Kingdom of Bahrain

At a seminar under the title of “Culture of Acceptance and Dialogue” organized by the Bahrain Institute for Political Development (BIPD), in cooperation with UNDP, Mr. Sayed Aqa, UN Resident Coordinator, confirmed the partnership between UNDP and BIPD in supporting the Kingdom of Bahrain in its national political reform effort at creating a democratic society.
Bahrain is characterized by a culture of democracy with popular understanding and appreciation of democratic values and that encourages engaging in dialogue, Mr. Aqa said. As most conflicts stem from a lack of communication, through dialogue and acceptance, real solutions can be achieved.
Guest speaker at the event, Dr. Ali Fakhro, former Minister of Education, stated that there could be no democracy without proper dialogue. He stressed the need to keep in mind that the best way to reach agreed shared results is by dialogue that has a specific goal and is conducted in a spirit of cooperation and without violating basic principles. “Real dialogue is that between a strong party and another strong party… and to me, proper dialogue is that which centers on the search for truth. In the seminar, it was agreed that there must be a platform for religious dialogue in Bahrain to avoid misunderstanding; a platform that can admit faults and is committed to transparency.

Governments have a key role to play in empowering women and helping them succeed in business, according to the Bahraini president of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Shaikha Haya told a meeting at UN Headquarters, in New York, US, that governments should adopt 'gender-sensitive' policies to help female entrepreneurs.
"They (governments) play a crucial role in incorporating gender perspectives in their fiscal and monetary policies," she said to delegates at a conference called A Step Forward, The Millennium Development Goals organized by Women Together.
"Gender-sensitive policies assist women entrepreneurs in accessing markets and obtaining reasonable interest rates for loans, as well as promote decent employment opportunities, fair taxation, and investments in infrastructure."
"Every single (Millennium Development) Goal is directly related to women's rights - Goal three of the MDGs," Shaikha Haya said. "Indicators linked to this goal aim to measure progress towards ensuring that more women become literate, have more voice and representation in public policy and decision making, and have improved job prospects."
Shaikha Haya highlighted micro-finance as one way to empower women socially and economically.” It is important to recognize, however, that micro-credit schemes constitute only one poverty alleviation strategy. "This is where the role of governments comes in."
Shaikha Haya also urged women to look towards the Internet and its vast database of information to further their fight for equality. "We must also tap into the information and communications technologies that offer immense opportunities for reducing poverty, giving women a voice and advancing gender equality."

ISLAMIC leaders from Bahrain were urged to join the fight against Aids and HIV at a workshop attended by more than 100 male and female Islamic leaders, which aimed to educate them on the disease and highlight the vital role they can play in helping victims and their families. Seven experts from UNDP conducted the religious leaders workshop, as well as local experts including National Sexually Transmitted Diseases Programme manager Dr Somaya Al Jowder.
The event was conducted under the theme Keep Bahrain Free from Aids which includes lectures, hands-on activities and round-table discussions organised by the Ministry of Health, UNDP Bahrain, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic

Affairs and UNDP HIV/Aids Regional Programme in the Arab States. The activities brought together stakeholders to exchange innovative ideas, opinions, judgments and beliefs in order to find common ground in facing some of the problems and challenges facing Bahraini society.
UNDP have completed, in collaboration with Ministry of Health, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which will be launched by H.E. the Minister of Health. This strategy clearly defines priorities of actions in a participatory manner and sets up goals and targets toward HIV/AIDS preventions, treatment, care and support measures.
“The Arab region is not an exception, as there are over 460,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS in the region, with 36,000 deaths in 2006 in the Arab region alone.We strongly believe in partnership of the religious leaders and scholars with the UN, the government, the NGOs, and the private sector in facing the challenge of HIV/AIDS in Bahrain.” UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Sayed Aqa said at the opening.