.
“The Arab nation now needs to rise for itself and for the future of its sons and daughters,” said Rima Khalaf Hunaidi, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Arab States, who supervised the report. “The renaissance that we seek will remain outside our reach unless we pull together and unify all the elements that have almost lost hope, to dictate the reform that we desire. It is most appropriate that this change takes place by our own hands and in accordance with our own best interests, not at the mercy of the swords of others.”

An agreement was signed yesterday at the Ministry of Municipalities and Agricultural Affairs between the minister, Ali Saleh Al Saleh, and UNDP Resident Representative, Dr Khalid Alloush, that sees UNDP allocate BD121,000 for a detailed study of heritage buildings in Manama and Muharraq.

UNDP in coordination with the Council of Representatives and Shura Council of the Kingdom of Bahrain as part of the on-going project on governance organized a one day event whereby the role of parliament and parliamentary staff in the legislative process was amply discussed. Several important phases in this process were conferred such as the introduction, execution, enforcement and the evaluation of a law, principles of organizing a bill as well as the various aspects (including the political ones) of the instrument of evaluation.

The UN Millennium Project’s report, “Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals” was commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and sponsored by UNDP on behalf of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) for the purpose of developing a global plan for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015.
This report is the largest intellectual exercise undertaken by the United Nations in decades, and will serve to considerably advance the global development agenda by presenting a thoroughly comprehensive assessment and recommendations for achieving the MDGs.