Bahrain, UNDP sign Joint Cooperation Initiative document

Manama, Mar. 28 (BNA): Foreign Ministry Undersecretary of International Affairs, Dr Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, representing the National Information Committee, and Resident Coordinator of the United Nations and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Amin Al Sharkawi, signed the Joint Cooperation Initiative in support of the preparation of the voluntary national report to implement sustainable development goals, in the presence of Information and eGovernment Authority (iGA) Vice Chief Executive of Statistics and Population Register, Dr. Nabeel bin Shams. Dr. Shaikh Abdullah said that the Joint Cooperation Initiative document aims at providing the first voluntary national report to implement the goals of sustainable development, with specific ideas and actions, to be presented at the ministerial meeting of High-level Political Forum of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in July, as part of the review of the Kingdom's efforts to achieve the goals of sustainable development. He said that the signing of the document was part of the initiatives of the 2017-2020 country program of action prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the UNDP office in Manama and adopted by the Executive Board of the UNDP in New York on 11 November 2016.  It was also emphasized in the Strategic Partnership Framework Document between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Nations resident and regional agencies signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on 24 October 2017. Dr Shaikh Abdullah said that the Kingdom of Bahrain is already working successfully to align the goals of sustainable development 2030 and its indicators with the Government's plan of action 2015-2018 and the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030, within the classification of highly developed countries in human development, and has gone a long way in reaching the desired goals.  He said that, based on the awareness of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain of the importance of achieving the goals of sustainable development, the National Information Committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Mutawa, and the membership of the relevant government bodies.  This is to monitor and follow-up the 2015 development agenda and to link it to the Government's program of work as well as to oversee the establishment of a comprehensive national information base to provide accurate, updated and high-quality official information and data in response to sustainable development requirements. Al Sharkawi praised the efforts of the Government of Bahrain to integrate sustainable development goals into its policies and programs, praising the Kingdom's determination to achieve sustainable development goals 2030.  He said that the United Nations in the Kingdom of Bahrain is very pleased to have signed the draft national voluntary report with the Government of Bahrain, which aims to report on the significant progress made by the Kingdom in the development of policies and institutional measures to promote the mainstreaming of sustainable development goals into national plans and strategic development frameworks and policies. He underscored the importance of the first voluntary national report of the Kingdom of Bahrain to be presented at the ministerial meeting of High-level Political Forum of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations as an excellent opportunity. (MOFA).