Kingdom of Bahrain

Further to the close cooperation between the Ministry of Social Development and UNDP, a workshop was jointly organized entitled MDG Statistical Literacy for CSOs & the Media at the NGO Center affiliated to the Ministry of Social Development.
The 5 day workshop aims to build the capacities of civil society organizations and the media on achieving the MDGs and, in turn, training other organizations to do the same. The plan is to empower and inform CSOs in order to be productive in creating programmes that develop various sectors of the country.
The training works towards the realization of the MDGs by improving their understanding and by strengthening capacity to produce statistics, indicators and analyses for monitoring their implementation at the national level. Data analysis enables civil society advocates to monitor progress and tailor numerical targets to fit national priorities. Familiarity with the indicators and data will allow advocates to choose appropriate ones and to use them for reporting on intermediate and disaggregated targets.
The training is conducted by Adib Nemeh, UNDP Policy Advisor for poverty reduction, Atidel Mejberi, Communication and Information Officer for the Centre for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) and Zyad Al Samadi. A total of 29 people from 4 countries representing different NGOs and journalists from Bahrain, Yemen, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia are participating.

Being one of the first member states for Universal Periodic Review by the Human Rights Council in April 2007, the Kingdom of Bahrain has taken steps to prepare its UPR paper in a very transparent and participatory manner with technical support from UNDP. Based on the Government’s request, UNDP is advising the Government on the processes and formulation of an action plan to implement its pledges and commitments.
A draft of the Bahrain Action Plan on the Implementation of UPR Outcomes has been prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with technical support from UNDP. The draft Action Plan has been presented to media, civil society, academics and researchers, as well as governmental ministries for comment. UNDP is training the Bahrain delegation to the Human Rights Council on human rights issues, the Human Rights Council and the UPR process . The delegation will also receive a briefing on possible issues that may arise during the Interactive Dialogue and on strategizing about responses.
UNDP Bahrain will continue to support the Government in the UPR process and the implementation of Bahrain’s voluntary commitments over the next four years.

Taking the empowerment of women as a top priority, UNDP Bahrain continues to work towards enhancing the capacity of women to exercise their rights and actively participate in Bahrain’s development. In addition to the activities focused on gender mainstreaming and improved access to justice, activities also focus on improving women’s political and economic participation. UNDP’s key partner in this goal is the Supreme Council for Women, Bahrain’s national entity for the advancement of women.
A roundtable meeting was organized on March 12 -13, 2008 by the Supreme Council for Women and UNDP, in cooperation with the World Economic Forum and the Arab Women Organization to discuss “Gender Empowerment Indicators”.
The two-day meeting began with a theoretical introduction on gender indicators and the concept of human development and gender mainstreaming. Nuzhat Ahmad, UNDP Poverty Policy Advisor in New York, and Adib Nehmeh of AS-SURF, gave an overview of current indicators and economic empowerment of women. A comparative study between the actual status of Bahraini women and their status within international reports as well as an overview of the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report, were presented.
Based on the presentations, discussions among the participants, representatives from the government as well as several NGOs, revolved around the absence of a mechanism that accurately measures the status of Arab women and suggestions for improvement. As part of the broader partnership, the Supreme Council for Women and UNDP will work on implementing the recommendations of this meeting and mainstreaming gender in development work.

On the occasion of the International Women's Day, the Government of Bahrain represented by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Nezar Al Baharna, the UN Team in cooperation with the Bahrain Businesswomen Association marked the day on Saturday 8 March 2008 at the Headquarters of the Bahrain Businesswomen’s Society, Mahooz, Bahrain.
In his statement at the press conference, Sayed Aqa, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, said that “The Kingdom of Bahrain has taken practical and encouraging steps towards women empowerment….we look forward to further initiatives that will reinforce the economic and political empowerment of women including realignment of budgets”. "Investing in women and girls has a multiplier effect on productivity and sustained economic growth.”
Dr. Al Baharna, in his statement on behalf of the Government of Bahrain, emphasized the need for the Government, the private sector, and civil society to work together to empower women as a core for further development. The Minister declared the full support of the Government of Bahrain to the campaign of the UN Secretary General to invest in women and girls and to fight violence against women. He further announced the launch of a joint initiative on investing in women and girls between the Government, the UN in Bahrain, the private sector and civil society
Mr. Aqa made the announcement that the UN team in Bahrain, in cooperation with the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain, NGOs and civil society will organize a workshop in the next two months to further develop and coordinate initiatives towards the empowerment of women in Bahrain. This call was reiterated by Bahija Al Daylami, Assistant Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Women where she outlined the body’s National Strategy for the Empowerment of Women which will focus on the economic empowerment of women, family stability, and increasing the number of women in decision-making positions.
Bahrain Businesswomen Society President, Ms. Mona Almoayed, in her statement to the press, said that the MDGs could not be achieved without the eradication of discrimination against women in economic and social laws in the Kingdom and called for united action towards this goal.
Investment in the empowerment of women to become active members of society and the financial investment in productive projects undertaken by women and girls, such as those spearheaded by UNIDO Arab Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training were highlighted by UNIDO programme co-coordinator and investment promotion expert Afif Barhoumi.